John Tonje was thrown into a last minute NBA trade deadline deal

John Tonje is on the move from the Utah Jazz to the Boston Celtics. He never got to play in a regular-season Jazz game, but his path with the Celtics is now remarkably different. This could be great news for Tonje, yet he almost feels like a throw-away player in this deal, even if he's not.

NBA deals get confusing because of luxury tax thresholds, and often players will get shuffled, cash will get exchanged, and draft picks will go too, just to get under the luxury tax. That's exactly what happened here.

Former Badger John Tonje is part of a confusing trade from the Utah Jazz to the Boston Celtics

Related: A Badger legend is coming back home as part of the Milwaukee Bucks' latest trade

The Celtics needed to get under the luxury tax, so they shipped off Chris Boucher to the Jazz, some cash, and a draft pick. The return was John Tonje, who is less expensive than Boucher and allows the Celtics to stay under the threshold, especially with the cash going too.

The Jazz don't even want Boucher; they were just willing to take on that luxury tax, and will waive him as soon as the trade is complete. They will take the draft pick and the cash, though, but lose Tonje in the process. Which checks out after other trades by the Jazz, left the team a big guard-heavy team, and Tonje was more buried on the depth chart than he even was before.

His path to the NBA has taken a weird detour, and he may feel like he's just part of a throwaway deal right now. But the Celtics present a better opportunity. The Maine Celtics (G-League) is a better development program, one of the best in the G-League. And he's also going to have a bit more chance to play in the NBA now, thanks to the above luxury tax. Tonje is cheap thanks to his two-way contract. That's important to remember as they have to move pieces around this season.

For now, Tonje is off to the Boston Celtics to keep his NBA dream alive.