State of the Cap: Boston Celtics
Grade: B-
2009-10 Payroll: $79.2 Million
Highlights: The Boston Celtics have one of the highest payrolls in the League, but if you ask Danny Ainge, that's a small price to pay for their 2008 NBA Title and a potential return to prominence in 2010.
Kevin Garnett and Rasheed WallaceOf the $79 million Boston will pay its players this season, $56 million will go to the Big Three: Paul Pierce ($19.8M), Ray Allen ($19.8M), and Kevin Garnett ($16.4M). Garnett's contract runs through 2012, and Paul Pierce will almost certainly exercise his option (at $21.5M) to remain a Celtic through the 2010-11 season. Ray Allen's contract is up at the end of the season, but if Boston wants to stay in title contention past this year, Ainge will have to bring him back. Having so much money tied into three aging stars isn't always considered a good thing, but in Boston's case, it's different. With these three in the fold, the Celtics will be perennial favorites in the Eastern Conference if they can stay healthy. Don't be surprised if Boston adds another banner to its legendary rafters in the next two seasons. If they do, that high payroll will be well worth it.
Signing Rasheed Wallace this summer makes a healthy Boston Celtics' team the favorites to win the Eastern Conference. His last three seasons in Detroit were sub-par by his standards, but his move to Boston may be just what he needs to rejuvenate his career. Joining Pierce, Garnett, Ray Allen, and Rajon Rondo, Wallace will not be expected to be the player he once was; he will simply be asked to knock down shots and fit in defensively, which he is more than capable of. At the full mid-level exception, Wallace might be the piece that helps the Celtics reclaim the Larry O'Brien trophy.
The only player besides Garnett, Wallace, and Pierce that are certain to be wearing green in 2010-11 is Kendrick Perkins. He took a big step forward last season, averaging 8.5 points, 8.1 rebounds, and becoming one of the best interior defenders in the League. Another year of tutelage under KG will do him wonders. For all that he brings, he'll only make $4.25 million this year and $4.4 next year.
Rajon RondoLowlights: Rajon Rondo has become an All-Star caliber player, so it's amazing that he'll only be making $2.6 million this year. That's not the lowlight; the lowlight is that the Celtics and Rondo have been unable to work out a contract extension. If a deal doesn't get done, Rondo will be a restricted free agent at season's end. He was getting "Big Four" credit for Boston's success last year and proved he deserved it with a stellar playoff performance. Of that Big Four, Rondo is the only one below the age of 30 (he's 23). Ainge's top priority should be securing Rondo to a long-term deal, but thus far, he's been unsuccessful.
If the Celtics elect to exercise team options on guys like JR Giddens and Bill Walker, and if Rondo accepts an extension or the qualifying offer, that still only gives the Celtics seven players under contract for the 2010-11 season. And because they pay Garnett and Pierce so much money, they will not have the cap space to make a significant offer to any free agent other than Ray Allen. Eddie House and Brian Scalabrine will be free agents this summer and will most likely call for more than the Celtics can afford. It will be interesting to see how the Celtics fill out their roster in 2010.
The Future: At best, it's uncertain. Sure, they'll make a title run this year. And with the Big Three and Wallace, Perkins, and Rondo in the fold, I don't doubt that they'll contend again in 2010-11, though they'll need to add some cheap help. After that, it's all up in the air. There really isn't much of a future after that two-year period. Pierce, Allen, Garnett, and Wallace are all getting old, so there's no telling what they'll be able to contribute two years from now. Rondo and Perkins are good young pieces, but neither has a long-term deal to stay with the team. Looking at the roster, there is not one player below the age of 30 that will be under contract in October 2011. That most likely means a rebuilding period in Boston, which will be easier for fans to swallow if they can add a title in the next two years.
