The Celtics have been one of the most active teams at the NBA Draft, striking several deals with other teams and moving some draft picks around.
But their biggest of the night came with trading Baynes to the Phoenix Suns, in exchange for Milwaukee’s 2020 first-round pick from the Suns.
And that has made Boston’s plans for this summer quite clear.
According to ESPN’s Bobby Marks, Boston are sitting on $25.8million in cap space, if both Kyrie Irving and Al Horford leave as expected after the Baynes trade.
And that could increase to an impressive $34m if they choose not to re-sign Terry Rozier in restricted free agency.
The Celtics won’t need to start an immediate re-build, as they still have both Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, Marcus Smart and Gordon Hayward on their books.
But the cap space will give them room to compete in the deep free agency market this summer.
And their main focus will likely be to find a point guard capable of filling the shoes of Irving.
If they retain Rozier, the Celtics could target a player like Brooklyn’s D’Angelo Russell, who is expected to leave if Irving signs with the Nets.
Russell is expected to command anywhere between $20m and $26m in free agency, meaning the Celtics would be in play for him.
But if they renounce the rights to Rozier, then cap space of $34m would put them in play to sign someone like Walker.