As the Boston Celtics emerge from the NBA All-Star break, all eyes will be on Jayson Tatum as he gears up for a (potential) return.
But the Celtics also did some end-of-the-roster shuffling Thursday that shouldn’t be overlooked.
Boston officially signed two players to 10-day contracts: free agent Dalano Banton and recently-acquired two-way player John Tonje. With those moves, the Celtics now have 14 players on their active roster and two players on two-way deals (Ron Harper Jr. and Max Shulga), with one open NBA roster spot and one open two-way spot.
Why are Brad Stevens and Co. handing out 10-day contracts instead of pursuing bigger names on the buyout market? The likely explanation boils down to one word: money.
Let’s break it down:
Why Celtics made these moves now
By rule, NBA teams can’t have fewer than 14 players on their roster for more than two weeks at a time. The Celtics were at 12 players exactly two weeks ago — the day of the NBA trade deadline — after a flurry of moves that sent out Anfernee Simons, Josh Minott, Xavier Tillman and Chris Boucher and helped them dip under the luxury tax. (More on that shortly.)
So, the C’s had to add two players to their roster Thursday no matter what, which explains the timing of these moves.
Financial implications of Celtics’ moves
Boston was barely under the luxury tax coming out the All-Star break — roughly $1 million below the $187.9 million threshold. So, if the team’s goal is to remain under that threshold for the rest of the season, even signing a player on the buyout market for the veteran minimum wouldn’t be feasible.
Enter the 10-day contract. Per NBA salary cap analyst Yossi Gozlan, Banton’s deal will cost the Celtics less than $132,000, while Tonje’s deal is for just $73,000, since he was converted from a two-way deal.
In theory, the C’s could continue this pattern — let the 10-day contracts of Banton and Tonje expire, spend a full two weeks with fewer than 14 players, sign two more players to 10-day contracts, go another two weeks with fewer than 14 players, etc. — for the rest of the season to spend as little as possible and stay under the tax.
The Celtics also can promote one of their two-way players (likely Harper) to an NBA deal, which would be prorated for the rest of the season.
The upshot? These moves could be the first step in Boston playing musical chairs with the back end of its roster to stay under the luxury tax.
What are the benefits of staying under the luxury tax?
So, why are the Celtics seemingly jumping through so many hoops to duck under the tax?
As Stevens insisted after the deadline, there’s no mandate from ownership to be below the luxury tax; the C’s were simply taking advantage of an opportunity they “didn’t think would be there” after trading Simons to Chicago in return for Nikola Vucevic.
The benefits of getting below the tax line involve resetting the NBA’s repeater tax, which forces teams to pay multiples on the dollar (starting at $2.50 for every $1) for player contracts. The Celtics have been in the repeater tax for the last several seasons, resulting in massive payrolls that will become even more prohibitive the longer they stay in the luxury tax.
Teams can “reset” those repeater taxes by finishing under the luxury tax in at least two of the next four seasons. So, if Boston stays under the luxury tax this season and next season, it can return to paying normal salary rates as soon as the 2027 offseason.
This may not sound particularly exciting. But that financial flexibility could allow the Celtics to spend big in 2027 free agency to build the latest version of a contender around Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown — all while remaining a legitimate contender in the interim.
