Celtics Pick Up Contract Options On Smart And Rozier, Pass On James Young
By Brian Robb, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) – Danny Ainge made a number of contract decisions involving four members of the Celtics roster on Monday afternoon.
First, the team announced that it has picked up options on third-year guard Marcus Smart and second-year guard Terry Rozier for the 2017-18 season. Bobby Marks of the Vertical also reported that Boston has declined to exercise the 2017-18 team option on 21-year-old swingman James Young.
The Celtics faced a midnight deadline on Monday to make a decision on all three options. The team still has until Tuesday to reach a contract extension with reserve big man Kelly Olynyk, but Adrian Wojnarowski reported last week that no deal was likely to be reached between the two sides.
Let's take a closer look at each of the decisions and what they mean for the Celtics as they build their roster for next season.
Marcus Smart – The Celtics waited until Monday to pick up this option, but this has been a sure thing for months. The former No. 6 overall pick will make $4.35 million in his fourth NBA season, making him a bargain when you look at what other young guards on non-rookie deals are making across the league with rising salary cap. The tougher question for the Celtics regarding Smart's future will come next fall, when the team faces a deadline for a rookie extension with the 22-year-old.
Terry Rozier – The first round pick out of Louisville did not show a ton of promise during his rookie season, but he's made a big leap in year two already. Cementing himself as a key cog in Brad Stevens' rotation made the team's decision to pick up his $1.99 million third-year option an easy one. With Rozier under contract, the Celtics have their top four guards (Thomas, Bradley, Rozier, Smart) all signed already for the 2017-18 season.
James Young – It's usually a mere formality for a mid first-round pick to have his fourth-year rookie option picked up by their team. That was not the case for Young, the No. 17 overall pick in the 2013 NBA Draft. After failing to show much growth during his first two NBA seasons, the swingman had to sweat out a final cut last week against fellow first round pick R.J. Hunter.
While Young's $2.9 million option for 2017-18 wouldn't be particularly costly for the Celtics under the NBA's projected $102 million salary cap, the team is hoarding all the salary cap room it can get for next summer. There's no guarantee that Young will be worth that kind of money next year, so the Celtics opted to give themselves the option to move on from him. He'll be an unrestricted free agent in 2017.
Brian Robb covers the Celtics for CBS Boston and contributes to NBA.com, among other media outlets. You can follow him on Twitter @CelticsHub.
