When their superstar Jayson Tatum suffered a catastrophic Achilles tendon tear in Game Four of the NBA Eastern Conference semifinals, all seemed lost for the Boston Celtics. And in the end, it was. But the Celtics got a one-game reprieve, largely due to a career-making performance by an unlikely player â eight-year veteran backup center Luke Kornet.
The 7-foot-2, 250-pound 29-year-old got the start in the second half of Game Five at TD Garden in Boston, and in 26 total minutes rose top two block seven shots, grab nine rebounds, and score 10 points to go with an assist and a steal, propelling the Celtics to a season-saving 127-102 win. Jared Weiss, a reporter covering the contest for The Athletic, called it Kornet’s “legacy game.”
Unfortunately for the Celtics, they still faced elimination and that happened in Game Six at Madison Square Garden. But Kornet’s “legacy game” came at a good time for his career, or at least his bank account, because his contract with Boston ended when the defending champion Celtics bowed out.
Kornet Earned Himself a Huge Raise
Kornet is now a free agent and thanks to that game and solid season overall off the Celtics bench should be looking at a substantial raise with his next contract. Heavy NBA columnist Steve Bulpett, citing a “front office source,” reported this week that Kornet is likely to be in line for a contract at about $13 million per year over a three-year contract.
Not a bad payday for a player who signed a two-way contract as an undrafted free agent with the Knicks, after four years at Vanderbilt, in 2017. In fact, Kornet is in his second stint with the Celtics, who released him in 2021.
After that, Kornet signed 10-day deals with he Cleveland Cavaliers and Milwaukee Bucks in the 2021-2022 season before the Celtics brought him back in February of 2022 for a run that took them to the NBA Finals.
That $13 million sum is the amount of this year’s Taxpayer Mid-Level Exception, or TMLE, a provision in the NBA’s convoluted collective bargaining rules that allows teams that are already over the salary cap to sign one players at a certain salary amount.
After paying Kornet just $2.8 million on his latest one-year contract in 2024-25, will the Celtics be willing to give him a $10 million raise? Despite the fact that president of basketball operations Brad Stevens said on Wednesday that keeping Kornet was a “priority,” a new prediction by Bleacher Report NBA analyst Eric Pincus sees things diffrently.
Prediction: Celtics Backup Takes Role Behind Nikola JokiÄ
According to Pincus, Kornet will leave Boston behind to sign with the team that won the NBA championship in the season before the Celtics won their record 18th banner â the Denver Nuggets.
The 2023 title was Denver’s first and only championship since the Nuggets, who started as an ABA team, joined the NBA as part of the merger between the ABA and NBA in 1976.
“Kornet may not be a starter, but he’s shown throughout the last few years that he’s a viable rotation center who can provide a defensive presence. That might be enough for a team to pay more than Boston can or will, especially with the Celtics facing massive repeater taxes, in a year when Tatum (Achilles) is unlikely to suit up,” Pincus wrote on Saturday. “Could Denver seek a better backup to Nikola JokiÄ in Kornet with the TMLE?”
In another prediction, Pincus said that the Celtics’ other free agent big man, 39-year-old 18-year veteran Al Horford â who made $9.75 million last season â will stay in Boston.
“Horford returns at a slight discount, perhaps $7-8 million,” Pincus predicted. “Boston may not be a title contender without Tatum, but the team may still compete in the East this season.”
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