Keep this in mind when you’re trying to figure out which teams will 1) Be contenders, 2) Need to make a trade to get under the tax, and 3) Have tradeable future FRPs.

The list gets much smaller when you start to consider which of these teams actually have future FRPs to even move.

Then the list gets even smaller than that when you consider which of those teams would even want to move one of those picks.

3 comments

  1. Cleveland are going for it and they have no way of getting out of the tax this season. Depending how their season goes I do think they might make changes in summer 2026. Nets have cap space to possibly take on a contract from the Cavs.

    Warriors were out of the tax last year and they’re likely gonna be a tax paying team until 2027 when almost all their contracts expire. They’ve made so much money the past few years and the value of the franchise has risen so much the owners are okay with paying the tax.

    Suns and Denver can easily get below the tax by the deadline.

    Boston is the team in a difficult position because they’re in the repeater tax and while they’ve cut their luxury tax bill by about $250 million already they only have one way to get under the tax and that seems to be trading Af Simons to the Brooklyn Nets. Sean Marks must say the only way he will help is a 2026 unprotected first round pick. It is a steep price and the Celtics won’t want to pay it but if Boston doesn’t get under the tax they will be a tax paying team for many seasons to come stuck in the repeater tax.

    Boston needs to be out of the tax this season and next season to reset the repeater tax penalties to zero and give the team a new runway for as a competitive team without worrying about luxury tax payments or repeater tax penalties.

    Now there might be other teams that will try and get in on this deal. Utah have cap space but I believe not quite enough at the moment to absorb Af Simons from the Jazz.

    Boston has a relationship with Danny Ainge former Celtic and president of basketball with the Jazz and Ainge’s son is the GM of the Jazz and previously and until last year worked with the Celtics.

    I could imagine the Jazz and Celtics working together to find a deal to ship Simons to the Jazz without the Celtics giving up a first round pick.

  2. The Cavs tax bill is outrageous and they’re not the odds on favorite to win and not even a for sure to come out the east. Win or lose, I don’t see their management running that team back.

    The Jazz and The Nets phone is gonna be ringing off the hook come February but if I’m The Nets I’m not trading with a team if I’m not getting an unprotected FRP.

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