2025 Offseason Trade and Free Agency Thread (The Fun Never Stops Edition)

[flintsky21]

Steph Curry won 4 rings with Centers like Bogut, Pachulia, and Looney.

Brad does not need to find another star Center, just the right fit.

Fair to say Curry is a special kind of fit

Point is it doesn't have to be a star Center.

There's also no way of getting a star Center now because of cap reasons.

Let's not forget the Cs got KP through the old CBA.

Which is why it makes sense to draft a big like Kalk/Raynaud and a take swing at finding a Zubac (32nd pick). Al is 39. Kornet will never be more than what he is right now. Kalk/Raynaud at least has a shot, however small, of becoming more than a Luke Kornet. The 5 spot is the biggest hole in the team right now. The minutes and opportunities will be there. Hugo on the other hand will be like a 4th string wing.

[fallguy]

Brad said priority is to re-sign Kornet and Horford.

That's just sad.

Rebounding was atrocious last year and was probably the single biggest reason they lost in the playoffs.

So yes let's double down and bring back the same bigs. Totally makes sense.

Im still waiting for what the alternative is. What is the plan for C and PF? I am totally with Brad's stealth ways to get things done. But at some point there needs to be more going on here. So signing Kornet and Horford isn't even the bare minimum to me

It's June 26.

[Gant]

Jay King:

After the Holiday and Porziņģis trades, Stevens has already slashed enough salary off the Celtics’ payroll to leave the team about $4.5 million under the second apron. The tenor of his comments on Wednesday suggested he will continue to search for ways to trim even more salary. In one of his most revealing statements, he declared that he would like Boston to re-sign Luke Kornet and Al Horford this summer. As the roster currently stands, re-signing even one of those players at market value (or at least at BORD$ value) would push the Celtics right back above the second apron. So Stevens hopes to cut at least enough additional salary to afford to keep both of the big men.

Could the Celtics be even more aggressive with their cost-cutting strategy and escape the luxury tax entirely? Based on Stevens’ comments, such an outcome wouldn’t come as a shock. His team currently sits a little more than $15 million over the luxury tax threshold, but would need to cut more than that to get under the threshold while also bringing back Kornet and Horford.

Among other moves Stevens could consider to cut more salary — he could still flip Anfernee Simons to another team after agreeing to acquire the guard from Portland in the Holiday trade.

[Fierce1]

Fair to say Curry is a special kind of fit

Point is it doesn't have to be a star Center.

There's also no way of getting a star Center now because of cap reasons.

Let's not forget the Cs got KP through the old CBA.

Which is why it makes sense to draft a big like Kalk/Raynaud and a take swing at finding a Zubac (32nd pick). Al is 39. Kornet will never be more than what he is right now. Kalk/Raynaud at least has a shot, however small, of becoming more than a Luke Kornet. The 5 spot is the biggest hole in the team right now. The minutes and opportunities will be there. Hugo on the other hand will be like a 4th string wing.

Broome is the better fit.

[165bows]

Simons for Huerter and Julian Phillips makes some sense for both teams imo. Saves ~$7M and gives the bulls the better player likely.

Would be pretty easy to cut more costs from there.

Edit: or maybe same thing with Jordan Clarkson lol maybe get an asset back. Or I suppose PJ Washington that would be a pretty great trade and re-balance the roster and save money in the short term.

Edit2: Dwight Powell and PJ Washington for Simons. DAL gets out of Powell's money and gets their back court scorer with Irving out.

[celtxman]

Just for the record, KP only played 3 games in the 1st round in 2024 and only had 1 great game against the Mavs in the Finals.

Basically the Cs went through almost the entire playoffs without KP.

While KP is a difference maker, like what he did in Game 1 of the Finals, KP didn't really impact the whole 2024 playoff run and was horrible in this year's playoffs.

And as it stands right now, the Cs have no option of getting a star big man because of cap reasons.

Next best thing is to find a big man who is the right fit.

Everything you say is true. But it isn't complete. Without KP I'm not sure they win it all last year if Indiana and Cleveland are healthy. That 4 game sweep of Indiana is deceiving. It was close and could have been closer I JB didn't hit that shot and Mathurin/Haliburton were healthy. Would LAST YEAR'S Celtics have beaten this year's Knicks team without KP? Because this year's Celtics couldn't beat them, without KP with the confidence of a championship under their belt.
This illness with KP is awful. Maybe the Celtics already know that this is a long-term debilitating illness. But what if it isn't, and you just traded talent you can't get back to a conference rival that gets to resign him for a team friendly contract?
So far, the trade upside: Bill Chisholm is feeling great today. There's a pep in his step. He's.saved a boatload of money. They now can make trades, but as of today they are hardcapped no room to add salary. We can hang a banner saying we saved the most luxury tax in NBA history!
Forgive the sarcasm, I'll cut to the chase. KP's contract has one more year -not 3 years. If they don't think they can realistically get near his talent back, then wait. I didn't say not to trade him I said to WAIT and see. The return couldn't be lower because the expiring contract itself becomes more valuable.
My heart wants Brad to continue to be brilliant and have a stealth plan that shocks the world. My head, right now, doesn't see the path, to getting at least one high level big men.

[Hal14]

Rebounding was atrocious last year and was probably the single biggest reason they lost in the playoffs.

So yes let's double down and bring back the same bigs. Totally makes sense.

Im still waiting for what the alternative is. What is the plan for C and PF? I am totally with Brad's stealth ways to get things done. But at some point there needs to be more going on here. So signing Kornet and Horford isn't even the bare minimum to me

It's June 26.

It needs to happen NOW! lol

Tatum is out for the next year but we still need to have all the pieces in place to be better than OKC this instant, for some reason

[Fierce1]

I don't get the rush to trade Simons.

Brad has until Feb. 2026 to trade him.

Why not have a look see?

Celtics are missing 27 ppg from Tatum.

Where will the Cs get that kind of scoring?

If you want offense, Simons is the man!

[Gant]

I don't get the rush to trade Simons.

Brad has until Feb. 2026 to trade him.

Why not have a look see?

Celtics are missing 27 ppg from Tatum.

Where will the Cs get that kind of scoring?

If you want offense, Simons is the man!

If the Celtics re-sign Kornet and Horford, they have to cut more salary. Not to say it'll happen, but one of the better options to do that is flip Simons. None of this stuff is pretty, but that's the new CBA. Every good team will have to make decisions like this eventually.

[Shamrock23]

Fair to say Curry is a special kind of fit

Point is it doesn't have to be a star Center.

There's also no way of getting a star Center now because of cap reasons.

Let's not forget the Cs got KP through the old CBA.

Which is why it makes sense to draft a big like Kalk/Raynaud and a take swing at finding a Zubac (32nd pick). Al is 39. Kornet will never be more than what he is right now. Kalk/Raynaud at least has a shot, however small, of becoming more than a Luke Kornet. The 5 spot is the biggest hole in the team right now. The minutes and opportunities will be there. Hugo on the other hand will be like a 4th string wing.

Celtics doesn't need a big per Brad 'cause they're sticking to the Joe's "Jack up 3's" offense. We poor fans will suck it up and watch the opponents out-rebound us by 20 every game and free for all layups all night. Thank God we won a championship (with the help of the opponent's star being injured of course).

[Fierce1]

I don't get the rush to trade Simons.

Brad has until Feb. 2026 to trade him.

Why not have a look see?

Celtics are missing 27 ppg from Tatum.

Where will the Cs get that kind of scoring?

If you want offense, Simons is the man!

If the Celtics re-sign Kornet and Horford, they have to cut more salary. Not to say it'll happen, but one of the better options to do that is flip Simons. None of this stuff is pretty, but that's the new CBA. Every good team will have to make decisions like this eventually.

Simons is not the only one you can flip.

Hauser is 10m, flip that.

Niang is 8.2m, flip that.

[Fierce1]

I forgot about Niang.

Sam 10m
Niang 8.2m
Tillman 2.5m

That totals 20.7m

20.7m is enough to sign Luke and Al.

[Gant]

I don't get the rush to trade Simons.

Brad has until Feb. 2026 to trade him.

Why not have a look see?

Celtics are missing 27 ppg from Tatum.

Where will the Cs get that kind of scoring?

If you want offense, Simons is the man!

If the Celtics re-sign Kornet and Horford, they have to cut more salary. Not to say it'll happen, but one of the better options to do that is flip Simons. None of this stuff is pretty, but that's the new CBA. Every good team will have to make decisions like this eventually.

Simons is not the only one you can flip.

Hauser is 10m, flip that.

Niang is 8.2m, flip that.

That's correct. There are other options. They'll have to explore all of them. Simons is one of the better ones.

[jmr07019]

Aaron Gordon 2.0? That’s wildly optimistic but similar body types, both drafted high and struggled with the team that draft him. I wonder what the Bulls would want to let go of him. Is 32 enough?

Read on Twitter

[Fierce1]

Aaron Gordon 2.0? That’s wildly optimistic but similar body types, both drafted high and struggled with the team that draft him. I wonder what the Bulls would want to let go of him. Is 32 enough?

Read on Twitter

That's a bad contract.

18m per year until 2029.

[celtxman]

Im still waiting for what the alternative is. What is the plan for C and PF? I am totally with Brad's stealth ways to get things done. But at some point there needs to be more going on here. So signing Kornet and Horford isn't even the bare minimum to me

It's June 26.

It needs to happen NOW! lol

Tatum is out for the next year but we still need to have all the pieces in place to be better than OKC this instant, for some reason

As always your wisdom wins out. I'm playing checkers, you're playing chess.

[Fierce1]

The Vets minimum for Al is 3.6m.

If Al, at 39 years old, refuses to accept vets minimum then Brad should just move on from Al.

[Celts17Pride]

I don't get the rush to trade Simons.

Brad has until Feb. 2026 to trade him.

Why not have a look see?

Celtics are missing 27 ppg from Tatum.

Where will the Cs get that kind of scoring?

If you want offense, Simons is the man!

If the Celtics re-sign Kornet and Horford, they have to cut more salary. Not to say it'll happen, but one of the better options to do that is flip Simons. None of this stuff is pretty, but that's the new CBA. Every good team will have to make decisions like this eventually.

Easy to do in the offseason but Stevens could do it at the trade deadline too

[Celts17Pride]

I’m expecting Brad Stevens to make another trade today possibly picking up another 2nd round pick. Lot of decent players left in the draft

[celtxman]

The Vets minimum for Al is 3.6m.

If Al, at 39 years old, refuses to accept vets minimum then Brad should just move on from Al.

This is tough. I'd hate to see Al move on especially to a competitor. Certainly keeping Al on that contract would be awesome because the NBA subsidizes minimum contracts for veterans.