Celtics aren't desperate to cut salary — yet

The Boston Celtics may not be title contenders next season after Jayson Tatum's Achilles injury. That doesn't mean they're willing to give away players to cut salary.

According to "The People's Insider" Jake Fischer, the Celtics so far have not been willing to include draft picks or players in deals for some of their high-priced players like Kristaps Porzingis ($30.9M) and Jrue Holiday (three years, $94.4M). They may be "listening" on any player not named Tatum or Jaylen Brown, but opposing teams believe it would be unlikely that the Celtics trade Derrick White or Payton Pritchard without an "ultra-aggressive offer."

That's because the Celtics have a lot of time to cut payroll, if that's truly the direction they want to go. Boston would save itself a great deal of luxury tax and free itself from a number of restrictions by getting under the "second apron," set at $207.8M for next season. But luxury tax is calculated based on the team's payroll on the final day of the regular season, which means the Celtics don't need to slash salary until the trade deadline next February.

This summer doesn't feature many unrestricted free agents, nor teams with cap space. For a team like the Sacramento Kings with a hole at point guard, Holiday might begin to look very appealing when the best free-agent point guard option is a player like Tyus Jones of the Phoenix Suns or D'Angelo Russell of the Brooklyn Nets.

Despite his extensive injury history, Porzingis may be similarly appealing when the best free-agent options for stretch big men could be 37-year-old Brook Lopez and Frenchman Guerschon Yabusele. The Celtics might love to trade him for a cheaper player, but as of yet, they aren't compelled to attach a sweetener or take back a player they don't think will help.

There's certainly no reason to trade Brown, who made his fourth All-Star team last year and is 28 years old. White could potentially garner a big trade return, as could Pritchard, the reigning Sixth Man of the Year on an incredible bargain contract (three years, $23.3M). Considering that the team traded for Holiday three weeks before the 2023-24 season began, the Celtics know the value of patience.

All this means the Celtics are far from holding a fire sale. Much of their roster may be available for trades, but Boston doesn't have to sell anyone at a discount, at least not for a few months.