In a span of just over 36 hours, the Cleveland Cavaliers acquired and then traded away veteran shooting guard Keith Bogans, who was hardly a memory for the Boston Celtics last season.
Bogans moving from Boston to Cleveland and now to the Philadelphia 76ers has nothing to do with the game of basketball that takes place on the hardwood.
For the 34-year-old veteran, being bounced around for purposes other than his play is nothing new. In reality, Bogans might have found himself on the fringes of the league in 2013, if not for the Brooklyn Nets trying to acquire Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett from the Celtics. To facilitate that deal, Bogans was signed-and-traded on a three-year, $15.9 million contract, the first year of which was fully guaranteed, as it had to be under the rules of a sign-and-trade contract.
Bogans was paid $5.1 million last season to sit on the bench and at home all so a trade could work legally under the rules of the CBA. Without Bogans, the Celtics couldn't have unloaded Jason Terry and his long-term, guaranteed money in the trade, so while they paid Bogans handsomely to play just 55 minutes – almost $100,000 a minute – they saved cash in the long-run.
That's because the final two years of the deal were not guaranteed. That fact is also why Bogans has suddenly become a hot trade chip.
The Cavaliers have traded 3 picks and 4 players for a TPE
As a refresher, here are the two deals involving Bogans from this week:
- The Cavaliers trade Erik Murphy, John Lucas III, Malcolm Thomas, Dwight Powell, Sacramento's second-round picks in 2016 and 2017 to Boston for Bogans.
- The Cavaliers trade Bogans and a 2018 second-round pick to Philadelphia for a protected 2015 second-round pick they'll never see.
In the first deal, the Celtics created a trade exception for themselves by structuring the trade into multiple, non-simultaneous deals. They now have one year to use the trade exception, worth $5.3 million, and picked up some picks and a useful player in Powell as a kicker.
The 76ers were then essentially paid a pick to help the Cavaliers create a similar trade exception. In the meantime, the 76ers can waive Bogans's unguaranteed salary and owe him nothing, or, since they're well below the salary floor anyway, hold on to Bogans and look to use him in a similar manner next season.
The Cavaliers' perspective is far more interesting here. Combining the two trades, the Cavs surrendered Murphy and Lucas (roster fodder), Thomas (a flier with some potential), Powell (a second-round pick from June), and three second-round picks, all to wind up with a $5.3 million trade exception.
A trade exception versus an unguaranteed salary
Had the Cavaliers held on to Bogans, they would have entered next summer with a pair of unnguaranteed contracts (in Bogans and Brendan Haywood) worth a combined $16 million. Those contracts could have been combined and used for salary-matching in a trade for a high-priced player, allowing the other team in a trade to clear a huge chunk of salary (by subsequently waiving the players without guarantees).
A traded player exception still holds value, but it comes with three disadvantages: it expires in 365 days, it can't be combined with a player or another exception to acquire a player with a higher salary, and it can be used to bring back just $5.4 million in salary, whereas Bogans's deal could have brought back $6.6 million.
The Cavs went from having two major trade chips they could combine to create an enormous trade chip to having two separate, but still appreciable, chips.
The long-view and the luxury tax
On the surface, it seems like a questionable course of action for the Cavaliers. They've dealt three picks and four players for a trade exception that was, in trade terms, less valuable than the player they had acquired earlier in the process.
The most obvious reason for dealing Bogans for an exception is that an exception doesn't use up a roster spot, meaning the Cavaliers can now replace Bogans with someone they actually intend to use.
The second reason is that while Bogans's deal is nonguaranteed, it counts on the books for as long as he's on the roster. If the plan was to hold Bogans to use next summer, that means the Cavs would be paying him all season, with his salary counting toward the luxury tax.
Now, the Cavs are beneath the luxury tax. They could pay the tax, of course, but the Cavs are smart to avoid becoming taxpayers now while they don't have to, as the penalties for "repeaters" under the tax are very prohibitive. They're going to be taxpayers eventually if they plan to continue to build around the team's core, but there's no reason to start tallying a tax bill and having your player movement restricted until you absolutely have to.
Where the Cavs stand
Turning Bogans into a TPE gives the Cavaliers a roster spot and gives them breathing room with the luxury tax. The cost is the expiration date on the TPE and the inability to combine Bogans's deal with Haywood's next summer, limiting their options.
It's a complicated dance, with so many areas to consider. The Cavaliers now find themselves below the luxury tax, with an extra roster spot, and with a sizeable TPE. The TPE and Haywood's deal, separately, could net usable pieces, and the team can build next summer without concern for the repeater tax.
The question then becomes if the loss of flexibility, players and second-round picks is worth avoiding the tax and opening a roster spot, which can really only be answered retrospectively.
