Free Agent/Trade/Waiver Thread, 2025-26, part 2

[Fencer reregistered]

The bigger question is do the Celtics want to pay Kessler a big contract ($25-30 million) at the end of the year? I'm guessing no.

I think if you could et Kessler in that range for next year it would be a fine contract.

Other similar paid centers (this year's or next year's salary).
Porzingis: 30.7
Hartenstein: 28.5
Allen: 28.0
Claxton: 25.4
Turner: 25.3
Redi: 21.6
Poeltl: 19.5
Zubac: 19.5

So it seems to be like Kessler is worth somewhere in that 20–30-million-dollar range. if the Celtics did trade for him he'd be a restricted free agent and those guys tend to make a little less than you expect. he may also be a S&T option for them this summer.

A 4 year 112 million dollar deal going 25/27/29/31 would seem fair to me.

Celtics are unlikely to pay that kind of money for a center, given the amount of long term money tied to Tatum/Brown/White. With this new CBA environment we're now in, it doesn't make financial sense to have 2 guys on a supermax contract + 1 guys making $30mil+ (white) and paying all of that $ for a big. For that reason, OKC is probably gonna have to move Hartenstein once the Jdub and Chet extensions kick in.

Not to mention Kessler doesn't fit our timeline:
White 31
Brown 29
Tatum 27

Given those ages, any other core pieces we have should be between age 26-32. Kessler is 24.

What's wrong with being younger than your core teammates?

[steefP2]

Is/will he be even better than Queta??

Yes a lot

A lot??

Guessing you're not a big believer in a much improving Queta as I am.. We can revisit this again at the end of the year

Okongwu is a ok starting level center in the league. Lower end ish. Queta is working towards being a good backup.

But you’re also asking 2 different questions.
Is he better than Queta ? Yes, a lot
Will he be better than Queta ? Probably, unsure by how much.

Okongwu is also a year and change younger so he’s still developing as well. Growth doesn’t only happy for Queta

[Hal14]

At this point I'm pretty much out on Queta being a starting center for a contender. Mostly because because he has bad hands. Poor touch on shots near rim, in mid range, etc and too foul-prone.

And when you're a big who doesn't really shoot it..or switch much defensively, you just have to be really good at the other stuff, which he's not.

I am pretty much sold though on him being a decent backup big. Think the size, athleticism, motor, strength are good enough..he plays hard, he can rebound fairly well. Can catch lobs, decent screen setter.

Think he could be a solid back up big, 8th/9th man type of guy when we're back to competing for titles..

[playa-hater]

Yes a lot

A lot??

Guessing you're not a big believer in a much improving Queta as I am.. We can revisit this again at the end of the year

Okongwu is a ok starting level center in the league. Lower end ish. Queta is working towards being a good backup.

But you’re also asking 2 different questions.kongu
Is he better than Queta ? Yes, a lot
Will he be better than Queta ? Probably, unsure by how much.

Okongwu is also a year and change younger so he’s still developing as well. Growth doesn’t only happy for Queta

Okongu has had the benefit of much more playing time. So curve is not as high, despite being young.

[Celts17Pride]

Id take a flyer on Wiseman right now because the front court is so bad

I agree because the Celtics eventually are going to have to take a chance on a cheap center option and why not a 24 year old former lottery pick? This would not be a huge investment but could turn into a player moving forward.

That being said, I give it a probability of < 0.05% chance of happening. Celtics are not spending another $ on this year's team.

[Curmudgeon]

I think Wiseman played exactly one college game before he got hurt. Then he got drafted, but he was not ready for the league. Then he got hurt again, and hurt again.

We don't need another guy who will never be available. If he were healthy and you thought he could stay healthy, fine. Bring him in for a workout. But it's probably a lost cause. Too bad, because I think there is talent there.

[Hal14]

What if I told you our starting center the next time we compete for a championship is already on the roster? Yes, I wrote this lol

https://thecenterhub.substack.com/p/starting-at-center-for-the-boston

[playa-hater]

What if I told you our starting center the next time we compete for a championship is already on the roster? Yes, I wrote this lol

https://thecenterhub.substack.com/p/starting-at-center-for-the-boston

did anyone ask JT about this ?

There are certain lineups that JT at center can work for sure. But JT banging on defense night after night would wear him down. But Never say never. I will give you that.

[playa-hater]

Reading my NYC newspapers, I see that the Giannis wants to play in NY rumor is back up. Wondering out loud what would even be fair, if any, compensation would be. Knicks claiming no chance that Brunson would be involved.

[brackdan70]

Reading my NYC newspapers, I see that the Giannis wants to play in NY rumor is back up. Wondering out loud what would even be fair, if any, compensation would be. Knicks claiming no chance that Brunson would be involved.

KAT makes sense for the Salary ballast, but I don’t know that they have the assets to make up the value gap. Another player…OG, Hart or Bridges to a third team, some bad salary to the Knicks, and picks to Bucks…idk, it’s tricky.

[keevsnick1]

The bigger question is do the Celtics want to pay Kessler a big contract ($25-30 million) at the end of the year? I'm guessing no.

I think if you could et Kessler in that range for next year it would be a fine contract.

Other similar paid centers (this year's or next year's salary).
Porzingis: 30.7
Hartenstein: 28.5
Allen: 28.0
Claxton: 25.4
Turner: 25.3
Redi: 21.6
Poeltl: 19.5
Zubac: 19.5

So it seems to be like Kessler is worth somewhere in that 20–30-million-dollar range. if the Celtics did trade for him he'd be a restricted free agent and those guys tend to make a little less than you expect. he may also be a S&T option for them this summer.

A 4 year 112 million dollar deal going 25/27/29/31 would seem fair to me.

Celtics are unlikely to pay that kind of money for a center, given the amount of long term money tied to Tatum/Brown/White. With this new CBA environment we're now in, it doesn't make financial sense to have 2 guys on a supermax contract + 1 guys making $30mil+ (white) and paying all of that $ for a big. For that reason, OKC is probably gonna have to move Hartenstein once the Jdub and Chet extensions kick in.

Not to mention Kessler doesn't fit our timeline:
White 31
Brown 29
Tatum 27

Given those ages, any other core pieces we have should be between age 26-32. Kessler is 24.

I don't really see any reason they couldn't or wouldn't pay a center that much, its basically just swapping out Anfernee Simon's salary slot for Walker Kessler. Assuming they are willing to be 10-20 million over the tax (essentially treating 2nd apron as a hard cap for next year) its totally possible to pay a center that much and probably even the best use of their resources given the contracts they have locked in at other positions. OKC has a somewhat different salary structure, they also have Dort/Caruso making 19 million, the Celtics don't have anybody except their big three over 10 million.

The age thing doesn't matter to me at all, being 24 means about to enter your prime. That EXACTLY the type of player you want with an older veteran group. You want young guys who can carry more regular season load as your veterans enter their 30's.

[Hal14]

I think if you could et Kessler in that range for next year it would be a fine contract.

Other similar paid centers (this year's or next year's salary).
Porzingis: 30.7
Hartenstein: 28.5
Allen: 28.0
Claxton: 25.4
Turner: 25.3
Redi: 21.6
Poeltl: 19.5
Zubac: 19.5

So it seems to be like Kessler is worth somewhere in that 20–30-million-dollar range. if the Celtics did trade for him he'd be a restricted free agent and those guys tend to make a little less than you expect. he may also be a S&T option for them this summer.

A 4 year 112 million dollar deal going 25/27/29/31 would seem fair to me.

Celtics are unlikely to pay that kind of money for a center, given the amount of long term money tied to Tatum/Brown/White. With this new CBA environment we're now in, it doesn't make financial sense to have 2 guys on a supermax contract + 1 guys making $30mil+ (white) and paying all of that $ for a big. For that reason, OKC is probably gonna have to move Hartenstein once the Jdub and Chet extensions kick in.

Not to mention Kessler doesn't fit our timeline:
White 31
Brown 29
Tatum 27

Given those ages, any other core pieces we have should be between age 26-32. Kessler is 24.

I don't really see any reason they couldn't or wouldn't pay a center that much, its basically just swapping out Anfernee Simon's salary slot for Walker Kessler. Assuming they are willing to be 10-20 million over the tax (essentially treating 2nd apron as a hard cap for next year) its totally possible to pay a center that much and probably even the best use of their resources given the contracts they have locked in at other positions. OKC has a somewhat different salary structure, they also have Dort/Caruso making 19 million, the Celtics don't have anybody except their big three over 10 million.

The age thing doesn't matter to me at all, being 24 means about to enter your prime. That EXACTLY the type of player you want with an older veteran group. You want young guys who can carry more regular season load as your veterans enter their 30's.

Well all 3 of our top guys (JB, white, Tatum) are on contracts where their salary goes up a bit each season.

So while this season we have Simons on the roster at $27mil, that's not sustainable beyond this season. Also, Simons salary being as high as it is for this season is partly why he's been in trade rumors so much - because with the new CBA, it just doesn't make financial sense to pay your 4th guy this kind of $, when your top 3 guys are making as much combined as the Jays + white.

It's not just using Simons' salary slot for a big instead of Simons. Only reason why Simons is here is because that's the best we could do as far as reducing salary from Jrue..the next step is likely to move from Simons salary to someone in that salary slot making quite a bit less than Simons.

Look at KP's salary slot. We went from his $30mil to Niang at like $8mil, then flipped Niang for a 2-way guy who got waived, with that roster spot just going to Boucher making like $2mil so that's $28mil in savings. That's what Brad is trying to do here.

But going from Jrue to Simons only saved us $5mil. So now he'll like try to save more $ on that salary slot..either by trading Simons for cheaper contract(s) or resigning Simons to a cheaper deal.

OKC also is paying less $ for their big 3 than we are..they only have 1 supermax guy..we have 2. Chet and Jdub are just on rookie max deals..Dort/Caruso/Hartenstein, very soon they will need to start moving some of these guys, like we had to move Jrue and KP last summer.

As for Kessler's age..that's not that big of a deal..I didn't intent to emphasize that part a ton. But typically what we see is most of the core guys on a team around within like 5 years of each other. Look at the Knicks with Robinson/Towns/Brunson/Hart/Bridges/OG all basically within a year or 2 of each other. When guys are about same age, they developing in unison, they have the same goal in mind, it's just easier to manage a roster and coach a roster when it's like that, rather than having a bunch of older vets and then 1 random younger guy.

Warriors Klay/Draymond/Steph/KD..those teams, their core guys were all around same age. Jokic/Gordon/Murray, all around same age. Pippen/Rodman/Jordan, Bird/Parish/Mchale..Manu and Duncan only 1 year apart, Parker 5-6 yrs younger but dude had pro experience before NBA, played like a 10 year vet pretty much from the get go. Kessler is 7 yrs younger than White. Again, not a huge deal but if you're gonna pay a ton of money and have to give up multiple 1st round picks for a guy, ideally they fit the timeline of your main guys a bit better..especially if he's a non-shooter joining a team that shoots more 3's than any team in league history.

[keevsnick1]

Celtics are unlikely to pay that kind of money for a center, given the amount of long term money tied to Tatum/Brown/White. With this new CBA environment we're now in, it doesn't make financial sense to have 2 guys on a supermax contract + 1 guys making $30mil+ (white) and paying all of that $ for a big. For that reason, OKC is probably gonna have to move Hartenstein once the Jdub and Chet extensions kick in.

Not to mention Kessler doesn't fit our timeline:
White 31
Brown 29
Tatum 27

Given those ages, any other core pieces we have should be between age 26-32. Kessler is 24.

I don't really see any reason they couldn't or wouldn't pay a center that much, its basically just swapping out Anfernee Simon's salary slot for Walker Kessler. Assuming they are willing to be 10-20 million over the tax (essentially treating 2nd apron as a hard cap for next year) its totally possible to pay a center that much and probably even the best use of their resources given the contracts they have locked in at other positions. OKC has a somewhat different salary structure, they also have Dort/Caruso making 19 million, the Celtics don't have anybody except their big three over 10 million.

The age thing doesn't matter to me at all, being 24 means about to enter your prime. That EXACTLY the type of player you want with an older veteran group. You want young guys who can carry more regular season load as your veterans enter their 30's.

Well all 3 of our top guys (JB, white, Tatum) are on contracts where their salary goes up a bit each season.

So while this season we have Simons on the roster at $27mil, that's not sustainable beyond this season. Also, Simons salary being as high as it is for this season is partly why he's been in trade rumors so much - because with the new CBA, it just doesn't make financial sense to pay your 4th guy this kind of $, when your top 3 guys are making as much combined as the Jays + white.

It's not just using Simons' salary slot for a big instead of Simons. Only reason why Simons is here is because that's the best we could do as far as reducing salary from Jrue..the next step is likely to move from Simons salary to someone in that salary slot making quite a bit less than Simons.

Look at KP's salary slot. We went from his $30mil to Niang at like $8mil, then flipped Niang for a 2-way guy who got waived, with that roster spot just going to Boucher making like $2mil so that's $28mil in savings. That's what Brad is trying to do here.

But going from Jrue to Simons only saved us $5mil. So now he'll like try to save more $ on that salary slot..either by trading Simons for cheaper contract(s) or resigning Simons to a cheaper deal.

OKC also is paying less $ for their big 3 than we are..they only have 1 supermax guy..we have 2. Chet and Jdub are just on rookie max deals..Dort/Caruso/Hartenstein, very soon they will need to start moving some of these guys, like we had to move Jrue and KP last summer.

As for Kessler's age..that's not that big of a deal..I didn't intent to emphasize that part a ton. But typically what we see is most of the core guys on a team around within like 5 years of each other. Look at the Knicks with Robinson/Towns/Brunson/Hart/Bridges/OG all basically within a year or 2 of each other. When guys are about same age, they developing in unison, they have the same goal in mind, it's just easier to manage a roster and coach a roster when it's like that, rather than having a bunch of older vets and then 1 random younger guy.

Warriors Klay/Draymond/Steph/KD..those teams, their core guys were all around same age. Jokic/Gordon/Murray, all around same age. Pippen/Rodman/Jordan, Bird/Parish/Mchale..Manu and Duncan only 1 year apart, Parker 5-6 yrs younger but dude had pro experience before NBA, played like a 10 year vet pretty much from the get go. Kessler is 7 yrs younger than White. Again, not a huge deal but if you're gonna pay a ton of money and have to give up multiple 1st round picks for a guy, ideally they fit the timeline of your main guys a bit better..especially if he's a non-shooter joining a team that shoots more 3's than any team in league history.

25 million for Kessler next year is absolutely sustainable, at least for the first two seasons. You could do that and use the tax payer MLE and still be below the first apron. Even the year after that its totally fine. You wouldn't really start being pinched until Pritchard's contract is up in the summer of 28, but as we've seen the Celtics do before they're totally willing to hand out contracts and then dump money when they need to.

Brad may be trying to save money for this year, but that doesn't mean they can't ever add salary again. I'm sure they'd like to be out of the tax this year while not competing, but going forward I assume they wouldn't mind going up to the first apron and adding Kessler is totally feasible if your budget is about 10-15 million over the tax. Now that may not be what they WANT to do, maybe they have a different idea of how to spend their money, but it is totally feasible financially of they want to do it.

As for age: Parker was much younger than Duncan, Kawhi was much, much younger than that Spurs core in 2014. Even Chet was 4 years younger than Shai which is about the same gap between Kessler/Tatum. Kessler's age is not an issue.

I can lay out the exact numbers if you want. But Replacing Simons with Kessler at 25 million, Tillman with the Tax MLE at about 6.2 million and Boucher with your first-round picks salary should bring you in at a total salary of something around 215 million, right around where the first apron will be. The ability to use the tax MLE will depend on exactly what draft pick and exactly how much the cap goes up.

[redslastlaugh]

Your article makes a lot of good points, however I don't foresee Tatum being used as center much. Banging every game against regular sized centers like Daniel Gafford would put too much wear on Tatum's body and him trying to guard Jokic, Zach Edey, Clingan, he'd be giving up 50 or 75 lbs and we'd be destroyed positionally and on the glass.

And I'm sure that JT doesnt want to play center, here and there in high stakes moments okay sure, but not full time.

Lakers got the bubble title with 2 veteran minimums at center (Javale, Dwight). Warriors played Looney in 2022 who was making $5 million. We made the conference Finals in the bubble with primarily Daniel Theis and Enes Kanter, with a touch of Grant and Rob. The Suns made the Finals with Ayton still on his rookie deal and the Mavs played Lively who was 19 yr old rookie. We will be able to figure something out

Center at Tatum, too risky imo

What if I told you our starting center the next time we compete for a championship is already on the roster? Yes, I wrote this lol

https://thecenterhub.substack.com/p/starting-at-center-for-the-boston

[Hal14]

Your article makes a lot of good points, however I don't foresee Tatum being used as center much. Banging every game against regular sized centers like Daniel Gafford would put too much wear on Tatum's body and him trying to guard Jokic, Zach Edey, Clingan, he'd be giving up 50 or 75 lbs and we'd be destroyed positionally and on the glass.

And I'm sure that JT doesnt want to play center, here and there in high stakes moments okay sure, but not full time.

Lakers got the bubble title with 2 veteran minimums at center (Javale, Dwight). Warriors played Looney in 2022 who was making $5 million. We made the conference Finals in the bubble with primarily Daniel Theis and Enes Kanter, with a touch of Grant and Rob. The Suns made the Finals with Ayton still on his rookie deal and the Mavs played Lively who was 19 yr old rookie. We will be able to figure something out

Center at Tatum, too risky imo

What if I told you our starting center the next time we compete for a championship is already on the roster? Yes, I wrote this lol

https://thecenterhub.substack.com/p/starting-at-center-for-the-boston

You make some fair points but:

a) this is 2025. They don't let bigs "bang" in the paint all game..they blow the whistle because the league is softer these days and there's defensive 3 seconds which keeps guys out of the paint..not to mention the emphasis now on pace, spacing, shooting which keeps guys out of the paint..I'd be more concerned about that if we were somewhere in the 1984-2004 range

b) Gafford weighed 237 lbs at the draft combine which is about what Tatum is now.

c) Tatum defended the Mavs 5's (Gafford and Lively) quite a bit in the nba finals and did just fine

d) really huge bigs like Clingan and Edey are the exception, not the norm. We're seeing less and less of them, with the growing emphasis on pace, spacing, 3's..the dribble drive game, switchability, etc.

And guys that huge often get played off the floor come playoff time when teams typically focus more on "matchup hunting" and can exploit oversized/slower footed bigs by attacking them in space

e) Tatum weighs more than Holmgren (starting C for NBA champs thunder), he weighs more than Wemby..weighs more than Alex Sarr, Evan Mobley. He's in the ball park, size-wise as guys like Myles Turner, Theis, Looney, Draymond, Bam, Horford, etc. yet those guys don't get destroyed positionally and on the glass

f) there's clips in the article where tatum holds his own vs Embiid, Gobert, Jokic, Valanciunas, etc.

g) If he's playing out on the perimeter more, that would add more miles to his tank - literally. Guards run more miles per game than forward, forwards run more miles per game than centers, due to the way the game is played. If anything, his career would last longer and he'd be more likely to stay healthy playing center - running less and having to do less of these really quick, intense short bursty movements you have to do by defending guys like Kyrie, Harden and Donovan Mitchell out on the perimeter

[Curmudgeon]

There are about 10 centers who will be UFAs this June, including Mitchell Robinson, Zach Collins, Rob Williams, Nurkic, Dwight Powell, Plumlee, Jaxson Hayes....the list goes on. Then in the draft you've got Cenac, Grunloh, Steinback and Lendeborg, all projected as first rounders, and then second round prospects like Porter, Biddle, Baba Miller, Michael Ruzic and others.

They will find a center one way or another.

[bfchs123]

Reading my NYC newspapers, I see that the Giannis wants to play in NY rumor is back up. Wondering out loud what would even be fair, if any, compensation would be. Knicks claiming no chance that Brunson would be involved.

Don't really want Giannis to go to the Knicks obviously but if he did we should use the opportunity to get our starting center - Myles Turner

Simons + package of picks for Turner. Bucks get an expiring + picks, salaries basically match, we have a good stretch center again

[Larry_Russell]

Gafford and Caleb Martin for Simons??? please?????

[flintsky21]

If the Kings blow it up, would we want Sabonis?

[playa-hater]

If the Kings blow it up, would we want Sabonis?

Kings should "blow it up" but isn't J Brown the only player that can be used to match salaries?

who says No??