“The Boston Celtics finally completed their draft night trade with the Memphis Grizzlies, but with a twist. Boston will send Enes Kanter, who recently opted in for just over $5 million for the 2020-21 season, to the Portland Trail Blazers in a three-team deal.

The deal will also see Boston send the draft rights to Desmond Bane to Memphis. Bane was drafted with the 30th pick in the 2020 NBA Draft.

Kanter played one season in Boston and averaged 8.1 points and 7.4 rebounds per game. He played 16.9 minutes per game, mostly as a backup to Daniel Theis.

In 23 games with the Trail Blazers at the end of the 2018-19 season, Kanter averaged 13.1 points and 8.6 rebounds. He then started for Portland during the 2019 playoffs after Jusuf Nurkic was injured.

Boston will create a trade exception of $4.767 million in this deal, as they are taking no salary back for Kanter.

This deal, combined with the recent opt out decision by Gordon Hayward, has Boston well below the luxury tax. That gives Boston plenty of wiggle room to use the full Non-Taxpayer Mid-Level Exception of $9.258 million, as well as possibly the Bi-Annual Exception of $3.623 million.

In addition, the increased flexibility creates room for a potential sign and trade involving Gordon Hayward. That would allow the Celtics to take back additional salary in a deal. Or if Hayward re-signs in Boston, the Celtics could still have the ability to use the full MLE without worry of crossing over the hard cap.

Because this transaction between Boston, Memphis and Portland is taking place at the tail end of the 2019-20 league year, it is now official. Free agent negotiations open at 6:00 PM ET on Friday evening, and then the league year changes over on Sunday, November 21 at 12:01 PM ET.”

Much like the NFL, potential game suspensions or postponements will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. NFL teams have tried to play through the schedule when only a handful of players test positive in an organization, but schedules have had to be altered in outbreak situations.Memphis Grizzlies Face Masks

The “Seven-Eight Game” will be between the teams ranked seventh and eighth, while the “Nine-Ten Game” will feature the teams ranked ninth and 10th. The winner of the Seven-Eight Game will advance to the playoffs as the No. 7 seed. The loser will host the winner of the Nine-Ten Game, and then the winner of that contest will get the eighth seed in the playoffs.

“He is doing an amazing job behind the scenes trying to help out. Trying to lend his voice to change. It’s great to have support from a brother like that in everything you do, especially when you are trying to change the world,” Towns said.Detroit Pistons Face Masks

That’s not to say that Ainge is perfect and never makes mistakes (I really wish he had addressed the bench more last season, I don’t know how he hasn’t consolidated picks in the last few years, his recent record of mid-to-late draft picks has been suspect). I mean, if Hayward was willing to take $20M less to go home to Indy and the deal fell through because Ainge got greedy, that’s certainly an “L” (as they say). That’s a big “if” though and I kind of doubt it played out that way. Charlotte came with the big bags of cash late in the game and that was the end. Good for Gordon and his agent.Sacramento Kings Face Masks

It’s the same awkward dance that is going on throughout the NBA this season pertaining to injury updates and players’ privacy. Kerr knows that the uncertain nature of the virus makes it something that will hover over the league all season.Washington Wizards Face Masks

In the past, there was no limit on how many people teams wanted to have along on trips; it was strictly a matter of how many they were willing to pay for to take on the road. Now, though, there is a hard limit of 45 people who can be part of the travel party. For some teams, that won’t matter. For others, it will cause major headaches.