Boston is over the $165.0M cap but under the $200.4M tax line, with a payroll of $198.7M. That margin is thin, and the picks and next year's contracts show how little room the club has to move.
Boston is over the cap and only just under the tax.
The payroll is $198.7M against a cap of $165.0M and a tax line of $200.4M. The first apron is $209.0M and the second is $221.7M. The club has not paid the tax this season, but it has almost no space to add salary without crossing the line. Any addition has to be matched by a subtraction. A payroll can be this close to the line by design or by accident, and the cap sheet does not say which.
Three contracts carry the sheet.
Jayson Tatum is at $58.5M, Paul George at $54.1M and Derrick White at $30.3M. Mitchell Robinson, at $15.0M, is the fourth-largest deal and Sam Hauser, at $10.8M, the fifth. Payton Pritchard is at $7.8M, and the rest of the roster is between $2.4M and $3.2M. A team built this way has little in the middle to trade.
Next season hands the decision to George.
For 2027-28 the sheet lists Tatum at $62.8M, White at $32.6M and Robinson at $15.8M. George is at $56.6M, but that is a player option, so Boston does not control it. Neemias Queta rises from $2.7M to $12.5M, and Baylor Scheierman from $2.7M to $5.0M. Mike Conley and Luka Garza are on this season's sheet and absent from next year's. Jordan Walsh is on a team option this season at $2.4M and appears next season at $4.6M. Pritchard's extension terms have not been reported, so his $8.3M for 2027-28 is the sheet's figure and not a confirmed one.
The picks offer little to trade.
Boston owns its 2027 and 2030 first-rounders, holds a protected 2028 first and has swap rights on a 2029 first. It also has a 2027 second-round swap. The 2028 second goes to San Antonio, the 2029 second to Oklahoma City and the 2030 second to Brooklyn. Those are the assets a team uses to rebalance a payroll near the tax, and the club holds few clean ones. Flexibility here is real only if the club is willing to spend picks to protect it.
Are the Celtics over the luxury tax?
No. Their payroll is $198.7M, under the $200.4M tax line, though the margin is thin.
Does Paul George have a player option?
Yes. The 2027-28 sheet lists him at $56.6M as a player option, so the decision belongs to him.
