Celtics 2025-26, Off-Season/Training Camp Thread

[Fierce1]

If Scheierman beats out Springer for that 2nd guard spot then Springer will be gone after the trade deadline.

Only fair to give Springer a shot until December or January.

But if Springer only gets to play in garbage time from October to January, he's not going to be a Celtic after the trade deadline.

[sam_I_am]

I'm also not saying the savings from removing Springer's contract should be used on a vets minimum player.

I simply don't agree with overpaying for the 11th or 12th man.

What if he is 14th man? Honestly feel he showed absolutely nothing offensively. Ball handling, passing, shooting, driving …. None of it looked NBA level. The athleticism, defensive ability and youth make him a prospect so I have no problem with him getting a chance. That said, I still think his value to banner 19 is as salary ballast if the team needs to get a veteran player

[Fierce1]

I'm also not saying the savings from removing Springer's contract should be used on a vets minimum player.

I simply don't agree with overpaying for the 11th or 12th man.

What if he is 14th man? Honestly feel he showed absolutely nothing offensively. Ball handling, passing, shooting, driving …. None of it looked NBA level. The athleticism, defensive ability and youth make him a prospect so I have no problem with him getting a chance. That said, I still think his value to banner 19 is as salary ballast if the team needs to get a veteran player

Yeah, agree with the salary ballast thing.

If he doesn't show progress on offense, he will likely be used as trade chip at the trade deadline.

[Fierce1]

You guys really have Springer as the 14th man?

[Hal14]

I think it's fair to consider Springer an overpay when you factor in his salary, his tax increase, and his trade cost for a guy who most agree is close to being out of the league if he doesn't prove his worth this year.

He's on a rookie contract. It's the last year of his rookie deal. Like any player in the last year of their rookie deal, it's their last chance to prove they're an NBA player or they could be out of the league. That was the case for Zeke Nnaji of the Nuggets last season - I doubt their fans filled up tons of pages on RealGM complaining about his contract being an overpay.

Tons of other players have been in a similar position during the last year of their rookie deal.

Taxes or not..it seems silly to me to call it an overpay when he's still just on his rookie contract. No matter who is in that roster spot, we're paying taxes either way..and we'll be over the 2nd apron either way..

Agree to disagree, I guess..not that big a deal..

I think it's also fair to consider he's not the 15th man so he'd have to be replaced by someone and that person might be making only a million or less than him and you'd still have the added tax to that. So it's a sunk cost and not worth sweating over.

Exactly..

[sam_I_am]

You guys really have Springer as the 14th man?

Just curious. Who do rank him over? Walsh? Queta? Tillman? Baylor?
Svi and Oshae showed me more last year. If they were still here I would rank him 16.

I think I would rank Springer over JD and Peterson. Possibly Watson - but I have to see him play in SL first.

[Fierce1]

You guys really have Springer as the 14th man?

Just curious. Who do rank him over? Walsh? Queta? Tillman? Baylor?
Svi and Oshae showed me more last year. If they were still here I would rank him 16.

I think I would rank Springer over JD and Peterson. Possibly Watson - but I have to see him play in SL first.

I have him as the 11th or 12th man.

Of course that depends if KP is healthy or not.

I think Scheierman will determine if Springer will get rotation minutes or not.

The summer league will really tell us a lot.

[Hal14]

Just curious. Who do rank him over? Walsh? Queta? Tillman? Baylor?

I think I would rank Springer over JD and Peterson. Possibly Watson - but I have to see him play in SL first.

Kind of pointless to put such firm rankings like that on the end of bench guys until after SL, training camp and preseason, imo.

Svi and Oshae showed me more last year.

Of course they did. They were here for the entire season, and offseason workouts, and training camp and preseason. Springer got thrown onto the team with 2 months left in the season..and is 5 yrs younger..comparing apples to oranges there..

It's also apples to oranges since Svi and Brissett aren't on the team anymore..

[bigfoot_cryptozoology]

Jaylen... Jaylen... Jaylen!

[bigfoot_cryptozoology]

With Jaylen on his Sneaker Jihad, the Celts may win more games than I've expected...

[Hal14]

What if he is the 14th man?

Um, then we probably have the best 14th man in the league. Sounds like a good problem to have

Honestly feel he showed absolutely nothing offensively. Ball handling, passing, shooting, driving …. None of it looked NBA level.

I mean, he's a defensive specialist, only 21 yrs old, got thrown onto a new team late in the season, with no training camp, very little practice time..shame on you for having unrealistic expectations of what he would show on offense.

Not to mention he only really played during garbage time..and garbage time is basically meaningless in terms of evaluating players..there's a reason why many sites ho do NBA stats filter garbage time out.

The athleticism, defensive ability and youth make him a prospect so I have no problem with him getting a chance.

Agreed

That said, I still think his value to banner 19 is as salary ballast if the team needs to get a veteran player

Maybe, we'll see. It's obviously a possibility that he could be used as a trade chip at some point.

Keep in mind, that if he is struggling on the court, then his trade value would be basically nothing, though..we'd pretty much have to add draft compensation in order to get a team to take him.

I think Brad truly sees something in him and the team is committed to developing him into a solid 2nd guard off the bench. And we'll need a 2nd guard off the bench moving forward - as Jrue ages (he's 34 now, signed a 4 yr extension and will keep getting older each year he is on that deal..)

I think they like the way him and Pritchard can complement each other. Pritchard at the 1 (ball handling, shooting, playmaking but limited in terms of size, defense and athleticism) and Springer at the 2 (defense, size, athleticism but limited in terms of ball handling, shooting, playmaking). We could play them together or, just have 1 of them in there at a time (you need shooting/ball handling, put in Pritchard..you need size/defense, put in Springer).

And since he's still so young..and with a full summer working out with our coaches (SL, offseason workouts) and then training camp..there's certainly a chance that Springer develops more offensively..and if that happens, teams around the league will be so jealous that we have 2 guards coming off the bench as good as Pritchard and Springer.

[phincsfan]

Stevens said he liked Springer in the 21' draft and Sam was with him for a couple of seasons in Philly. I trust what they saw and what potential they see for this season. I had zero expectations this season because the rotation was already set. Hopefully he's taken a million 3's so far this offseason.

[sam_I_am]

What if he is the 14th man?

Um, then we probably have the best 14th man in the league. Sounds like a good problem to have

Honestly feel he showed absolutely nothing offensively. Ball handling, passing, shooting, driving …. None of it looked NBA level.

I mean, he's a defensive specialist, only 21 yrs old, got thrown onto a new team late in the season, with no training camp, very little practice time..shame on you for having unrealistic expectations of what he would show on offense.

Not to mention he only really played during garbage time..and garbage time is basically meaningless in terms of evaluating players..there's a reason why many sites ho do NBA stats filter garbage time out.

The athleticism, defensive ability and youth make him a prospect so I have no problem with him getting a chance.

Agreed

That said, I still think his value to banner 19 is as salary ballast if the team needs to get a veteran player

Maybe, we'll see. It's obviously a possibility that he could be used as a trade chip at some point.

Keep in mind, that if he is struggling on the court, then his trade value would be basically nothing, though..we'd pretty much have to add draft compensation in order to get a team to take him.

I think Brad truly sees something in him and the team is committed to developing him into a solid 2nd guard off the bench. And we'll need a 2nd guard off the bench moving forward - as Jrue ages (he's 34 now, signed a 4 yr extension and will keep getting older each year he is on that deal..)

I think they like the way him and Pritchard can complement each other. Pritchard at the 1 (ball handling, shooting, playmaking but limited in terms of size, defense and athleticism) and Springer at the 2 (defense, size, athleticism but limited in terms of ball handling, shooting, playmaking). We could play them together or, just have 1 of them in there at a time (you need shooting/ball handling, put in Pritchard..you need size/defense, put in Springer).

And since he's still so young..and with a full summer working out with our coaches (SL, offseason workouts) and then training camp..there's certainly a chance that Springer develops more offensively..and if that happens, teams around the league will be so jealous that we have 2 guards coming off the bench as good as Pritchard and Springer.

All fair points and I am rooting for him. I hope he has a DWhite type leap in his game just by having a full training camp and increased comfort level with team. That said, I wasn’t impressed by his fit or his play in Boston last year.

[ConstableGeneva]

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Easiest path to the championship again. Sigh.

[bigfoot_cryptozoology]

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Easiest path to the championship again. Sigh.

That's a cakewalk for the Champion Celtics. Only danger would be the Land of Cleve, but Celtics are
likely to be greatly favored.

[ConstableGeneva]

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[ThePigeon]

If Scheierman beats out Springer for that 2nd guard spot then Springer will be gone after the trade deadline.

Only fair to give Springer a shot until December or January.

But if Springer only gets to play in garbage time from October to January, he's not going to be a Celtic after the trade deadline.

All true
I am just afraid that we will get another Aaron Nesmith
Springer is an athletic defensive spark plug right now. Showed some promise offensively on SL. Hope he will be better after a full training camp. And sure hope Mazz will let the starters rest till the all star break (meaning - play less than 30 min each), as most played till June and some are still playing for team USA
Hope to see more of PP, Springer and Baylor and less Jrue and White till it matter

[Fierce1]

If Scheierman beats out Springer for that 2nd guard spot then Springer will be gone after the trade deadline.

Only fair to give Springer a shot until December or January.

But if Springer only gets to play in garbage time from October to January, he's not going to be a Celtic after the trade deadline.

All true
I am just afraid that we will get another Aaron Nesmith
Springer is an athletic defensive spark plug right now. Showed some promise offensively on SL. Hope he will be better after a full training camp. And sure hope Mazz will let the starters rest till the all star break (meaning - play less than 30 min each), as most played till June and some are still playing for team USA
Hope to see more of PP, Springer and Baylor and less Jrue and White till it matter

Yeah, I agree.

[ConstableGeneva]

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A year ago, when these came out, the Celtics had the 2nd highest O/U behind Denver.

[ConstableGeneva]

Decent graphic.

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