Boston Celtics: 3 big decisions that need to be made this offseason

The NBA offseason if officially upon us. With the Milwaukee Bucks taking down the Phoenix Suns in six games last night, things are going to start picking up very soon. While it isn’t necessarily a huge area of interest considering the Boston Celtics have only one pick, the NBA Draft is set to take place only eight days from now, with free agency following only a few days later.

It’s well established now that this is an extremely important offseason for the Boston Celtics. After a very disappointing season, expectations will be high for the Celtics to put together an aggressive offseason that looks to put this team back on a championship path.

That will be easier said than done however. The Celtics will basically be sitting on the sidelines for free agency, and traded away their first round pick in the draft to the Oklahoma City Thunder. The only thing they have going for them is a few trade exceptions (more on that in a minute) that should be used to help revamp their second unit.

With that being said, there are going to have to be some big decisions made this offseason to help get the Boston Celtics back on the right track. Let’s take a look at three of them, starting with the previously mentioned trade exemptions.

Boston Celtics Big Decision No. 3: What to do with Trade Exemptions

The C’s main resource for bringing in new talent this offseason is going to be their list of trade exemptions. They have a few smaller ones, but their biggest one is the $11 million exemption that is left over from the Gordon Hayward sign-and-trade from last offseason.

Since Boston is significantly over the cap, these trade exemptions will allow them to sneak a few new players onto the roster without creating salary cap chaos. The question is what will the team do with them.

We already saw a large chunk of Hayward’s get used on Even Fournier, but $11 million allows the C’s to pick up a cheap role player, which they certainly didn’t have enough of last season. After trading away Kemba Walker, the Celtics have an obvious need at guard, but a lot of the targets that fall in this salary threshold consist of big men or off ball forwards.

One of the more popular targets here would be Larry Nance Jr. of the Cleveland Cavaliers. Nance profiles as a hybrid forward/center guy who can both rebound and shoot the ball well, which are two areas of need for Boston. His $10.6 million salary fits right into the exemption, and he would be a great fit in Boston’s offense.

If they want to go with a guard, Tomas Satoransky of the Chicago Bulls would probably be the best option. Satoransky saw a sharp decline in his minutes this season, and after Chicago’s woeful finish to the season, they may be looking to unload him for picks or a different rotation player. Satoransky has hovered right around five assists per game over the past three seasons, and his playmaking would be a welcome sight for the C’s.

Regardless of what the front office decides to do with these exemptions, they are the best way for Boston to acquire talent this offseason. Boston will be active on the trade market, and what they end up doing with their trade exemptions is going to have a big impact on how their offseason goes.