Boston Celtics Fill Roster Spots: Here's Their Path to Staying Under the Tax

A familiar face is coming back to Boston, but he might not be here very long if the Celtics follow this plan to staying under the tax.

Dec 23, 2023; Los Angeles, California, USA; Boston Celtics guard Dalano Banton (45) before the game against the Los Angeles Clippers during warmups at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Hui-Imagn Images | Jonathan Hui-Imagn Images

The Celtics are trying to thread a needle with their two remaining roster spots, filling them according to league rules, and still staying under the tax line.

It’s a tough task, but a couple of things are in Boston’s favor: Their rotation is set so the open spots don’t impact who is playing or how good the team is, and they have just enough time under the league rules to sneak in under the wire.

They're $842,292 below the tax line, and they are taxed very specifically on all the money they actually spend during the season. So how much they pay per day matters. Today, Thursday the 19th is the first deadline they have to meet to fill two roster spots. They accomplished half of that task by signing former Celtic Dalano Banton to a 10-day contact, according to HoopsHype’s Mike Scotto. Scotto also reports the Celtics are converting two-way player John Tonje to a standard 10-day, filling their 14th roster spot. Because Tonje is a rookie, he counts for less on his 10-day.

A veteran 10-day contract is worth about $132,000. Tonje's is worth $73,000 so the Celtics will knock off $205,000 off what they have left to spend, leaving them with $637,000. They will likely let the 10-days expire because they are allowed 14 more days without filling those spots. They are allowed to go below the 14-man limit for no more than 14-straight days, and no more than 28 days during the season.

Again, because this doesn’t impact their rotation, they can play this timing game.

“There is a caveat to this,” said Spotrac’s Keith Smith on the latest Locked On Celtics podcast. “Max Shulga, because he was drafted by the Celtics, would actually count on the roster at the rookie minimum because they drafted him. So that would only be $73,000 on a 10-day, or a rest of the season signing right now would be about $400K … I think you're going to see the Celtics convert him to a rest-of-season deal because that will take up one of the roster spots on as cheap as it possibly can of a contract.”

The Celtics could do the same with recently acquired John Tonje. So let’s simplify the math, do it with round numbers, and see exactly how they make this work.

►Starting at $840,000 to spend, they sign Banton and Tonje to 10-day deals.

►Subtract $205,000, and Boston now has $637,000. If they let the 10-days expire and wait 14 days, they will have 31 days where they have fill those two spots.

►The rookie minimum contract is about $7,300 per day. Upgrading Shulga at that point, would pay him $226,300. Doing the same with Tonje pays him the same, which is a total of $452,600.

►That leaves them $184,400 of wiggle room. They can use that to reward Ron Harper Jr. or bring in another veteran in their 15th spot. If they upgrade Harper Jr. on the final day of the season, he’ll get a little extra in his pocket for that day, he’ll be eligible for the playoffs (two-way players are not eligible), and he’ll be eligible for a playoff share (which doesn’t count towards the cap).

It’s a bit of a shell game, but this is how they pull it off.