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LAS VEGAS – The Celtics have had a quiet free agency period so far, but the team remains active in exploring their upgrade options. One of the best free agents remaining in the open market is Bulls big man Lauri Markkanen and the Celtics are one of four teams that have shown interest in the 24-year-old according to Bleacher Report’s Jake Fischer. Dallas, New Orleans and Minnesota are other potential contenders, as well as Chicago which retains the corresponding rights to the seven footer, who is a restricted free agent.
With Markkanen looking to make around $ 15 million per season according to Fischer, it’s worth exploring the question from Boston’s point of view: is there a realistic path to acquiring the big sniper?
The outright free agent signature is not an option: Chicago has equal rights to Markkanen due to his restricted free agency and they won’t let him go unless the price gets too high for their blood. That won’t happen during a potential Boston chase. The Celtics can only offer a maximum starting salary of $ 9.7 million with the exception of the non-taxpayer mid-tier and that is probably not an amount that would be attractive to Markkanen or high enough for the Bulls. do not offer.
A signature and exchange scenario quickly becomes expensive and complicated: With a significant salary cap margin in the NBA, the only way Markkanen will not play in Chicago next season is through a signing and trade suit for Boston or another of his contenders. The problem for the Celtics on this front presents itself in different ways.
We’ve already covered the hurdles to a signing and a trade this offseason, when Boston was interested in Lonzo Ball. Like Ball, Markkanen is expected to be a base year pay player, complicating the way his contract is measured for trade salary matching purposes.
In theory, the Celtics and Bulls can get around this restriction in a number of ways, but the Bulls would likely demand interim compensation in addition to the corresponding salary required as part of a deal to keep Markkanen out of Chicago. That’s a hefty price to pay for a great man of precision who showed flashes of offensive brilliance in his first four seasons at Chicago, but was also very injury-prone and defensively limited for a great deal. part of his career. Markannen has averaged career lows with 13.6 points, 5.3 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game in 2020-21.
On top of that, the Celtics would also be capped ($ 143 million) for the upcoming season when receiving a player in a signing and trading deal, which would require them to potentially withdraw another additional salary. if they pursued Markkanen. The team currently have just under $ 136 million pledged for 15 players, so some living wages should be in motion to fit into Markkanen (as well as some project compensation to make Chicago happy). Any signing and swapping deal would also have to last for three years (first year guaranteed) and that would affect Boston’s flexibility for free agency 2022.
The main thing for now? It seems there are too many obstacles in play for the Celtics to pursue this path. A few wage compensation deals could make a difference on that front, but for now, don’t expect Boston to become a serious contender for the 24-year-old.
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