One option could be dumping salary sometime before Thursday’s 3 p.m. trade deadline. Separate reports suggested the Celtics could deal Jason Terry or waive Leandro Barbosa to get below the luxury tax line. A move like those might be the most likely avenue for the Celtics after Danny Ainge said Tuesday that the team was unlikely to swing a major deal.
Staying below the luxury tax line is very important to most teams now that the penalty will increase next season from the current dollar-for-dollar tax to a graduated tax. Any team that remains above the tax line the following season would be subject to the same graduated tax as well as a “repeater” penalty.
The Celtics are currently less than $2 million over the tax line. Terry makes $5 million this season and has two years remaining on his contract. Barbosa makes the veteran’s minimum of $1.2 million, but the Celtics only pay about $854,ooo of that. The league pays the rest.