Boston Celtics: what is the salary cap and the highest paid players?

It is a matter of idealogical dichotomy that the majority of American professional sports leagues have salary caps. Almost unheard-of internationally, it is an uncontested seed of socialism at the beating heart of the American capitalist dream. And, perhaps uncomfortably, it is generally agreed that it tends to work. Large market teams are routinely brought to book for their deep pockets and the smaller, often poorer markets remain basically competitive in a game that is being played on a tilted table.

Unlike the NFL and NHL, who have hard caps, the NBA has opted for a soft salary cap. A hard salary cap forbids teams from going above a preset number in salaries. Soft caps will allow a team to go above this limit, but will apply a set of fines, fees, or reduced privileges in free agency as a penalty. The NBA has another limit, called the Luxury Tax, and teams that go above this limit are subject to a tax on every dollar spent over it.

The Boston Celtics made some room last June when they traded their top-paid player Kemba Walker and his $37 million salary to Oklahoma City. They still have Jayson Tatum on $30 million a year and while this barely squeaks into the top 40 of NBA salaries, it is part of a Boston wage packet that sees them sitting at a total of $167.4 million for the team. With a league salary cap of $119 million, this places a financial strain on the team to find money for new signings. Moreover, with the Luxury Tax threshold at $136.6 million, the Celtics are looking to have a luxury tax bill of $9.8 million to the league this season.

Boston Celtics 2021/22 salaries