Free Agent, Trade, Buyout, Extension & Conversion Thread, 2025 con't

[Larry_Russell]

I hope they don't have to use draft compensation to get rid of him, Jay King was claiming he heard he was a postive asset and teams want him. Jake Fischer said the opposite though.

I still say Jrue to the Kings for DeMar is the most likely trade where you don't have to give up anything, since DeMar has zero market and the Kings need a PG

No chance that happens. DeMar is a black hole offensively. No thanks

I don't like DeMar either but I can't find a Jrue deal for us that makes sense outside of that. Dallas one is tough financially

Dallas is easy.

but it doesnt save the team money, so additional moves need made.

Jrue
Gafford, Marshall and Martin or Christie

Done.

[Larry_Russell]

I hope they don't have to use draft compensation to get rid of him, Jay King was claiming he heard he was a postive asset and teams want him. Jake Fischer said the opposite though.

I still say Jrue to the Kings for DeMar is the most likely trade where you don't have to give up anything, since DeMar has zero market and the Kings need a PG

No chance that happens. DeMar is a black hole offensively. No thanks

I don't like DeMar either but I can't find a Jrue deal for us that makes sense outside of that. Dallas one is tough financially

Dallas is easy.

but it doesnt save the team money, so additional moves need made.

Jrue
Gafford, Marshall and Martin or Christie

Done.

[GoCeltics123]

No chance that happens. DeMar is a black hole offensively. No thanks

I don't like DeMar either but I can't find a Jrue deal for us that makes sense outside of that. Dallas one is tough financially

Dallas is easy.

but it doesnt save the team money, so additional moves need made.

Jrue
Gafford, Marshall and Martin or Christie

Done.

I mean from Dallas' perspective, it puts them into the second apron

[Hal14]

I would expand this to have the kings take tillman with us taking keon ellis. Then if giannis is staying in milwaukee, i would flip demar for portis+connaughton. Both portis and connaughton make less than the nontaxpayer MLE and teams can use the nontaxpayer MLE as a trade exception. I think we would be able to find a team to absorb one of those contracts into their MLE maybe with a second round pick. Going from jrue’s salary to one of portis/connaughton saves a ton of money and i like keon ellis a lot as a rotation piece.

Hate to break it to you, but, there's a fair chance Tillman will be in the mix for a rotation spot next year.

I love Tillman and loved him pre-draft but unfortunately it’s over for him that knee injury must have cooked him lol he just hasn’t moved the same since

But next year is a bridge year - we're not going to be a contender next season. Tatum tore his achilles and even before that happened, Wyc said we were going to trim enough payroll to get under the 2nd apron.

So we're not even really trying to win next year. And Tillman is under contract. It's a dirt cheap contract. He's a good teammate, good locker room/culture fit. He's only 26 yrs old..maybe having the offseason to rest up and get his knee right will do him good.

Would not be surprised if he's on the team next season.

[Hal14]

I don't like DeMar either but I can't find a Jrue deal for us that makes sense outside of that. Dallas one is tough financially

Dallas is easy.

but it doesnt save the team money, so additional moves need made.

Jrue
Gafford, Marshall and Martin or Christie

Done.

I mean from Dallas' perspective, it puts them into the second apron

Maybe a 3 team deal then..with Dallas getting Jrue..Dallas sending out salary/assets to a 3rd team who has enough cap space to take those salaries in (some combination of martin, marshall, gafford..) and then Boston receives some assets from the 3rd team (cheap players, picks..)

[165bows]

I'm confused by the Atlanta portion in your original trade:
Hawks already own the #13 pick, yet you have it listed to them.
Then you the Hawks are giving up #22, Okongwu, Niang AND a future 1st to only end up with Cam Johnson???

First mistake was deciding to quote a guy that's talking to himself

Unrelated but it's been a pretty understated turnaround for that Atlanta team that looked like they were kind of floundering. Suddenly the JJ/Daniels/ foreign guy core looks like some real building blocks, intrigued to see what they can do there.

[Larry_Russell]

Jrue and Saddiq Bey to Dallas

Klay Thompson, Tillman and Celtics #32 to Washington

Gafford, Marshall and Washington #40 to Boston


Washington has the ability to take on some cash in a trade as they have contract that are going are NG and opt out (middleton)

Teams sheds around 14 million in salary

White/Pritchard
Brown/Schierman
Marshall/Hasuer/Walsh
?????/?????
KP/Gafford/Kornet/Queta

Obvious final move is sending KP for some stop gap PFs (lakers for Klebr and Vanderbilt)

[lon3lytoaster]

Jrue and Saddiq Bey to Dallas

Klay Thompson, Tillman and Celtics #32 to Washington

Gafford, Marshall and Washington #40 to Boston


Washington has the ability to take on some cash in a trade as they have contract that are going are NG and opt out (middleton)

Teams sheds around 14 million in salary

White/Pritchard
Brown/Schierman
Marshall/Hasuer/Walsh
?????/?????
KP/Gafford/Kornet/Queta

Obvious final move is sending KP for some stop gap PFs (lakers for Klebr and Vanderbilt)

You can’t trade two players from the Celtics. This is why I keep saying it’s going to be extremely difficult for the Celtics to get great value back and I think a lot of people are going to be quite disappointed.

[hugepatsfan]

At the end of the day I think this offseason really comes down to 1 question... are they going to shed salary to the point of ducking below the 2nd apron, or are they going to go all the way below the luxury tax.

Everyone here seems mostly on board with the goal of resetting the repeater rates by ducking under the tax in 26-27 since our roster is set up well to do so. I just want to clarify that you pay repeater rates when you're in the tax for 3 out of the previous 4 years. So if we go under in 26-27 and then back into the tax in 27-28, we'll be at repeater rates again. We have to duck two years in a row to "reset".

Before the Tatum injury, I'd have said 25-26 and 26-27 are the best chances we're going to have to win more titles with him. So I wouldn't be making moves for the long term. Now, post injury, that changes for me. I now think 25-26 and 26-27 are going to be the LEAST likely chances we have to win more rings with Tatum. Obviously Tatum will be out 25-26 and then in 26-27, I expect when he comes back (at age 28 season) that year will be the worst out of whatever the rest of his remaining prime window is.

Stevens talked about being ready to compete for championships when the opportunities are there and, IMO, we should be targeting 27-28 season for that. Not the next two years. That doesn't mean tank like Hinkie - people are too quick to jump to extremes - but I think it means that they should take all their financial lumps these next two years so they can be free to go over the luxury tax at standard rates in 27-28 and the years after that. Building a basketball team is more than a cap sheet, but here's a road map of what I'd like to see:

25-26 - below the tax
26-27 - below the tax again to reset repeater rates
27-28 - in the tax but below 2nd apron
28-29 - above 2nd apron
29-30 - above 2nd apron
30-31 - below 2nd apron to avoid the future penalties kicking in, possibly below the tax altogether to start resetting again depending on the roster

IMO, that's the road map to marrying financial viability with Tatum's best years.

[hugepatsfan]

Jrue and Saddiq Bey to Dallas

Klay Thompson, Tillman and Celtics #32 to Washington

Gafford, Marshall and Washington #40 to Boston


Washington has the ability to take on some cash in a trade as they have contract that are going are NG and opt out (middleton)

Teams sheds around 14 million in salary

White/Pritchard
Brown/Schierman
Marshall/Hasuer/Walsh
?????/?????
KP/Gafford/Kornet/Queta

Obvious final move is sending KP for some stop gap PFs (lakers for Klebr and Vanderbilt)

You can’t trade two players from the Celtics. This is why I keep saying it’s going to be extremely difficult for the Celtics to get great value back and I think a lot of people are going to be quite disappointed.

That's not true. They can trade two players. They just can't aggregate their salaries to match. They can trade a guy making $32.4M (Jrue) and $2.5M (Tillman) for a combo of players making $30M because there's no aggregation on their end there. It's just Jrue for the combo of guys making $30M which meets the rule of them taking back more than they send out. HOWEVER, they could not trade Jrue/Tillman for a combo of guys making $33M because even though that's less than they're sending out, it requires aggregating Jrue/Tillman to satisfy that condition and we cannot aggregate.

[ConstableGeneva]

At the end of the day I think this offseason really comes down to 1 question... are they going to shed salary to the point of ducking below the 2nd apron, or are they going to go all the way below the luxury tax.

Everyone here seems mostly on board with the goal of resetting the repeater rates by ducking under the tax in 26-27 since our roster is set up well to do so. I just want to clarify that you pay repeater rates when you're in the tax for 3 out of the previous 4 years. So if we go under in 26-27 and then back into the tax in 27-28, we'll be at repeater rates again. We have to duck two years in a row to "reset".

Before the Tatum injury, I'd have said 25-26 and 26-27 are the best chances we're going to have to win more titles with him. So I wouldn't be making moves for the long term. Now, post injury, that changes for me. I now think 25-26 and 26-27 are going to be the LEAST likely chances we have to win more rings with Tatum. Obviously Tatum will be out 25-26 and then in 26-27, I expect when he comes back (at age 28 season) that year will be the worst out of whatever the rest of his remaining prime window is.

Stevens talked about being ready to compete for championships when the opportunities are there and, IMO, we should be targeting 27-28 season for that. Not the next two years. That doesn't mean tank like Hinkie - people are too quick to jump to extremes - but I think it means that they should take all their financial lumps these next two years so they can be free to go over the luxury tax at standard rates in 27-28 and the years after that. Building a basketball team is more than a cap sheet, but here's a road map of what I'd like to see:

25-26 - below the tax
26-27 - below the tax again to reset repeater rates
27-28 - in the tax but below 2nd apron
28-29 - above 2nd apron
29-30 - above 2nd apron
30-31 - below 2nd apron to avoid the future penalties kicking in, possibly below the tax altogether to start resetting again depending on the roster

IMO, that's the road map to marrying financial viability with Tatum's best years.

Pretty good breakdown. Also my preferred path if they're able to execute it.

[Curmudgeon]

I'll say it for the 10th time. You either break up the whole damn team and fill it with role players with whom Tatum is unfamiliar, or you trade one player into the Nets' cap space and leave the rest of the team intact. Maybe you could get the Nets to take Jrue if you attached a bazillion draft picks, but the guy who makes the most sense is Brown.

[Fierce1]

Now the fans are tired of winning and want to blow it up.

Not tired of winning.

Just tired of low bball IQ and bad shot selection.

And dumping Brown for nothing will result in a losing record without Tatum. You understand that Boston can’t get players like that without drafting them, right? Then you’re going to have Tatum next to some 22 year old who might have a higher basketball IQ but will make more mistakes than JB and might not have as much talent. That’s not a good indicator for Tatum wanting to stay.

Like I said, I have no problem keeping JB as long as the Cs don't keep both White and JB.

It has to be JB or White, can't keep both.

[hugepatsfan]

I'll say it for the 10th time. You either break up the whole damn team and fill it with role players with whom Tatum is unfamiliar, or you trade one player into the Nets' cap space and leave the rest of the team intact. Maybe you could get the Nets to take Jrue if you attached a bazillion draft picks, but the guy who makes the most sense is Brown.

Tatum will miss next year, 25-26. In 26-27, I'd expect rust. 27-28 is the next year I think there's realistic hope of Tatum being the guy to lead us to a title. At that point...

Jrue will be going into his age 37 season.
Porzingis will be going into his age 32 season and isn't even under contract right now
White will be going into his age 33 season

I'm not saying that your Brown idea is bad. But to your point of "break up the whole damn team and fill it with role players with whom Tatum is unfamiliar"... that's going to need to be done with or without Brown being moved IMO. Tatum will not win if they just send out Brown and try to run this core until the wheels fall off. The whole team will still need to be broken up really.

[ddb]

If Jrue ends up getting traded this summer my prediction is that it'll be to the Clippers. The formula is all there. Team that doesn't care about spending, veteran group that is desperate to win now, has role players/contracts to flip in a deal, Jrue is from LA, and the Clippers were in on Jrue prior to Boston acquiring him 2 summers ago.
Something along the lines of Jrue to LAC for Jones Jr/Bogdanovic/#30. Couple veteran wing role players that can help in Tatum's absence, plus an additional pick. Boston would then have #28/30/32 in the draft giving them ammunition to move up, down, or make a subsequent trade.

[165bows]

If Jrue ends up getting traded this summer my prediction is that it'll be to the Clippers. The formula is all there. Team that doesn't care about spending, veteran group that is desperate to win now, has role players/contracts to flip in a deal, Jrue is from LA, and the Clippers were in on Jrue prior to Boston acquiring him 2 summers ago.
Something along the lines of Jrue to LAC for Jones Jr/Bogdanovic/#30. Couple veteran wing role players that can help in Tatum's absence, plus an additional pick. Boston would then have #28/30/32 in the draft giving them ammunition to move up, down, or make a subsequent trade.

Clippers are a definite partner.

I could see Hauser/Tillman into their TPEs for #30/#51 in this year's draft. Starts the cost savings for almost $10M next year.

Maybe Jrue but how does LAC add that salary gets a lot more complicated.

[Larry_Russell]

Jrue Holiday and Xavier TIllman to the Kings

Keldon Johnson to the Magic

Jaylen Brown and Malik Monk to the Spurs

#2, Davin Vassell, Harrison Barnes, Jonathan Isaac, Jonas Valanciunas to Boston
(saves 16.6 million)

White/Pritchard
Harper/Scheierman
Vassell/Hauser
Isaac/Barnes
Kristaps/Jonas

Barnes has 1 year left (19)
Jonas has 2 years left (10.5)

Should be able to dump either of them easily enough if needed.

[Celts17Pride]

I'll say it for the 10th time. You either break up the whole damn team and fill it with role players with whom Tatum is unfamiliar, or you trade one player into the Nets' cap space and leave the rest of the team intact. Maybe you could get the Nets to take Jrue if you attached a bazillion draft picks, but the guy who makes the most sense is Brown.

For a bazillion times, Nets are not taking Brown into cap space. It's a fantasy. Not to mention the Celtics are not just going to give Brown away, that's a fireable offense.

[redslastlaugh]

Vecenie Game Theory pod spitballs options for the Celtics this offseason

Watch on YouTube

I think I've exhausted myself on KP, Holiday trades for now, lol... Draft can't come soon enoough, I can't do this for another month, lol

[Hal14]

If Jrue ends up getting traded this summer my prediction is that it'll be to the Clippers. The formula is all there. Team that doesn't care about spending, veteran group that is desperate to win now, has role players/contracts to flip in a deal, Jrue is from LA, and the Clippers were in on Jrue prior to Boston acquiring him 2 summers ago.
Something along the lines of Jrue to LAC for Jones Jr/Bogdanovic/#30. Couple veteran wing role players that can help in Tatum's absence, plus an additional pick. Boston would then have #28/30/32 in the draft giving them ammunition to move up, down, or make a subsequent trade.

I could also see the Grizzlies showing interest in Jrue. they really were hoping it would work out with Smart there but they had to dump him..and also lost Tyus Jones so there's definitely a void there.

Plus, rumor has it they may also be trading Ja this summer. But with other core pieces like Bane and JJJ (and Ja if they keep him) who are in their prime and ready to win now, I could see them pulling the trigger on Jrue.

Suns too..they have no PG..rumor has it Tyus is gonna be looking for a new home this summer..they don't mind spending big bucks..I could see it.

Speaking of the bucks, I'm sure we wouldn't want to help out the bucks but they may want to bring Jrue back. Giannis and Jrue are close. And Dame is out for awhile. It was announced the other day that Giannis is not going to request a trade - milwaukee is gonna try to re-shape the roster around Giannis and try to contend again.

Dallas, Clippers..I don't think it will be too hard to move Jrue.