This is a nice bit of work by the Boston Celtics to upgrade while saving money, and the Jazz get a little bonus for helping out.
First, the Celtics are trading veteran Georges Niang and two second-round picks as a sweetener to the Utah Jazz for RJ Luis Jr., a story broken by Shams Charania of ESPN. This was a salary dump move by the Celtics that gives them more room below the second apron of the luxury tax and saves them more than $40 million in salary and tax (due to the repeater tax), and it sends Niang back to the team he played four seasons with from 2018 through 2021.
Then the Celtics used that freed-up cap space to sign veteran big man Chris Boucher for the veteran minimum, a story also broken by ESPN’s Charania. This was an upgrade for Boston — Boucher was one of the best free agents still available. He is a veteran, rotation-level stretch four who averaged 10 points and 4.5 rebounds a game last season for Toronto, while shooting 36.3% on nearly four 3-pointers a game. On a Boston team that is a little thin across the front line, Boucher becomes a valuable player for them. Also, Boucher and Payton Pritchard were teammates for a season at Oregon.
Luis Jr. is on a two-way contract and will fill the Celtics’ final open two-way slot. Last season, he played at St. John’s, where he averaged 18.2 points and 7.2 rebounds per game.
Utah gets two second-round picks and brings in Niang using the John Collins trade exception they had. Niang is an expiring $8.
Niang, who is on an expiring $8.2 million contract, averaged 9.9 points a game last season between Cleveland and Atlanta, averaging 21 minutes a night off the bench (Niang ended up in Boston as part of the Kristap Porzingis to the Hawks trade). “The Minivan” is the kind of reliable veteran stretch four a playoff team likely will want to add to the roster, so look for the Jazz to flip him somewhere before the trade deadline.
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