Celtics create roster spot -- and save on tax bill -- by trading Noah Vonleh to Spurs

BOSTON -- It appears the Celtics are opening up a roster spot for someone, or at least shedding some salary for tax purposes. Boston has traded center Noah Vonleh and cash considerations to the San Antonio Spurs, The Athletic's Shams Charania reported Thursday.

Boston likely won't get anything but a protected second-round pick in return, and the Spurs (who had some cap space to burn) are expected to waive Vonleh, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski. But San Antonio did the Celtics a solid, getting Vonleh's contract off Boston's books and giving Brad Stevens a little more wiggle room with the trade deadline just over a month away.

The Celtics signed Vonleh, a Massachusetts native, over the offseason for a little more depth at center while Robert Williams recovered from knee surgery. The 27-year-old veteran played 20 minutes on opening night, bumping bodies with Philadelphia's Joel Embiid, and saw action in Boston's first six games of the season. Vonleh even got a start for the Celtics in their third game.

But once mid-November hit, Vonleh struggled to crack Joe Mazzulla's lineup and played sparingly. He averaged just 7.4 minutes of action in his 23 games played with 15 DNPs along the way, as Luke Kornet took over as Boston's reserve big man.

Vonleh's $1.8 million salary was set to become fully guaranteed if he wasn't waived by Saturday, but Thursday's move will save the Celtics much more than that. Trading Vonleh will save Boston about $7 million in tax charges and penalties, according to Keith Smith, which could help the team add to the roster in the coming weeks.

It also gives Stevens a free roster spot should he have his eye on someone on the free agent market. But chances are the Celtics will wait to add someone closer to -- or after -- the NBA trade deadline on Feb. 9.