JULY 12: The Mavericks, Celtics, and Spurs have put out press releases officially confirming that their three-team deal is official. The terms of the deal are as follows:
- Mavericks acquire Williams (via sign-and-trade), the Spurs’ 2025 second-round pick, and the Spurs’ 2028 second-round pick.
- Spurs acquire Bullock and the right to swap 2030 first-round picks with the Mavericks.
- Celtics acquire either the Pelicans’ or Bulls’ 2024 second-round pick (whichever is more favorable; from Spurs), the Mavericks’ 2030 second-round pick, and the right to swap the most favorable of the Wizards’, Warriors’, and Pistons’ 2025 second-round picks with the Mavericks’ 2025 second-round pick.
JULY 5: The Mavericks, Celtics and Spurs are finalizing a three-team trade that will send restricted free agent forward Grant Williams to Dallas, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter links).
According to Charania, the Spurs will receive Reggie Bullock and an unprotected 2030 pick swap from the Mavs, while the Celtics will receive multiple second-round picks.
Charania hears Williams will receive a four-year, $54MM contract as part of the transaction, while ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski has heard (via Twitter) it’s $53MM. The deal is fully guaranteed and does not feature any options, sources tell Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link).
The Celtics and Mavericks will each receive two second-rounders as part of the trade, Wojnarowski reports (Twitter link). According to Adam Himmselsbach of The Boston Globe, the Celtics will also receive a 2025 second-round pick swap (Twitter link).
Interestingly, the reported figure Williams will receive is the value of the non-taxpayer mid-level exception, which will be worth $53.34MM over four years. However, since the Mavs are acquiring him via sign-and-trade, they will preserve their MLE and still have “strong interest” in using it to sign restricted free agent Matisse Thybulle to an offer sheet, per Marc Stein (Twitter links). Dallas will be hard-capped at the first luxury tax apron due to the sign-and-trade, Stein notes.
ESPN’s Bobby Marks has a detailed list of the cap complications from the deal (via Twitter). The Mavs are approximately $9MM below the first apron, so they’ll have to clear some additional cap space to have access to the full MLE, which starts at $12.4MM in 2023/24.
They could open up an additional $3.4MM — the exact difference between those two figures — by releasing JaVale McGee and using the stretch provision on his contract, Marks adds. Dallas will also generate a $10.5MM trade exception, equivalent to Bullock’s outgoing salary.
The Celtics, meanwhile, will create a $6.2MM trade exception of their own, which is half of Williams’ projected salary. It would have cost Boston $40MM against the luxury tax to pay Williams’ salary, per Marks.
As for the Spurs, they’ll use some of their cap room to accommodate Bullocks’ $10.5MM salary, according to Marks, who notes they’ll have about $12.5MM in space remaining after the deal.
Himmelsbach was the first to point out (via Twitter) that Williams’ contract is right in the ballpark of what he was rumored to be seeking in an extension before the ’22/23 season started. Jared Weiss of The Athletic hears (Twitter link) the Celtics were willing to meet Williams’ asking price in the fall, but only if the deal included incentives.
Williams, 24, just completed his rookie scale contract and hit restricted free agency after four seasons with Boston. He turned himself into a valuable 3-and-D player in recent years, playing an important role in helping the Celtics make the Finals and Eastern Conference finals the past two seasons.
Since the start of ’21/22, Williams averaged 8.0 PPG and 4.1 RPG on .464/.403/.829 shooting in 156 games (44 starts, 25.1 MPG). His versatile defense was particularly essential in the postseason, and he could be a nice complementary fit next to Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, who aren’t known for their play on that end. It’s also worth noting that Williams is from Houston, about 240 miles from Dallas.
Veteran wing Bullock, 32, is another 3-and-D player who often guards top perimeter players, though his defense slipped a bit last season to my eyes (Bullock’s 116.5 defensive rating was 0.4 worse than the team’s 25th-ranked D at 116.1). He has been a rotation regular over the past two seasons for Dallas and is a career 38.4% shooter from behind the arc.
As Marks noted, paying Williams would have been exorbitantly expensive, but he will be missed. His departure seemed likely after the Celtics acquired Kristaps Porzingis and his $36MM deal in a trade. They’ll reportedly receive some draft compensation to try and recoup some value in the sign-and-trade (they were rumored to be looking for a first-round pick).
Exactly what the mavs need, players who aren’t allergic to defense.
The best trade so far
All 3 teams and Williams are winning
Win Win Win Win
The Celtics lost a key piece in their rotation and get a bunch of 2ndnrd picks. They’re not winning.
Celtics won that big time. Williams was gone after boston picked up Kp. Kp better play plus boston got picks as he was leaving
The acquisition of Porziņģis has no effect on Williams. Porziņģis is a starter, Williams usually came off the bench. New rotation will be White, Brown, Tatum, Porziņģis, Horford/R. Williams then Brogdan. They might have to give playing time to Luke Kornet, that’s definitely a big L.
Big W if they are able to retain everyone else because they didn’t sign Grant Williams…
Fine. This Celtic fan likes Luke Kornet.
Pritchard and houser are still on team b4 kornet lol
I like Pritchard a lot. He needs his chance. And maybe Hauser is still developing. Happy Celts still have all 3, including Luke!
That’s NOT a win. KP does NOT play with the physicality Williams did. Plus, KP is an injury waiting to happen. Would’ve been nice for them to have Williams around for depth or small ball lineups. Not sure the economics Boston faced to keep him but it is not a good day for Boston.
One could make the argument that Williams brought the Heat back to life as he lit a fire under Butler with his trash talking. The kid got owned, even if his defense is solid.
Reality is no one in their right mind is going to not take KP over Williams. KP opens up the floor, blocks and rebounds. His numbers were solid last year and the games he missed were…well, let’s face it, he was playing in Washington. They didn’t want to injure their asset for a potential trade. Williams is a loss off the bench, no question, but that starting lineup and either Horford and Robert W off the bench keeps Tatum at the three and the height mismatches are going to be nuts. Brown, White and Brogdon rotating the backcourt is solid. Personally, I like what Boston has done this off-season.
Sure, Celts will miss Grant! But we gotta try something new to get us over the top.
They would have been losing if they paid Williams that much. Dallas fans will be complaining soon,
Celts coach started sitting Grant so he was not going to be in the rotation next season. And we have lots of new guys who need playing time while 2nd rounders are going to be valuable going forward. Training camp will provide a quite new rotation. Trust in Stevens.
Celtics loosing again. Not Smart
Losing? Celts have been near the top for years now. Adding a 7’3′, 20 point scorer, who shoots threes may be what gets us that title.
Yes I spelled it wrong. I had a hater be rude about it. Yes losing for losing Smart and Williams. They could of kept both but the Celtics think picks are more important smh. Picks are more important than anything coming from the Celtics
If they manage to add Grant and Thybulle they could be pretty good.
I would assume this means they Mavs aren’t signing Thybulle to an offer sheet as it was expected they would be using their MLE or part of it to sign him. Now that’s going to Grant.
Essentially they’re trading Reggie Bullock for Grant williams. They can still go get Matisse Thybulle.
I have the advantage of the article above expanding a little since you wrote your post.
They can offer 9M per before the first apron, which I assume will be the case. Or they use their new 2nd round picks to dump Javale and offer the 12M full
I don’t get this from Dallas’ perspective. Why not just make an RFA offer on Grant directly?
Was this really just about eliminating the 10% chance that Celtics drive the price up?
Dallas gets to keep their MLE now for another player. They have no cap space to offer.
As article states, they are preserving their MLE for the offer they already made to Thybulle.
Thanks. The entire second half of the article didn’t exist at the time I asked.
Thought it was pretty obv C s weren’t gonna take back a dime and SAS would be the huckleberry –
Not in love with the Dallas org on a whole but they have had a great 3 weeks
Best case ( realistic ) scenario for Bos ( another amazing 3 weeks ) good work by Dallas and at least the 30 unprotected swap is interesting fir Sas here ( haven’t liked their last week tbh tho
Dallas still retains the full mle as well, savvy work by Dal /now stretch ( limo ) Javale back to La please
The Spurs are not Huckleberries here, though they were useful to the other teams. They need to get to the salary floor or they will lose some benefits of receiving luxury tax payments.
I was actually trying to be nice , dumping ground came to mind as well , Wall Street brokers,
Understand the nuisances of the low bar, guess I was just holding out hope for more
The rfa boogie man turned out to be Casper , aggressive teams w a pulse ( *and ability )to punch up reaped the benefit(Dal)
They have all year to do that
Nope, not with the new CBA. They have to get above the salary floor before the start of the regular season
Ok. But now Spurs sent out 4 2nd rounders for Bullock and that pick swap.
I many salary dump scenarios they couldve actually gotten some picks.
If it’s the mid-level exception, I gather the Bullock move was more about the roster spot. However, it could also be about generating a trade exception to absorb the contract of someone else.
I’m probably in the way minority here, but I’d rather have just kept Bullock.
Reggie was absolutely terrible defensively last year. He is on an expiring deal and 32. Williams is more versatile and is only 24 years old.
I don’t disagree there, but you don’t see teams giving up an unprotected pick swap for an expiring contract very often. It’s not an insignificant risk, particularly with the way the organization has been run in recent years (though they’ve done better this offseason). I know it’s 7 years down the line, but still.
Then again, the better they can be in the short/medium term, the more likely Luka stays. And if Luka stays, it’s far less likely they ever bottom out.
I agree with that!
Same applies to the Spurs with Wemby but it’s hard to predict what will happen seven years from now.
Ya but you’re also giving up an asset and paying Williams for 4 years now. I’m mostly just not sold on Williams being that good.
But they will also be able to see if Williams develops, the whole league knows what Bullock is at this point
Grant being bulky can’t really get much quicker I’d vouch. He may be at his prime.
Celts Coach Mazzulla didn’t seem to like Grant, sat him in the Playoffs, until he had to play him.
It’s a good deal for Dallas, because they desperately need stronger defenders. Williams fits perfectly for what Dallas needs around Kyrie and Doncic..
They also overpaid Williams, but that was the price of doing business and acquiring their need. That being said, Williams is only 24, and it isn’t impossible that he can improve his game and become more than just a 3&D “big.”
Either way, this was the only way that Dallas was going to be able to acquire Williams and still have a shot of acquiring Thybuille or however you spell his name..
He’s really only a versatile perimeter defender, and struggles offensively, but he’s also excellent at what he does and that is precisely what Dallas needs. Signing Thybuille would really round out what Dallas needs on their roster, and that’s a very strong and versatile perimeter defender.
If the Mavs can add Thybuille along with their additions of Lively, Williams, and don’t overlook their addition of Olivier-Maxence Prosper, the Mavs will have definitely, significantly improved their frontcourt and backcourt defense for the upcoming season.
Whether it is Williams hitting corner threes, Lively getting some alley-oops, or Thybuille and Prosper getting clean looks cutting to the basket, Dallas’ “defense-first” players should all really thrive alongside Luka and Kyrie offensively.
I really like what Dallas has been able to do, even if they’re likely to have to overpay to acquire both Williams and Thybuille. Dallas is going to really be an interesting team to follow next season to see how J.Kidd is able to mix and match his rotations, and to see how their team meshes and ultimately how everything comes together on the court.
You will definitely be in the majority with Mavs fans.
The pick swap to me would be the only scary thing. If Luka and Kyrie are gone that’s a top pick gone. Unless San Antonio is still really bad at that time too.
Major upgrade on bullock. Hope Mavs don’t take tybulle. Great defender, but on offense his guy will lay back and double team.
Grant Williams is a change maker for Dallas.
A backcourt formed by Doncic, Irving and a chair would still be formidable offensively. Plus they also got Seth Curry. They just need as much defense as they can get, hence Thybulle would be a great pick.
The Mavs only have 2030 second round to offer. The second rounds are coming from the spurs.
CORRECTION: The Mavs were ALREADY hard capped by using the Bi-Annual Exception to sign Seth Curry.
This S&T doesn’t affect their status because the status a S&T applies had already been applied to them.
The hard cap is at the first tax apron, correct?
Yes. $172,294,000.
The Hard Cap is triggered by: using the non-taxpayer MLE, using the bi-annual exception, or acquiring a player via S&T.
That signing isn’t official yet though, and could still be completed using the MLE if they don’t end up getting Thybulle. The sign-and-trade guarantees they’ll be hard-capped.
I hope it’s PJ and not Thybulle
Good signing all around.
I hope it’s PJ Washington next. Not Thybulle.
Thybulle make more sense now that they have Williams. Kyrie and Luka need someone to come off the bench that can play defense.
Surprised the C’s don’t take back Bullock he wouldn’t be bad for them as cheap depth
However I have bagged a lot of the Dallas moves recently. However this one and the Thybulle moves do seem like steps in the right direction.
Kyrie Luka Curry Green Hardy Thybulle THJ Grant Kleber Lively Powell McGee
A lot of names, very guard heavy, and although I like some of the moves I still have some big doubts….
Thybulle offers next to nothing offensively, Curry offers next to nothing defensively, Grant is a good two way 3 and D forward but I feel like the role he could be signing up for he won’t be able to fill. Lively is so raw, he averaged like 20 minutes a game in college for 5 points, he’s going to need minutes before you want to see results…
I’d give it a near 10/10 if your a young team trying to add young pieces and get better but for a team with championship aspirations it’s not at that level. Ofcourse the offseason isn’t over and expect more moves but Dallas still needs to do like 2 big moves before I’m a believer.
For example I think instead of Powell and Lively being your centres you need a uh experienced vet that can tidy everything up inside. Clint Capela, Jusif Nurkic and Big V all come to mind.
Then have Lively as the understudy to that vet and providing some impact from the bench.
I’d also look to move off THJ, considering you have Luka and Kyrie you don’t need that third ball handler, shot chucker that won’t play defence.
Instead I’d be looking to add another vet, this time a 3 and D forward to pair with Grant, Thybulle and co. DeAndre Hunter, Harrison Barnes, Bogi, Hayward, Tobias, heck maybe even Marcus Morris if your desperate.
Ideal world,
Hayward for THJ, McGee and Josh Green
Then
Nurkic for Holmes
Line up
Kyrie Luka Hayward Grant Nurkic
Curry Hardy Thybulle Kleber Lively
OMP Powell
Something like that I would consider a decent upgrade and a good offseason
Celtics have now become the softest team in the league. Who do they have that has any toughness? Pritchard? Griffin? Guys who don’t get into games.
I don’t think Griffin is on the roster any longer and I’m sure Pritchard will get dealt at some point this year
Depends on what Boston does with Brogdon.
They are clearly trying to rid themselves of Brogdon, unless they decided they are happy with him if Smart is not there?
I think Boston wants to move Brogdon though, and in that case Pritchard would be needed.
Celtics training camp should prove competitive with point guards Payton Pritchard, JD Davison and now Dalano Banton competing to back up Malcolm Brogdon & Derrick White. And Jaylen Brown will play the shooting guard position. Can’t wait!
Yeah, cuz Grant Williams is tough?
What?
Good point.
How does this benefit all three teams? I agree it does for the Mavs, but it’s mediocre for the C’s and of no benefit for the Spurs. A pick swap six seasons down the road? I know the Spurs have cap space to absorb Bullock’s contract, but they need to get a second out of this to make any sense at all.
There are younger guys that fit the Spurs timeline in FA that would be a better spend than taking on Bullock’s contract for what is effectively a crapshoot. Spend some money on Ayo, they need a backup 1/2 guard anyway. Go get Bol, see how much of his potential you can get out of him. Heck, take Grant Williams in the sign and trade instead of facilitating him to Dallas. He’s 24, so he fits the timeline.
So far the Spurs have taken on approximately $19M worth of contracts for a 2030 second and a 2030 pick swap! Will any one of Cedi, Lamar or Reggie even play for the Spurs this year?
Teams don’t give out unprotected firsts lightly. To potentially get one for Reggie Bullock (and maybe a 2nd, depending on the exact details) is a very nice get. The team is still in rebuild mode, hasn’t reached the salary floor, and he’s on an expiring deal, so who cares about the exact cost? The whole point of having that cap space in the first place was to grease the wheels in deals like this one while not impacting the future.
The Celtics, meanwhile, didn’t want to match for Grant, but still got something out of it.
So, yes, it’s a win for all parties, just some more than others.
That unprotected swap is worth 4 2nds imo
Bos didn’t have room to take money , thank Silver here
Props to Dal for being aggressive while still patient in a bad market and sill being able to team build w out overextending, it’s been a while since they’ve had an off-season like that, maybe sone Fresh minds are getting more pull somewhere up in that front office
The unprotected swap is only worth it if the Spurs are better than the Mavs at that time. There’s no guarantee that either Doncic or Wemby will be on either the Mavs or the Spurs seven years from now.
How is an unprotected pick swap worth the same as four seconds? That’s ludicrous. It is literally a 50/50 chance that it is of any benefit, and it’s in 2030, which is literally seven seasons down the road. The Mavs may be bad? Who knows, Kyrie will be retired by that point, Luca will be on another team potentially, but the Mavs could be the best team in the league as well.
Look at who fell into the second round this year that were projected to be first round picks, some even mid-first rounders:
Rayan Rupert
Leonard Miller
Maxwell Lewis
GG Jackson
Trayce Jackson-Davis
Also, with the new 2nd round four year contract rule, teams are going to trade out of the 1st round and pick up guys in the 2nd that are 1st round talents more frequently.
Here’s a list off the Spurs best 2nd round picks:
Tre Jones
Goran Dragic
Luis Scola
Manu Ginobili
Kevin Duckworth
Tyrone Corbin
Davis Bertans
Not a bad group there. And, don’t want to forget these second rounders.
Jokic
Hornacek
Kukoc
Arenas
Price
Cheeks
M Gasol
Dray
Rodman
Rivers
Millsap
Andrew Nembhard and Jaylin Williams, both 2nd round picks last year didn’t have bad rookie seasons did they?
Yup and the.chance it hits is worth more than 4 seconds even factoring the 50/50 chance it doesn’t transfer- especially looking at SAS asset pool to date which is no need of 2nd rders
* your listing the greatest hits list From the 2nd rd ? I don’t think teams view them in that light but it’s a nice list
We don’t even know if the Spurs are providing all 4 seconds to begin with, or where they can reasonably be expected to fall. If some of those picks are likely to be 45+, I consider those pretty worthless. Anything from 30-40 could be useful but, again, we have to see the full details here.
Bottom line is the chance at an unprotected first is a worthwhile risk, particularly when there’s so much uncertainty surrounding where it could fall.
Think I’m inclined to agree with you. We now know it’s 3 seconds from the Spurs. Even if all three land at slot 31 in the year they convey, don’t you have to take the unprotected 1st swap? Its like insurance. You pay for it, even if it doesnt convey because the value of it conveying is worth far more than the cost to get it.
That’s before taking into consideration the new CBA. They’ll likely get more cash out of being over the salary floor than they would have gotten selling off those seconds. Floor didn’t use to have much teeth. You just gave your guys a nice bonus to cover the difference from your payroll and the floor. Now teams below the floor can’t collect tax revenues, and are limited in how they can sign inseason free agents. Last year those tax revenue payouts were supposedly over 14MM. What’s a 2nd go for? 2MM? 3? Feel like on money alone it’s a win for the Spurs who get an unprotected 1st pick swap and a random serviceable dude as icing on the cake.
Looks like Brad Stevens’ Celtics strategy is to surround their stars with lower cost 2nd round picks for years to come. I like it.
The roster is already full of young players with potential as it is, and that doesn’t even include the significant remaining draft capital the team possesses over the next few years. Exactly how do you expect the Spurs to make all of those picks with little to no roster spots possibly available? They were destined to be traded at some point. And the front office decided to swing for the fences now.
Wonder if Bullock will get bought out.
He might be kept to reach the salary floor…
He could be released with the Spurs eating his salary without the stretch provision. They may keep him though.
They should keep Bullock and use his salary in a subsequent trade or go for a buy out after the trade deadline.
I am glad that Boston got rid of Williams, he is way over rated and is now being over payed! Dallas will regret this!
Exactly how can one be way overrated when they would only be making 13-14MM a year in the current spending environment? Are you saying he’s worth, like, 6MM a year? I doubt it. He doesn’t need to do a ton to at least come close to being ballpark worth this amount. Just hit some threes and defend.
The Celtics didn’t match because of the luxury tax implications. It’s as simple as that. If they had the space to keep him, I imagine they would.
Didn’t match because he didn’t sign offer sheet
You’re right. My bad!
This is a real head scratcher…
I don’t get it for the Mavs…
I don’t get it for the Celtics…
I barely get it for the Spurs… Salary floor…
It makes no sense for Boston to grab 2nd round picks and lose that much of their cap…
And Dallas just made a move that stops them from adding any real talent to their front court that has size to fix their rebounding woes… Williams is a great role player and defender, but he’s not level of big man that Dallas needed…
But as long as Dallas have Kyrie they aren’t going anywhere…
The Celtics didn’t; want to pay 16M a year for Williams so they got two second round picks out of it.
What’s confusing?
They are trying to win a title…
What can they get for 2 second round picks that helps them win now?
Really not a huge fan of Boston’s offseason. On paper in some ways they’re better but losing Smart & Williams removes a lot of grit from the team. They won’t make the finals
Oh.
27 other teams make the finals either.
Ryan, can you let us know which other 27 teams wont make it?
What is your opinion on Porzingis?
If the Mavs release McGee Kerr might make 8Rings happy and sign an actual center! Personally wouldn’t mind ig McGee was on the roster. Not sure what he has to add but knows our game
Helps Dallas but more if they sign Thybulle. Otherwise it’s one good defender for another (Reggie is gone). Considering his age Williams is an upgrade.
They dump McGee …….. I can see Lakers and Nets going after him.
Trade exceptions and all that is interesting stuff.
Are 2nd round picks even worth it for the Celtics?
Idk we’ll find out lol what I do know is with the new CBA they’re probably more valuable than they we’re before. But in my opinion they’re only really valuable if you can draft somebody that can be at least a decent starting level player or somebody who can be apart of you’re playoff bench rotation.
I still think Brad is gonna make another great signing in my opinion because I doubt we’re gonna go into next season with Al, Rob, Luke Kornet and Porzingis as our only Bigs when we all know neither one of them are gonna play all 82 games even if they’re a 100% healthy throughout next season. So the most we can hope as C’s fans is for all of them to play 70 or maybe 75 games at most.
Maybe they’ll sign JaMychal Green.
Garbage
They could go for one of the bigs the Pistons have?
That’s got me stumped as well…
Could they even get a decent role player for that?
Most 2nd round picks go for other picks or cash on draft night…
Celtics just trade J brown for Chris Paul and picks. Also trade Tatum for bertans, gay and picks. Draft picks seem to be the most important priority this off-season. Trade Brogdon and picks but Instead they traded Marcus Smart.(heart and soul) naaaw we want picks more. Grant Williams who they drafted. Naaaw we want picks more