The Wolves will be under the apron but might have to find some salary. The Celtics need to make sure the one chance they have for a high pick (they own their 2026 pick) gets realized. And they need to duck the tax.
Yeah. It’s the most obvious team move in the league now that Tatum is out. New owners + no best player = reset that clock. Any deal would depend on opt outs and timing with free agency and the draft.
Plus there’s no way they set up repeater tax for multiple years. If they’re over the 2nd apron next year, their pick goes to 30 automatically. They’re dumping most of their rotation this summer, quick one season tank, retool around a returned Tatum.
That’s why it only works if Conley retires. But the Celtics can also trade salary to a team with open cap space without taking back salary, which usually those teams charge picks to do. And they’ll have to.
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