Free Agent/Trade/Waiver Thread, 2025-26, pt 3 – (Trade Deadline = Thurs, Feb. 5, 3pm, ET)

[brackdan70]

Shams is pretty much full of ****.

[Marvel]

We're not trading Sam.

For the right piece we are. And don't ask me who that piece is. There's a tier of players that i would definitely trade Sam for.

[Marvel]

TLDR: How confident are you in the Cs ring chances this year? How comfortable you'd be with a quiet deadline knowing East teams will improve?

Hi guys. I've been thinking: this might feel a bit less likely with his calf injury from last night but it is still a very real possibilty that the Knicks could basically trade KAT+ for Giannis in the next 10 days (likely with a 3rd team, more players involved, etc. ok). He wants to play in New York, the Bucks have been losing and he seems checked-out lately. It screams of a silent trade demand.

If the Knicks get Giannis they'd become instant favourites in the East, right? The Celtics used to have Giannis "stoppers" in Grant Williams, Al Horford... but now? Do we? How well has Queta done against him? I genuinely ignore it but I don't think he's quite that.

Are you comfortable having a quiet deadline if that were the case? If Brad is serious about winning this year, he should really consider that possibility, right? With a Tatum at 70% we have a fair chance against Detroit, but I don't think we'd have it facing a Giannis-led Knicks team. It might get overlooked because of familiarity, but he remains an absolute two-way beast when engaged.

My opinion is we won't have real championship chances this year unless we'd swing for the fences (trade for JJJ or similar). As of now we are contenders to get to the Finals if the East stays put. Then if we got to the Finals I don't think we'd have a real chance against Denver or OKC. We don't quite have the defensive personnel and scoring will only get harder in the Play-offs with teams focusing and game-planning against Jaylen. Sorry if I'm a downer, I'm trying to be realistic here and not a homer.

All that is if things just stay as currently are in the East. However, there's a fair chance an East team makes a strong push in the second half of the season (Orlando, Cleveland, Philly, even Toronto or Miami...) and / or make a win-now trade before the deadline. We could well go down an echelon in that process.

A big win-now Celtics trade could prove too risky nevertheless and jeopardize our ability to make moves and contend for the next few seasons with a hopefully fully-healthy Tatum. Or maybe, just maybe, it is exactly what we need. Who knows.

My take is Brad is not fully believing we have a real chance for the ring this season. It was supposed to be a gap year after all and we've only "overperformed" and he will act with that awareness in mind. In other words, I don't think he'll get too crazy.

With my heart I wanna say we could actually fight for the chip and of course I will believe it and root for it once in the heat of the play-offs. Though with a cool head I say now, barring a revolution or a miracle, we don't have a realistic chance.

What do you think?

First of all, full marks for putting the right colours for each team. Kudos to you. Second, if we stay as is and Brad makes a move around the margins and with Tatum back, i believe we have a fighters chance to beat whoever comes out the West and win the chip.

In saying that, i think this team will have some readjusting problems when and if Tatum comes back this season. BUT, if Brad goes big for a big at the deadline and we lose some key role players in addition to getting Tatum back? I still believe we have a strong chance of winning the chip.

[Marvel]

Zion
4
Simons
Hauser
Boucher
26 1st rd pick

We'll take Murphy instead.

[165bows]

Where’s Giannis ending up?

I’ll guess Brooklyn for a boat load of picks and a couple random young guys. Could be Simons to Milwaukee and Claxton to Boston.

Offseason BRK signs something like Porzingis, Van Vleet and Dosunmo and just gets back on the big market fake contender circuit.