A report says the Boston Celtics is setting up to use the $8.4 million disabled player exception granted to the team to get a good player before it expires on March 10.
On Thursday, Yahoo! Sports' Chris Mannix told the 98.5 Sports Hub's "Toucher and Rich" that Celtics will definitely make good use of the exception, which it gained after small forward Gordon Hayward was injured in the leg in Celtics' opening game against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
"Based on my conversations with people in the front office, if they have to, they're going to like find the best Boston rec league player and throw the $8 million exception at him to get somebody to take that money at the end of it," the veteran sportscaster said. "They're going to get somebody with that exception."
Mannix said the Celtics might be waiting for the Feb. 8 trade deadline to see which players will be bought out of their contracts, and thus, available for the Celtics to sign. Among the possible candidates are Tyreke Evans, Greg Monroe, Nerlens Noel, and Lou Williams.
Apart from that, the Boston team is also set for another top 5 draft pick this 2018. That is a third consecutive time in three years.
Based on current standings -- with the Celtics on top of the Eastern Conference and the Los Angeles Lakers in the bottom of the Western Conference -- the former has an 80.1 percent probability to get top 5 pick. That possibility drops down slightly lower, at 70.9 percent, in case the Lakers manage to end up as the season's fourth worst team.
To top all of that, Boston is also up for several awards. Point guard, 25-year-old Kyrie Irving is a surefire candidate for Most Valuable Player. Meantime, 19-year-old Jayson Tatum, who has had a wild first season, has a huge chance of winning Rookie of the Year.
