Celtics signed the championship insider with a basic salary

On August 6, Shams, a well-known NBA reporter, revealed the latest Celtics action: the Celtics' management completed two key operations in a short period of time, which not only greatly reduced the huge luxury tax, but also added depth to the lineup.

First move: 3 for 1 to send Nian away, win the rookie + create a special case

The Celtics and the Jazz quickly reached a deal: send forward Georges Nian and two future second-round picks, and exchange for the down-selected rookie RJ Louis (two-way contract).

The core purpose of this deal is to clear the salary. Nian's $8.2 million expiration contract will become a burden next season. Salary expert Bobby Marks pointed out that the Jazz used a $26.6 million deal exception (from the John Collins deal) to take over Nian's contract.

The effect is immediate! By sending Nian away:

Celtic luxury tax bills dropped by about $50 million!

The team currently only exceeds the first line of luxury tax by $1.7 million and exceeds the starting line of $9.4 million.

successfully avoided the stricter second tyrant line restrictions.

created a transaction exception worth $8.2 million, leaving room for subsequent operations.

For the Jazz, this is the veteran "going home". Nian played for the Jazz from 2017 to 2021, with a career three-point shooting percentage of up to 39.9%. Jazz reporter Tony Jones said that the team regards him as a rotation player and hopes that his experience and projection ability will help young core grow. Nion himself is also excited about returning to Salt Lake City.

rookie RJ Louis from St. John's University will fill a two-way contract spot in the Celtics.

Second move: After the veteran signed the championship insider Bucher with a basic salary, the Celtics quickly took action and signed free agent Chris Bucher with a veteran's basic salary contract of $3.3 million a year. He will replace Nian's position after leaving.

32-year-old Buchel is an experienced inside rotation, focusing on power forwards and centers. He has spent almost all of his past seven seasons with the Raptors (only played one game briefly with the Warriors), and is the last member of the Raptors' 2019 championship lineup, maintaining multiple substitute player records in team history.

Last season, he played 50 games for the Raptors, averaging 10 points and 4.5 rebounds per game in 17.2 minutes. Although the team arranged a quit in the later stage of the season to examine the new players, their immediate combat effectiveness is still favored. The Celtics are interested in his vitality, rebounding and certain spatial ability (33.9% of career three-pointers).

Celtics' 14+3 lineup is formed, and the salary pressure has dropped sharply

With the completion of these two "one out and one in" operations, the Celtics' new season lineup framework has been officially finalized:

14 regular lineups: Tatum, Brown, White, Anthony Simmons, Hauser, Prichard, Gonzalez, Schillman, Tillman, Garza, Minot, Keita, Buchel, Walsh

3 people in two-way contracts: Norris, Schulga, new player RJ Louis

What's more amazing is the salary change: on June 15, the total amount of the Celtics' salary + luxury tax reached US$540 million; after a series of exquisite operations during the offseason, the total amount has dropped to about US$239 million. This summer of the Celtics management can be regarded as a gorgeous balance performance of salary control and lineup strengthening.