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The Celtics handed in their third overtime in a week on Monday night, adding a year to the current deal for Josh Richardson, which keeps him signed with Boston until the 2022-23 season.
Boston acquired Richardson in July by taking his $ 11.6 million salary from what was left of Gordon Hayward’s business exception in a deal for Moses Brown. Brad Stevens praised Richardson for the Celtics last week.
“Josh brings great courage and an edge,” Stevens said. “He can defend several positions. I think last year was a bit of an anomaly in the way he shot the ball. He’s always been a good shot and our numbers indicate that when he gets the open opportunities he’s obviously better than he was last year. But he wants to win.
THE NEW CONTRACT
The Celtics were given the option to give Richardson a slight salary increase of $ 11.6 million for the 2022-2023 season under CBA rules, and it looks like he got a raise from around seven percent to $ 12.2 million for next season if he’s set to earn a total of $ 24 million in the next two years, according to Charania. He is expected to be the fifth highest-paid Celtic for the 2022-2023 season after this extra time.
Celtics 2022-23 Selection Sheet
Jayson Tatum: $ 30.5 million
Jaylen Brown: $ 28.7 million
Al Horford: $ 26.5 million ($ 14.5 million guaranteed)
Marcus Smart: $ 17.2 million
Josh Richardson: $ 12.2 million (estimate)
Robert Williams: $ 12 million (estimate)
* Romeo Langford: $ 5.6 million
* Grant Williams: $ 4.3 million
* Aaron Nesmith: $ 3.8 million
* Payton Pritchard: $ 2.2 million
* indicates a team option
Total salary: $ 143.3 million for 10 players
Total guaranteed amount: $ 131.3 million (if Horford is waived)
Expected salary ceiling: $ 119 million
Expected luxury tax line: $ 145 million
So now that we know the details of the deal, let’s try to better understand what’s going on here on both sides of the equation. Why did the Celtics lock up Richardson, giving them three players with new expansions last week? And why did Richardson agree to such a modest raise to extend with Boston now before a year in contract?
Why Richardson probably took the deal
The salary cap landscape for 2022 looks gloomy enough for future free agents. Only four teams are expected to have over $ 20 million in capital at the moment and a few of them are rebuilding teams (Detroit, Orlando) that are unlikely to look to recruit winning veterans who are closer. of the tail end of their first like Richardson.
With ceiling space seemingly so limited, a player like Richardson may have been stuck with two free agency options, assuming neither ceiling space team was interested in paying the asking price.
1. The Celtics use their bird rights to re-sign him for whatever pay they want
2. Settle for the 2022 mid-level exception ($ 10.1 million on the open market)
This mid-level exception price would represent a pay cut for Richardson and give him no real leverage in negotiations with Boston the next offseason if he chooses to enter the open market. With the purchasing power of the teams looking bleak, Richardson’s camp decided the wise bet was to lock in a raise for one more season instead of risking a potential pay cut if the Celtics decide they don’t want to. retain it in a year.
Why the Celtics wanted to extend Richardson now
Good value for money
There were probably a number of factors at play here, but let’s start with the money. Boston clearly loves Richardson’s advantage as a player and having him locked up for one more season with a very modest raise makes him a good deal that fits well into the team’s payroll for next year. . It’s obviously not a huge engagement, but it’s probably a lot better value than Evan Fournier’s deal with the Knicks given the much lower price tag and shorter engagement. With ceiling space no longer a priority for the Celtics following extensions from Marcus Smart and Robert Williams, retaining an asset like Richardson has become the top priority for Boston beyond this year. Richardson can no longer go into free agency with no return if he ends up having a big season and gets a big offer from someone else. It was a low-risk proposition before Boston’s point of view expansion, but now it’s now more of a possibility. It matters to a team like the Celtics who have been burned by this free agency scenario several times over the past three years.
Another negotiable contract
This is probably as important a factor as the value of the transaction itself. Richardson’s signing on an extension now contributes to Boston’s flexibility on a variety of fronts. The odds are in favor of the Celtics continuing through the 2021-22 season, but Richardson can be traded in January after signing the new deal. The same goes for Marcus Smart and Robert Williams after both formalizing their extensions.
If a big name becomes available before the trade deadline this season, the Celtics will have the opportunity to regroup a number of different veterans who now have control of the squad beyond next season (as well as a multitude draft pick) in any offer. Richardson’s new contract is a mid-level contract that can be easily stacked with other players for a paycheck in any contract for a high cost player.
There is no guarantee of course that Boston would have a winning bid in a lawsuit for Bradley Beal or another star who might become available, but Richardson’s extension should have contract value at this point, assuming that he has a rebound year for the Celtics. This cannot detract from any successful trade negotiations that may arise.
The other area where the Richardson extension really helps is flexibility of opportunities for the next offseason. Richardson’s signing now for an extension creates a much easier avenue for a signing-and-trade scenario in the summer of 2022. In the event that Boston wants to get a big paycheck in a deal, signing guys like Richardson, Smart and R. Williams at expansions this summer make them a lot easier to move into the summer of 2022 rather than trying to strike a double signing and swapping deal that would have been incredibly difficult with so many moving parts. Once Boston gave up on the prospect of having wiggle room after the Smart deal, it was the next logical step towards maximum flexibility, if the price was right for the team.
It’s entirely possible that Richardson will spend the next two years in Boston after signing this deal. However, the Celtics now know they have another asset locked up next year. There’s a good chance Brad Stevens doesn’t yet know how he wants to build around Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown beyond this year, but Richardson’s new expansion should give him a useful way to pursue more options in 2022 and beyond.
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