The 18-time NBA champion Boston Celtics may have said that they do not see this season as a “rebuilding year,” but the reality is, thanks to the restrictions imposed by the new “second apron” provisions of the NBA collective bargaining agreement, president of basketball operations Brad Stevens was forced to largely dismantle the team that won the 2024 championship, and followed up with a 61-win season last year.
But on Thursday, the Celtics made a decision to retain a player who, they believe, can help them put a new winning unit back together not only with his ability on the court but with his contract, which comes at very reasonable cost.
Due to the new financial restrictions and basketball penalties imposed by the CBA for exceeding the second salary “apron,” Stevens was forced to trade away two-time All-Star point guard Jrue Holiday, and 10-year veteran “unicorn” big man Kristaps Porzingis.
Celtics Also Lost Horford, Kornet
Stevens also had little choice but to let two other key members of the Celtics 18th championship run walk away in free agency. Backup center Luke Kornet inked a deal with the San Antonio Spurs, while 39-year-old, 19-year veteran Al Horford â who was arguably the spiritual heart and soul of the team â departed for the Golden State Warriors.
Finally, in the most important loss of all, four-time All-NBA first teamer Jayson Tatum tore his Achilles tendon in a playoff game against the New York Knicks in May and will likely miss the entire 2025-2026 season.
With their recent run of successful seasons, the Celtics have not had a top 10 draft pick, or even one higher than No. 14, since they took Tatum at No. 3 in 2017. On Thursday, however, they gave a powerful vote of confidence to their 2024 first-round pick, taken at No. 30 overall out of Creighton.
Celtics Pick Up Option on First-Round Pick
According to a report by Michael Scotto of HoopsHype, the Celtics “will exercise the third-year $2.74 million team option on Baylor Scheierman for the 2026-27 season.”
The Celtics had a deadline of Friday to make a decision on whether to exercise their option to keep the 25-year-old Scheierman for a third season.
As recently as Wednesday night, following the Celtics 20-point win over the Cleveland Cavaliers at TD Garden, Scheierman told MassLive âI havenât had any conversations about that” with team officials. But the following day, Scheierman found his Celtics future secured, at least through the 2026-2027 season.
Low Cost Contract Helps Celtics Rebuild
Scheierman had an uneven rookie season, appearing in 31 games for Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla, averaging 3.6 points and 2.1 rebounds in his 12.4 minutes per game.
So far in 2025-2026, the 6-foot-6, 205-pounder has played in four of the Celtics’ five games, getting just 8.5 minutes on the floor on average.
The primary motivation for keeping Scheierman in Celtic green however, was likely financial. By exercising their option to keep the first-round draft pick, Boston owes him just $2.74 million for next season, after paying him $2.6 million this season.
“Those low-cost deals are the types of contracts the Celtics will need to fill out their roster after having a couple of supermax contracts taking up a large chunk of the cap,” wrote Brian Robb of MassLive, referring to the contracts of Tatum and 2016 No. 3 overall pick Jaylen Brown.
In 2023, Brown signed a five-year “supermax” contract extension for $285.4 million. The following year, the Celtics gave Tatum his own supermax deal, for $313.9 million over five seasons.
The team also holds an option for a fourth year on Scheierman, which will cost the Celtics $4.95 million in 2027-2028, if they choose to exercise it.
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