Celtics Sign Chris Johnson To 3-Year Contract

9:29pm: Steve Bulpett of The Boston Herald tweets that it is a three year deal that’s non-guaranteed after this season.

6:33pm: Chris Johnson‘s pro-rated salary for this year is at about $320K, according to a tweet from ESPN Boston’s Chris Forsberg. That would keep the Celtics shy of paying the luxury tax, which was a consideration factoring into their decision on whether to keep Johnson.

5:54pm: The Celtics have signed Chris Johnson to a multi-year deal, per a team press release. Per team policy, the terms of the deal were not announced, so it isn’t yet known how long the contract will run. The team was considering adding one additional year beyond this season as of yesterday, and that still seems to be the most likely contract length considering Johnson’s lack of leverage to demand more years. For the same reason, it’s also likely that the additional year(s) will be non-guaranteed, which is typical for mid-season, multi-year deals like this one.

The second year small forward had played on two consecutive 10-day contracts for Boston this season, averaging 7.6 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 1.3 assists in 21.6 minutes per game, about double the production he had in his eight games with the Grizzlies last year.

Johnson is a client of Pinnacle Management Corp., whose signing gives the Celtics their 14th guaranteed contract out of a maximum 15, a fact that could be significant heading towards the trade deadline. As is, the Celtics could only receive one extra player back as part of a hypothetical trade. That, in addition to their proximity to the tax line, limits their flexibility in working transactions. This would particularly curb deals where they might take a burdensome contract off another team’s books in exchange for draft picks, as they have done with Joel Anthony and the Heat, and last summer’s blockbuster when they absorbed the lengthy, expensive Gerald Wallace contract.

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