The Boston Celtics may not be getting the draft pick they were hoping for in shopping veteran shooting guard Keith Bogans, but they now appear set to at least receive some end-of-the-roster fliers in return.
The Celtics will reportedly send Bogans to the Cleveland Cavaliers for Erik Murphy, John Lucas III and Malcolm Thomas, according to ESPN's Marc Stein. ESPN's Jeff Goodman reports that second-round pick Dwight Powell and two second-round picks (in 2016 and 2017, both originally from Sacramento) are also headed to Boston.
Later on Thursday, the Celtics confirmed the trade, also announcing they have waived Chris Babb and Chris Johnson in the resultant roster crunch.
If this strikes you as a strange move for the Cavaliers considering that Bogans is 34 years old, barely played last season, and projects as, at best, an end-of-the-bench floor spacer, it's worth turning an eye to the future. Bogans's contract pays him $5.29 million this season, an expensive price for his production, but it's unguaranteed, as is his $5.51 million salary for 2015-16.
Essentially, the Cavs are acquiring a major trade chip in Bogans's unguaranteed salary for next season. Between him and Brendan Haywood, the Cavaliers will have $16 million in unguaranteed contracts that they can offer to teams as salary relief in trades. Basically, the Bogans-Haywood pairing, while perhaps useful as veterans deep on the roster, makes for one enormous trade exception for next summer.
From the Celtics' side, Bogans was expendable anyway, and they receive three unguaranteed contracts in return. Lucas is probably not long for the roster, but Murphy and Thomas are worth a look in training camp, as they're just 23 and 25, respectively.
More importantly for Boston, Powell could be a player. Selected 45th overall out of Stanford, the Canadian power forward has a sizable set of tools, with length, range and a sharp handle, but he never really "put it together" at Stanford. He's an interesting flier and the only player in the deal they couldn't have acquired off of the waiver heap, so he appears to be the key from Boston's perspective.
But again, the Cavaliers are the story here. With LeBron James, Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving all set to be earning their respective maximums next season, the Cavs now have a $16 million trade chip to help them further add to the core, even if they're over the salary cap.
