The Boston Celtics have agreed to trade Avery Bradley to to the Detroit Pistons in exchange for Marcus Morris, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski. The move comes days after the Celtics signed Gordon Hayward to a four-year deal, and needed to move salary in order to process the move.
Stunning trade
Recently, the Celtics were rumored to put Bradley, Jae Crowder, and Marcus Smart on the trade block. According to Hayward's contract, the Celtics were going to pay him up to $29 million this first season. The Celtics needed to clear room in order to pay him this salary.
The Celtics started by letting Kelly Olynyk walk out as he signed a four-year, $50 million contract with the Miami Heat. Then, they renounced their rights to Jared Jerebko, James Young, and Gerald Green. They are going to waive Demetrius Jackson and Jordan Mickey.
The move is surprising because Crowder seemed to be the odd man out. Hayward plays the same position as him. Plus, the team has Jaylen Brown and recently drafted Jayson Tatum in the same spot. Crowder is under contract for two more years, making about $6 million each season.
Move might allow Rozier to stay
Bradley was set to make around $8 million this season, while Morris is set to make around $5 million. If the Celtics traded Terry Rozier, then Boston was going to be about $300,000 short of paying Hayward's salary.
That is why the three players at the top were on the trade block. This move saves about three million in salary, so the Celtics might be able to keep Rozier now.
The loss of Bradley is going to hurt. Bradley was the team's best on-ball defender. He was a complementary scorer as well. The move might mean that Smart could be the team's other starting guard.
The Celtics brass must be placing faith in Rozier as their backup.
Pending free agency
Bradley and Smart are free agents after this season along with Isaiah Thomas. It was rumored that if the Celtics wanted to re-sign Bradley, Smart, and Thomas, while keeping Hayward and Al Horford on the team, the team would have a luxury tax bill of around $70 million.
The Celtics must have thought that they would not be able to afford Bradley after this season, so they might as well move on from him now. Smart can score about 10 points a night and play stellar defense. Smart came off the bench most games, but could transition into a starter's role quite nicely. The move is ironic in a way because it was Bradley that said Ainge makes the best decisions to help the team.
