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The Cap Implications of Kevin Garnett Back to the Celtics

by Dave Jacober       June 30th, 2012 5:08 PM
  • The-Cap-Implications-of-Kevin-Garnett-Back-to-the-Celtics
  • Welcome Back!//Credit: David Butler II-US PRESSWIRE

    • The drastic exhale you heard on Saturday morning was the sound of Doc Rivers and just about every Celtic fan in and around the greater Boston area. According to league sources as well as The Boston Herald, Kevin Garnett will return to the Boston Celtics with a new three-year reportedly worth $34 million. The details of the contract have yet to be released, though it's widely speculated that the third year of the contract will include a team option with minimal guarantees.

    Garrnet, 36, finished the season with a PER of 20.4 (6th among NBA Centers who averaged over 30 min per game), a plus-minus of 267, a DEFr of 94 (tying his career best), and averaged 15.8 PPG, 8.2 REB, and 3 AST per game. Once Rivers and co. moved the Big Ticket to center he flourished in the second half of the season, catapulting Boston to the Eastern Conference Finals before they were bounced by the Heat in seven games. Still, KG’s performance this season arguably one of the more intriguing storylines in the NBA, considering his age (shh he doesn’t like us to talk about the fact he’s 36).


    Credit: Gregg Cooper-USPresswire

    Perhaps the biggest implication for the Celtic's retaining KG is freeing themselves from Garnett's cap hold. For Boston, he had to be the first domino to fall in order for them to determine which path to follow in free agency this summer. Garnett's hold was an overwhelming $22.3m, which would have prohibited the Celtics from addressing any needs until the hold was released, either by KG signing with a new team, retiring, or re-upping with Boston. Again, while it's uncertain just how Garnett's deal will be structured, sources have speculated it will be in the $10-12m per year range, freeing up ample room to test the free agent waters surrounding RFAs O.J. Mayo, Robin Lopez, Omer Asik, Jerry Bayless, or Anthony Randolph, as well as UFAs Carl Landy, Brandon Bass, Jeff Green, Ersan Ilyasova, and Shannon Brown.

    Make no mistake, bringing back Garnett back is key for another Celtics’ title run, yet alleviating the strain of his cap hold this early in free agency was vital for Danny Ainge and the Celtics to be contenders in the market from day one. This will enable Ainge to rebuild Boston’s bench, which was one of the worst in basketball last season.

    As of now, the C’s have only a pedestrian ~$36m committed in salaries for the 2012-2013 season. While that number is certainly about to soar over the next few days, the Celtics front office can freely position their pieces around the board.

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