But along with that haul was another huge, relatively unnoticed (by the casual fan) detail: The Celtics also got a $10.3 million trade exception.
What's a trade exception? Hardwoodhoudini.com
had a solid post Tuesday explaining it, along with a handful of other key words you'll hear this summer. The extreme sparknotes version: A trade exception is given out when one team (over the salary cap) moves more salary than it gets in return. In this case, the Celtics' exception was $10.3 million that they had one year to use from the day it was given out (July 12), or it would expire.
...
Boston used its exception today, two days before it was set to expire. The Cavs needed to clear enough cap space to offer James a max contract. That's where C's GM Danny Ainge and the Celtics' $10.3 million came in.
The Cavs traded three players in the three-team deal that included the Nets. Cavs center Tyler Zeller was traded to the Celtics, while Cavs point guard Jarrett Jack and shooting guard Sergey Karasev were traded to the Nets. The Nets also traded shooting guard Marcus Thornton to the Celtics. Boston gives up a heavily-protected future second-round pick to Cleveland.
But the best part of the deal is that, yes, the Celtics got another pick -- a 2016, top-10 protected first-round pick from the Cavs (protected through 2018, unprotected in 2019).