What can Celtics do with Gordon Hayward trade exception before remainder of it expires in August?
The Celtics do not have much flexibility to make improvements to their roster this offseason via the free-agent market. The team is currently projected to be in the NBA luxury tax based on their current payroll, which limits their resources to add players on the open market to the taxpayer midlevel exception ($5.9 million) along with veterans minimum contracts. Those limited options will be put to use by Bostons revamped front office this summer but will not be able to land the team a flashy upgrade in an already weak free agent market. A trade remains the better bet for a significant move. However, there is one other tool at Bostons disposal that, on the surface, looks like it may be able to help in the free-agent market despite the Celtics being over the cap. Boston still has a chunk of the Gordon Hayward trade exception remaining ($11 million) after using $17 million of it to acquire Evan Fournier for two second-round picks from the Orlando Magic back in March. That $11 million exception is bigger than the NBAs full mid-level exception ($9 million), opening the door for Boston to land a free agent with Bird Rights in a sign-and-trade, at least on paper. However, there is a major obstacle that will prevent the Celtics from taking advantage of this potential path to adding a mid-level free agent without making several other subsequent moves to the roster. The NBA collective bargaining agreement makes it very tough for teams with big payrolls to add players via a sign-and-trade. Here are two key rules about NBA sign-and-trades:  A team acquiring a free agent via sign-and-trade can not be over the tax apron after the deal is completed and is hard-capped at the apron for the following season. A sign-and-trade contract has to last for at least three years with the first year of the contract fully guaranteed. The first rule here is the big one for Boston. The apron (aka a hard cap) is something that gets triggered when a team makes certain moves in free agency. Taking part in a sign-and-trade is one of the things that puts it into effect. The Celtics were also hard capped last season after using the full mid-level exception to sign Tristan Thompson, another move that triggers it. At the moment, the Celtics payroll is currently projected to be very close to NBAs estimated $142 million apron for the 2021-22 season and thats before even trying to re-sign Evan Fournier, who is expected to command upwards of $15 million per year on the open market. The Celtics payroll squeeze will get even tighter if Jayson Tatum makes the All-NBA team, bumping his annual salary by $5.6 million next year. That announcement is due later this month. 2021-22 Celtics salaries  Kemba Walker: $36 million  Jayson Tatum: $28.1 million ($33.7 million if he makes All-NBA)  Jaylen Brown: $26.8 million  Marcus Smart: $14.3 million  Tristan Thompson: $9.7 million  Romeo Langford: $3.8 million  Rob Williams: $3.6 million  Aaron Nesmith: $3.6 million  Grant Williams: $2.6 million  Payton Pritchard: $2.1 million  Carsen Edwards: $1.7 million  No. 16 pick: $3.2 million cap hold  Jabari Parker: $2.3 million (only $100k guaranteed)  Total: $135.9 million committed to 12 player slots (including No. Essentially, Boston will not be able to use it to sign-and-trade for any free agents this summer unless they do these two things:  They find a way to cut tens of millions in salary from the payroll via trade (highly unlikely)  They pass on re-signing Evan Fournier  Dumping lots of payroll will be a big challenge for this front office without including sweeteners in the form of young players/picks and that seems like a very hefty price to pay to just acquire a player making $11 million via a sign-and-trade while also hard capping the team for the year. For that reason, its a strong bet that the Celtics will not be using this leftover Hayward trade exception (which expires in mid-August) in order to acquire a free agent this summer. That doesnt mean the team will let it go to waste though. The Celtics are still allowed to acquire players already under contract that fit into the $11 million exception without dealing with the hard cap limitations of a sign-and-trade. There is a very long list of players that fit that criteria (we will get into those later this month) but whethe any of those players will fit into Bostons sizable payroll is perhaps the bigger question if that team plans on trying to re-sign Fournier as well. The willingness of Bostons ownership to pay a big luxury tax bill will be a massive factor on this front. Either way, this leftover trade exception is one roster building tool that the team should not let go to waste with limited means available to improve the roster. However, the Celtics are going to need to give him some value (via draft picks or players) in order to use whats left of it and officially close the door on the trade return for Haywards departure.