Does RJ have adj over Young for the final spot?

[BudweiserCeltic]

I don't really care who they pick either way. Regardless of who gets kept neither RJ nor Young will be on the team at this time next year.

Young makes more money, which means if we traded him he could bring back more salary. I think that will be a big point in Young's favor.

It depends if the Celtics plan to pick up the option of whomever they keep.  If they do, I bet they kept Hunter, who will make $1.5 million less than Young next season.  If they don't, then Young as slightly better salary filler, as you suggest.

If they are to sign a max free agent next offseason wouldn't they need to not have RJ or Young on the roster to have enough salary cap space?

It depends on the cap, if the CBA changes max contracts, what the cap hold is for our Brooklyn pick, etc.  The $1.5 million could have mattered.  My gut says Young doesn't get his option picked up next week, but I'm curious to see if I'm correct.

I'm back and forth on this. Gut feeling? He gets it picked up with the idea that he could be dumped easily if need be.

I'm back and forth as well.  The CBA is close to a finished deal, so that should take some cap uncertainties out of the equation. That could either help or hurt Young, of course, depending if it's a certainty the C's will need every penny, or a certainty that at a minimum they could amnesty Young.  But in general the more Ainge and Co. know about their 2017 cap scenario, the less risk in keeping Young, unless it means it's 100% clear his salary will get in the way.

So yeah.. I guess what I'm saying is I think the way the cap will come out it's highly likely Young's option would get in the way, even if Mickey and Jackson are also let go/dumped.  Part of the advantage of the C's negotiating position last summer was that they didn't need to make any move to create the space.

I guess part of the consideration will also be how much would a vet. min. contract would cost, though it might be inconsequential since vet. min. contracts can be offered after all the cap space has been used up.