The Boston Celtics are stuck with one of the greatest conundrums in the league right now.

Sitting $23 million over the second apron heading into next season – a season in which they are expected to be without superstar Jayson Tatum – they sit on the brink of deciding whether to try to dump salary or keep trying to contend.

But what if they could do both?

According to a report from Jake Fischer of The Stein Line, that is exactly what Boston is trying to do. Here is what Fischer had to say:

“Boston is certainly looking to cut salary to reduce its luxury tax bill and duck under the second apron, but the Celtics are said to be conducting their mid-June business with confidence that they can make deals that bring positive value back to Boston, league sources say.

The Celtics are not operating to date like a team desperate to shed salary. They have also given some rival teams a sense that a sequence of trades could be coming that merely start in the offseason and potentially even continue up to the in-season trade deadline ... such as dealing away Porzingis' $30.7 million contract for a lesser salary in return and then attempting to trim costs again before the February trade buzzer.”

The Celtics are also unlikely to part with any of its core pieces besides guard Jrue Holiday and center Kristaps Porzingis.

“Boston is believed to be open to listening to any player on its roster not named Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown,” Fischer wrote. “I'd put Payton Pritchard and Derrick White right behind those two franchise cornerstones as extremely hard-to-get as well.”