Over the last two offseasons, the Boston Celtics have reshaped the roster to better combat the CBA and the various luxury tax brackets that accompany it. Boston dodged the tax last season and they’re on track to do it again.

In doing so, it would allow them to open the repeater tax, which would let them be more flexible with spending over the next few years.

Although these changes didn’t go over well with the fans, there are legitimate reasons as to why the Celtics dismantled their championship team.

The Celtics have 14 players on standard contracts and currently stand $1,705,594 under the tax. It’s possible they could add rookie Dillon Mitchell to the 15th roster spot and remain under the tax.

That said, the Celtics have historically left the 15th roster spot open throughout the season for flexibility purposes to potentially add during the season.

This has resulted in them comfortably starting the season with only 14 players on the roster, but there could still be a move for GM Brad Stevens to make this offseason, but it would put the team back over the tax and that is not what he wants.

The Celtics have a $27 million traded player exception after trading Anfernee Simons last season. It expires in February and it enables them to work a trade, but they would have to send back matching salaries in this case because of being hard-capped after signing Mitchell Robinson.

As Stevens and his front office scour the market, it’s possible they will discover that the Denver Nuggets are staring at a huge tax bill. They’d like to re-sign Peyton Watson, but they can’t without trading a player away.

It’s inevitable for the Nuggets to shed salary and it’s the Celtics that could take advantage of the situation. That said, Denver has been speculated to move on from Cam Johnson after one season. He’s signed to a $23.06 million expiring contract that would slide quite nicely into Boston’s TPE.

Johnson (6-foot-8, 210 lbs.) is coming off one of the best seasons of his career, with 48/43/84 shooting splits as a primary starter for Denver last year. He finished the season with 12.2 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 2.4 assists per game.

Johnson has floated between both forward positions, but he’s also recorded time at center throughout his career, which could be valuable for the Celtics this season.

The thing with adding an immediate impact player like Johnson is that Boston is stacked at the wing position right now. But according to HoopsHype Michael Scotto in a June report, the Celtics were one of the handful of teams that had interest in Johnson already this offseason.

It seems like Stevens is handling a double-edged sword this offseason. On one hand, his work to reshape the roster to better align with the CBA can’t go under the radar.

On the other hand, it contradicts the theory that the Celtics will add another significant piece that would possibly push them back into the tax.

I also don’t think that the Celtics want to let their TPE expire. It gives them the option of adding a player into that exception, and if it’s somebody like Johnson who’s on an expiring deal, he’ll be out of the picture by next season.

Since the Celtics have it, they should use it, otherwise it will be lost. The reluctancy to use it could be related to the draft and develop philosophy that the Celtics have thrived with over the last decade, as they continue on with their foundational pieces.

• Sam Hauser
• Jordan Walsh
• Hugo Gonzalez
• Ron Harper Jr.
• Chris Cenac Jr.*
• Dillon Mitchell*

In the end, the Celtics can make another move ahead of the season, one of significance if they choose to. Majority owner Bill Chisholm said that Stevens has the “green light” to spend in any way he feels will benefit the team, essentially clarifying that money isn’t a concern.

We’ll see what Stevens does.

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