The Celtics continued their moves Thursday, trading Josh Minott to the Nets. ESPN’s Shams Charania was the first to report the news. That comes after the C’s traded Chris Boucher to the Jazz earlier Thursday.
Minott, 23, signed with the Celtics over the offseason after beginning his career with the Timberwolves. He had a nice stretch to open the year, starting 10 games and looking like a real contributor. Minott was a high-energy, athletic wing who played hard in the first real minutes of his career.
But Minott fell out of the rotation in recent months, including a lengthy stint on the injury report with an ankle sprain. He averaged 5.8 points and 3.6 rebounds in 33 games (10 starts) for the Celtics this season. Minott will get a chance at playing time in Brooklyn now.
The Celtics open another roster spot by moving Minott. They already filled one of those openings by agreeing to sign Amari Williams to a two-way deal per Marc Stein of ESPN. However, the move to trade away Minott appears to be motivated by Boston’s standing in the luxury tax. By trading Minott and other minimum-salaried players before Thursday’s deadline, they sneak under the luxury tax line for this season and start the process of resetting the repeater tax penalties. Boston will need to stay out of the luxury tax for this season and next season to start that process.
