Report: Celtics 'Widely Expected' To Trade Schroder, But With A Big Caveat
BOSTON (CBS) -- Ever since the Celtics signed Dennis Schroder to a bargain contract during the offseason, it has been speculated that the Boston brass will cash in on the veteran point guard at the trade deadline. But there appears to be a caveat for the Celtics when it comes to dealing Schroder.
According to NBA insider Marc Stein, the Celtics will deal Schroder if they "can find a deal that sheds Schroder's $5.9mm salary without taking salary back."
That is in tune with Brad Stevens' previous trade this season, a three-team swap that landed Boston a pair of injured players -- Bol Bol and P.J. Dozier -- while trimming Juancho Hernangomez's salary from the books. That deal saved the Celtics nearly $3 million toward the luxury tax, with a couple of million left to go to get under the tax.
While it makes sense to put off the repeater tax until the Celtics are ready to put together a real contender, getting ownership some more tax relief won't do much to help the team taking the floor this season. So this probably won't sit too well with Celtics players or fans. Boston is a bottom-of-the-barrel playoff team in the Eastern Conference, sitting in the nine-seed at 26-25. They've been in play-in purgatory for much of the season, though some inspired play as of late has them just four games back of the real Eastern Conference playoff picture. Perhaps an upgrade somewhere on the roster will provide a boost for the C's to make a real playoff push.
"Without taking salary back" could have a few different meanings. The Celtics could take on someone making less than Schroder, which would aid in Stevens' quest to get under the tax while also giving the current C's another warm body (hopefully one that can actually shoot the basketball) on the roster. Or if the are set on not adding any salary, they could trade Schroder for a future asset or two, though chances are it would be a late second rounder considering he is only signed through this season and will demand a lot more than the $5.9 million that he's making this year.
Whatever they do, it's "widely expected" that Schroder will be dealt by Boston over the next 10 days. The signing was celebrated when it first happened, with the Celtics getting a solid veteran guard at a bargain price, and Stevens getting a nice trade chip for the deadline.
But now that the time is coming to cash in on that trade chip, it sounds like the Celtics are only going to use it for some tax relief.
