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

[165bows]

Kinda coming back around to where we started just get Claxton.

[Celts17Pride]

Just skipped around the vid, didn't watch the whole thing but seems like he's a bit of a raw project:

https://youtu.be/0k1rfVTZON8?si=OoN1Po7M6k_ylZJu

Thats my perception.

Maybe he develops but guessing he’s pretty darn raw - also not sure why there are videos being like please trade for this guy.

Raw or not, Missi had 10 points and 14 rebounds last night against Wemby while holding him to 6 for16 shooting. Better than any of our guys can do against Wemby.

[Bill Lumbergh]

Just skipped around the vid, didn't watch the whole thing but seems like he's a bit of a raw project:

https://youtu.be/0k1rfVTZON8?si=OoN1Po7M6k_ylZJu

Thats my perception.

Maybe he develops but guessing he’s pretty darn raw - also not sure why there are videos being like please trade for this guy.

Raw or not, Missi had 10 points and 14 rebounds last night against Wemby while holding him to 6 for16 shooting. Better than any of our guys can do against Wemby.

He's their backup center, is dirt cheap, and clearly has upside (even if raw,) so why would they trade him? I mean, I'd like to get him, I'm just not sure why they trade him.

[Celts17Pride]

Thats my perception.

Maybe he develops but guessing he’s pretty darn raw - also not sure why there are videos being like please trade for this guy.

Raw or not, Missi had 10 points and 14 rebounds last night against Wemby while holding him to 6 for16 shooting. Better than any of our guys can do against Wemby.

He's their backup center, is dirt cheap, and clearly has upside (even if raw,) so why would they trade him? I mean, I'd like to get him, I'm just not sure why they'd trade him.

New Orleans also traded the #1 pick in this year's draft to Atlanta. Who knows why New Orleans does anything? I would rather get a 21 year old that Mazzulla can mold before they develop a ton of bad habits.

[shi-woo]

I'd love Keon Ellis on this team, and would trade the 1st that wiretap has mentioned for him. His stats are nothing to look at, but that's because Sac has purposely held him back. He's an A+ defender with length, and a knock down shooter from 3 when left open. The definition of 3 and D. I've thought we needed another guard who could play with our big 3, and Ellis would be perfect for that role, being able to play with all of Simons, White, and Pritchard.

His contract is cheap, and we would just need to meet the FRP demand, and a min contract, which could be any of our dudes. Tillman, Baylor, or Boucher and our first this year for Ellis and potentially a future SRP would be an okay deal.

Ellis is a FA, so we could realistically get him signed to a team friendly deal, and if not, a sign and trade which gets us an asset back. Likewise, we could use his bird rights to get a nice contract in a tradable salary spot for a trade. I like the flexibility with a move like this, as it gives us elite defense, more shooting and guard play, and flexibility with Hauser and Simons trades now and in the offseason.

Just imagine that perimeter D with White and Ellis, that's ridiculous. Ellis is def. a championship caliber role player, and would love to bring him in for the run this year, and in the future. Keeping the 2nds this year would also be great, as we still can get some nice prospects in this draft. Make the trade of Hauser and assets to bring in Gafford and Tatum coming back, and this team is good to go and would be favorites coming out of the east.

Queta- Gafford-Garza
Tatum
Brown- Walsh/Hugo/Minott
Ellis- Simons
White- Pritchard

I would be excited for this.

[ThePigeon]

Celtic fans complain about the Cs leaving opposing players to shoot 3s.

That's not because the Cs don't want to defend the 3.
It's because of their defensive schemes.
Many times we see White, PP, and Sam switched on to a big and that opposing big man takes advantage of White, PP, and Sam inside the paint.

The solution to that problem is a double big lineup.
Udoka was the first to use that lineup in 2021-22.
Celtic defense was great that season.

I don't know who Brad is going to trade for, but the ideal is JJJ.
Whether that's realistic or not is another story.

If you have JJJ and Queta or Garza on the court at the same time, along with Tatum, Brown, and White, the Celtic defense will be elite.

Having a double big lineup will allow Queta or Garza to stay in the paint, most of the time.
DWhite will also be not taken advantage of, in a switch, as there will always be one big man guarding the paint at all times.

Even a Jalen Smith will be a good fit.
But I don't know if the Bulls will trade him.

The Celtics were rebounding well until the Nets and Bulls game.
Both Nets and Bulls used a double big lineup.

Even that November game against the Rockets exposed the Celtics' weakness in the paint.
The Cs were absolutely embarrassed in that game.

And other than rebounding, a double big lineup would allow the Celtic players to stick to their man, there would be less double teaming and helping.

I'm trying not to do too much spamming on Timelord, but, he's my guy to double big w/ Garza. As you know, Smith I favor to pair with Queta. LOL my trade hypo that brings them both in has failed to generate interest, but jumping to the punchline, I get them both.

We have JT and Joe can play Boucher to counter the double bigs and Minott was injured in both games
I think Joe is going away from double bigs and will play 4 wings. If one of them is bigger that is a plus

[165bows]

Would the Clippers dump a distant future first to get rid of a bunch of bad salary (Bogdanovich, Lopez, etc etc) and replace them with Simons?

It would be a very short sighted move but then again.

[Deivork]

I have faith in Brad suprising everybody once more and netting a sneaky good deal somehow, probably not so akin to the rumored ones. Possibly even more than one trade with multiple players coming in and out. But still, I expect nothing major and probably it's a good call.

It would be interesting to know too if the Cs are throwing some fake news in the air to manipulate the market, leverage rivals, etc., but I guess we won't ever know it. Teams do that, right?

For example, claiming to zig for "a big-time big man" (Charania and others) and then he ends up zaging getting other positions of need. He might be even thinking more about next season than about this one.

[redslastlaugh]

I could see it actually if we gave them more:

Anfernee Simons
Josh Minott or Baylor Scheierman
Our best 2026 2nd rounder (#31-35 from Pels)

And if we were willing to take back Brad Beal, who has another year, I could see them sending:

Bogdanovic
Beal
Kobe Brown
2030 Clippers 1st rounder

with Chris Paul going to a 3rd team for cash

Would the Clippers dump a distant future first to get rid of a bunch of bad salary (Bogdanovich, Lopez, etc etc) and replace them with Simons?

It would be a very short sighted move but then again.

[darrendaye]

Celtic fans complain about the Cs leaving opposing players to shoot 3s.

That's not because the Cs don't want to defend the 3.
It's because of their defensive schemes.
Many times we see White, PP, and Sam switched on to a big and that opposing big man takes advantage of White, PP, and Sam inside the paint.

The solution to that problem is a double big lineup.
Udoka was the first to use that lineup in 2021-22.
Celtic defense was great that season.

I don't know who Brad is going to trade for, but the ideal is JJJ.
Whether that's realistic or not is another story.

If you have JJJ and Queta or Garza on the court at the same time, along with Tatum, Brown, and White, the Celtic defense will be elite.

Having a double big lineup will allow Queta or Garza to stay in the paint, most of the time.
DWhite will also be not taken advantage of, in a switch, as there will always be one big man guarding the paint at all times.

Even a Jalen Smith will be a good fit.
But I don't know if the Bulls will trade him.

The Celtics were rebounding well until the Nets and Bulls game.
Both Nets and Bulls used a double big lineup.

Even that November game against the Rockets exposed the Celtics' weakness in the paint.
The Cs were absolutely embarrassed in that game.

And other than rebounding, a double big lineup would allow the Celtic players to stick to their man, there would be less double teaming and helping.

I'm trying not to do too much spamming on Timelord, but, he's my guy to double big w/ Garza. As you know, Smith I favor to pair with Queta. LOL my trade hypo that brings them both in has failed to generate interest, but jumping to the punchline, I get them both.

We have JT and Joe can play Boucher to counter the double bigs and Minott was injured in both games
I think Joe is going away from double bigs and will play 4 wings. If one of them is bigger that is a plus

Very well could be. The Boucher train seems to be completely put out of service, however. The issue with Walsh is the team does not seem to trust him shooting the ball, so it doesn't pull a big out to press him near the line. Minott, it's a combination of the same thing and also he just isn't sturdy enough to set a decent screen and he gets dislodged defensively quite easily. I was/am an early adopter of the rebounding wing concept, but it's still a matchup issue when a team can throw out 2 legit bigs. I'm HOPING Jalen Smith has enough umph that Joe would be keenly interested.

JT is a heck of a rebounder but he's not much of a rim protector. Smith isn't high end, but, his block % is 3.7% whereas Jayson is 1.7% and below that the past 5 seasons. Smith also knocking down over 40% 3pt on spot ups.

Rob, even this year, is ELITE defensively. I completely understand the availability distrust, but pretty surprised he doesn't have any other champions for his cause in this thread.

[165bows]

I could see it actually if we gave them more:

Anfernee Simons
Josh Minott or Baylor Scheierman
Our best 2026 2nd rounder (#31-35 from Pels)

And if we were willing to take back Brad Beal, who has another year, I could see them sending:

Bogdanovic
Beal
Kobe Brown
2030 Clippers 1st rounder

with Chris Paul going to a 3rd team for cash

Would the Clippers dump a distant future first to get rid of a bunch of bad salary (Bogdanovich, Lopez, etc etc) and replace them with Simons?

It would be a very short sighted move but then again.

I mean, I don't want any of those guys even Kobe Brown who I kind of liked at the draft.

Just trying to figure out how to get Claxton for free or get paid to bring him in.

[Deivork]

As an aside:

Can we just have the trade deadline already? Man, it feels like we've been talking deadline for five yrs

I share the anxiety, but it's been fun.

[Bad-Thoma]

I'm trying not to do too much spamming on Timelord, but, he's my guy to double big w/ Garza. As you know, Smith I favor to pair with Queta. LOL my trade hypo that brings them both in has failed to generate interest, but jumping to the punchline, I get them both.

We have JT and Joe can play Boucher to counter the double bigs and Minott was injured in both games
I think Joe is going away from double bigs and will play 4 wings. If one of them is bigger that is a plus

Very well could be. The Boucher train seems to be completely put out of service, however. The issue with Walsh is the team does not seem to trust him shooting the ball, so it doesn't pull a big out to press him near the line. Minott, it's a combination of the same thing and also he just isn't sturdy enough to set a decent screen and he gets dislodged defensively quite easily. I was/am an early adopter of the rebounding wing concept, but it's still a matchup issue when a team can throw out 2 legit bigs. I'm HOPING Jalen Smith has enough umph that Joe would be keenly interested.

JT is a heck of a rebounder but he's not much of a rim protector. Smith isn't high end, but, his block % is 3.7% whereas Jayson is 1.7% and below that the past 5 seasons. Smith also knocking down over 40% 3pt on spot ups.

Rob, even this year, is ELITE defensively. I completely understand the availability distrust, but pretty surprised he doesn't have any other champions for his cause in this thread.

I love Rob and would be on board if Brad had enough faith in him to bring him back but man that availability is a huge red flag. I definitely wouldn't give up much because I'd be worried that he barely plays.

[31to6]

Kinda coming back around to where we started just get Claxton.

I don't like the player or his contract, but here's why I'm a solid "Never Claxton": the guy is ALWAYS whining on the court. Just constantly. Bugs me.

That's the argument; that's the post.

[redslastlaugh]

I could see it actually if we gave them more:

Anfernee Simons
Josh Minott or Baylor Scheierman
Our best 2026 2nd rounder (#31-35 from Pels)

And if we were willing to take back Brad Beal, who has another year, I could see them sending:

Bogdanovic
Beal
Kobe Brown
2030 Clippers 1st rounder

with Chris Paul going to a 3rd team for cash

Would the Clippers dump a distant future first to get rid of a bunch of bad salary (Bogdanovich, Lopez, etc etc) and replace them with Simons?

It would be a very short sighted move but then again.

I mean, I don't want any of those guys even Kobe Brown who I kind of liked at the draft.

Just trying to figure out how to get Claxton for free or get paid to bring him in.

Yea, we wouldn't want any of them... wed have to reroute Bogdanovic for someone like Gafford, Nurkic or Claxton... and somehow, keep the Clippers far out first for it to be meaningful to us ... I think we'd keep Beal though, have him on the roster next yr, maybe he can be useful, he's one year $6m and he's JT's friend... Taking back Brad Beal would be a small price for a future Clippers first though, so I'd be fine with it, even though I dont really want Brad Beal

[165bows]

Kinda coming back around to where we started just get Claxton.

I don't like the player or his contract, but here's why I'm a solid "Never Claxton": the guy is ALWAYS whining on the court. Just constantly. Bugs me.

That's the argument; that's the post.

Sure but once he starts playing here in our system...

...

Ah forget it nevermind

[165bows]

I could see it actually if we gave them more:

Anfernee Simons
Josh Minott or Baylor Scheierman
Our best 2026 2nd rounder (#31-35 from Pels)

And if we were willing to take back Brad Beal, who has another year, I could see them sending:

Bogdanovic
Beal
Kobe Brown
2030 Clippers 1st rounder

with Chris Paul going to a 3rd team for cash

I mean, I don't want any of those guys even Kobe Brown who I kind of liked at the draft.

Just trying to figure out how to get Claxton for free or get paid to bring him in.

Yea, we wouldn't want any of them... wed have to reroute Bogdanovic for someone like Gafford, Nurkic or Claxton... and somehow, keep the Clippers far out first for it to be meaningful to us ... I think we'd keep Beal though, have him on the roster next yr, maybe he can be useful, he's one year $6m and he's JT's friend... Taking back Brad Beal would be a small price for a future Clippers first though, so I'd be fine with it, even though I dont really want Brad Beal

Yeah I suppose maybe Beal as the depth guard that might be able to play both spots. My thought though is the Clippers pay the pick to dump guys they decided they don't want, and the Celtics get a player for free. Maybe even a future second out of it.

Unlikely but man that Clippers cupboard is bare to make moves with so that distant first is about the only option.

[darrendaye]

Kinda coming back around to where we started just get Claxton.

I don't like the player or his contract, but here's why I'm a solid "Never Claxton": the guy is ALWAYS whining on the court. Just constantly. Bugs me.

That's the argument; that's the post.

Sure but once he starts playing here in our system...

...

Ah forget it nevermind

We're 20% above league average in whining to referees.

[djFan71]

Rob, even this year, is ELITE defensively. I completely understand the availability distrust, but pretty surprised he doesn't have any other champions for his cause in this thread.

I feel like there are plenty of Rob disciples.

Personally, I did my work on this thread too early and don't bother repeating ideas, but Rob was definitely one. I've seen others say the same. Most likely it's off-season signing, but if you can get him now for no/low cost, absolutely. I just don't think POR is going to dump him, he's valuable to them too. Maybe part with a 2nd to have him for the playoff run this year, but that's really about it.

[celtxman]

Kinda coming back around to where we started just get Claxton.

He's a decent player but his contract is too high.