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

[BigTrade92]

Brad traded Nesmith for Brogdon, who then in turn got us Holiday and a title.

Wherever Jrue is sent, a starter or solid rotation piece absolutely needs to be brought back in return.

[Celts17Pride]

Keep Tatum and Pritchard. Blow up the rest.
Pritchard alone gives enough entertainment to survive a tank year.

then have Tatum asking out in 3 years because there is no reason to stay (see Giannis).

[SparringPartner]

then have Tatum asking out in 3 years because there is no reason to stay (see Giannis).

Sure. As long as the new players show some goddamn urgency!!

[ConstableGeneva]

Maybe my standard is so low since I'm not a Boston local, but for me, anything we get back for KP and Jrue is just gravy at this point (just no long-term albatross salary). We got a title out of trading for them. Job done. I just hope Brad doesn't surrender more than a meh 2nd rounder to offload either/both of them. And I'm still confident about the team being relevant as long as they don't bungle Tatum's recovery. If Joe stays, get him more help. I think it hurt that we lost Charles Lee and JVG. Get a different voice in that locker room. Our offense needs more variety and creativity (but I still maintain this is mostly dependent on what Jays are able and more importantly willing to do).

EDIT: Our defense (despite the regular season numbers) wasn't all that either. OKC has now set the bar on that end.

[Celts17Pride]

Maybe my standard is so low since I'm not a Boston local, but for me, anything we get back for KP and Jrue is just gravy at this point (just no long-term albatross salary). We got a title out of trading for them. Job done. I just hope Brad doesn't surrender more than a meh 2nd rounder to offload either/both of them. And I'm still confident about the team being relevant as long as they don't bungle Tatum's recovery. If Joe stays, get him more help. I think it hurt that we lost Charles Lee and JVG. Get a different voice in that locker room. Our offense needs more variety and creativity (but I still maintain this is mostly dependent on what Jays are able and more importantly willing to do).

Celtics have to be extra cautious with JT coming back. JT is only 27 years old and the last thing you want is rush him back and he injures the achilles again or hurts something else favoring it. I have made it clear that my opinion is I don't think JT should play a single minute next year. Give him a full year to recover and use this year to find out what you have in Scheierman, Queta, Walsh, Davison, #28, #32 etc. Have JT confidently come back in 2026/2027.

My biggest fear is Tatum comes back too early.

[Curmudgeon]

Nah, keep everyone except Brown. Trade him to Brooklyn for the #8 pick. Failing that, trade Brown to Dallas for the rights to Flagg and as little trade flotsam in return as possible. Failing that, trade him to Memphis for Jaren Jackson and filler. Failing that, trade him to Utah for Colin Sexton and Jordan Clarkson, and see if you can find other teams to take Sexton and Clarkson, and lastly, if you can't do any of those deals, trade him back home to Atlanta for Okongwu, Niang and filler.

[canman1971]

Maybe my standard is so low since I'm not a Boston local, but for me, anything we get back for KP and Jrue is just gravy at this point (just no long-term albatross salary). We got a title out of trading for them. Job done. I just hope Brad doesn't surrender more than a meh 2nd rounder to offload either/both of them. And I'm still confident about the team being relevant as long as they don't bungle Tatum's recovery. If Joe stays, get him more help. I think it hurt that we lost Charles Lee and JVG. Get a different voice in that locker room. Our offense needs more variety and creativity (but I still maintain this is mostly dependent on what Jays are able and more importantly willing to do).

Celtics have to be extra cautious with JT coming back. JT is only 27 years old and the last thing you want is rush him back and he injures the achilles again or hurts something else favoring it. I have made it clear that my opinion is I don't think JT should play a single minute next year. Give him a full year to recover and use this year to find out what you have in Scheierman, Queta, Walsh, Davison, #28, #32 etc. Have JT confidently come back in 2026/2027.

My biggest fear is Tatum comes back too early.

That could be a tough sell to Brown, unless he decides to go under the knife. That being said, Brown might look at it as a challenge to lead the team in Tatum's absence. Time will tell, and at least it gives us something to look forward to in the offseason, for better or worse remains to be seen. Great thing is this should just be a hiccup and not end.

[Curmudgeon]

Brown is threatening to have surgery because he doesn't want to be traded.

[Skybox]

This is based on my (correct? ) understanding of the potentially tremendous value of ORL's next year's swap rights. It still seems too good to be true. ORL has swap rights with PHX, superseded by WAS' swap rights with PHX, which has protections and limitations...it's very easy to imagine the pick being in the top part of the lottery in next summer's loaded draft.

*lots of people want to throw expirings at BOS but that doesn't help them, financially, in the short term. Next year, they're not likely to contend, but the following year - with Tatum back, they'll be back in the mix. So having a bunch of salary drop off next summer is interesting, but they'll still likely be way above the cap, so it's not like they'll be signing a big free agent. Isaac is a really interesting situation, if he's traded before July 1 - his "trade price" is $25m, but his actual cap hit for next year is only $15m (If I've got it right)...that's pretty enticing for BOS. I think only BRK or DET can just absorb significantly more than they send out, so with Isaac actually being an impactful player AND a straight dump of $10m being additional incentive, he could be on BOS' radar. I'd be interested but not overly excited about getting Jrue - but the 26 frp wouldn't be in play, imo...but Derrick White is another story. BOS gets an impactful player in Isaac, slides Pritchard into the starting spot next to Jrue and, if the chips fall the right way, they pull off a Len Bias high draft pick next summer, despite being already loaded with great players.


ORL sends: Jonathan Isaac (25m - drops to $15m), ORL 26 frp with high lottery swap potential
BOS sends: Derrick White (20m-jumps to $28.1m), Sam Hauser (2.1m - jumps to $10m)

BOS saves $23m in 25-26, which is a non-Tatum year, then watches the lottery like they haven't done in years. Derrick White is a big give, but everybody is aging next year (White will turn 32 when Tatum re-emerges next summer) as well as getting paid in a non-contending year for BOS. Not fun to think about for fans, but financial reality of the 2nd Apron and repeater penalties as well as player movement handcuffs are very real for ANY ownership group.

I don't expect that a realistic fan can expect some kind of "stay in contention" haul for KP or Jrue.

[celticgreenie]

This is based on my (correct? ) understanding of the potentially tremendous value of ORL's next year's swap rights. It still seems too good to be true. ORL has swap rights with PHX, superseded by WAS' swap rights with PHX, which has protections and limitations...it's very easy to imagine the pick being in the top part of the lottery in next summer's loaded draft.

*lots of people want to throw expirings at BOS but that doesn't help them, financially, in the short term. Next year, they're not likely to contend, but the following year - with Tatum back, they'll be back in the mix. So having a bunch of salary drop off next summer is interesting, but they'll still likely be way above the cap, so it's not like they'll be signing a big free agent. Isaac is a really interesting situation, if he's traded before July 1 - his "trade price" is $25m, but his actual cap hit for next year is only $15m (If I've got it right)...that's pretty enticing for BOS. I think only BRK or DET can just absorb significantly more than they send out, so with Isaac actually being an impactful player AND a straight dump of $10m being additional incentive, he could be on BOS' radar. I'd be interested but not overly excited about getting Jrue - but the 26 frp wouldn't be in play, imo...but Derrick White is another story. BOS gets an impactful player in Isaac, slides Pritchard into the starting spot next to Jrue and, if the chips fall the right way, they pull off a Len Bias high draft pick next summer, despite being already loaded with great players.


ORL sends: Jonathan Isaac (25m - drops to $15m), ORL 26 frp with high lottery swap potential
BOS sends: Derrick White (20m-jumps to $28.1m), Sam Hauser (2.1m - jumps to $10m)

BOS saves $23m in 25-26, which is a non-Tatum year, then watches the lottery like they haven't done in years. Derrick White is a big give, but everybody is aging next year (White will turn 32 when Tatum re-emerges next summer) as well as getting paid in a non-contending year for BOS. Not fun to think about for fans, but financial reality of the 2nd Apron and repeater penalties as well as player movement handcuffs are very real for ANY ownership group.

I don't expect that a realistic fan can expect some kind of "stay in contention" haul for KP or Jrue.

Same agent as Tatum and only has two clients total.

[cloverleaf]

Can we still swap Bill Chisolm for Jeff Bezos or some other bazillionaire?

[darrendaye]

This is based on my (correct? ) understanding of the potentially tremendous value of ORL's next year's swap rights. It still seems too good to be true. ORL has swap rights with PHX, superseded by WAS' swap rights with PHX, which has protections and limitations...it's very easy to imagine the pick being in the top part of the lottery in next summer's loaded draft.

*lots of people want to throw expirings at BOS but that doesn't help them, financially, in the short term. Next year, they're not likely to contend, but the following year - with Tatum back, they'll be back in the mix. So having a bunch of salary drop off next summer is interesting, but they'll still likely be way above the cap, so it's not like they'll be signing a big free agent. Isaac is a really interesting situation, if he's traded before July 1 - his "trade price" is $25m, but his actual cap hit for next year is only $15m (If I've got it right)...that's pretty enticing for BOS. I think only BRK or DET can just absorb significantly more than they send out, so with Isaac actually being an impactful player AND a straight dump of $10m being additional incentive, he could be on BOS' radar. I'd be interested but not overly excited about getting Jrue - but the 26 frp wouldn't be in play, imo...but Derrick White is another story. BOS gets an impactful player in Isaac, slides Pritchard into the starting spot next to Jrue and, if the chips fall the right way, they pull off a Len Bias high draft pick next summer, despite being already loaded with great players.


ORL sends: Jonathan Isaac (25m - drops to $15m), ORL 26 frp with high lottery swap potential
BOS sends: Derrick White (20m-jumps to $28.1m), Sam Hauser (2.1m - jumps to $10m)

BOS saves $23m in 25-26, which is a non-Tatum year, then watches the lottery like they haven't done in years. Derrick White is a big give, but everybody is aging next year (White will turn 32 when Tatum re-emerges next summer) as well as getting paid in a non-contending year for BOS. Not fun to think about for fans, but financial reality of the 2nd Apron and repeater penalties as well as player movement handcuffs are very real for ANY ownership group.

I don't expect that a realistic fan can expect some kind of "stay in contention" haul for KP or Jrue.

Lots to unpack on that 1st pick. Seems it's locked out of the top 8. Loved Isaac coming out and he's "impactful" on defense, but only enough to play 15MPG based on offensive limitations and bubble wrapping. Think the C's are done with injury risks for the near-term.

[hugepatsfan]

This is based on my (correct? ) understanding of the potentially tremendous value of ORL's next year's swap rights. It still seems too good to be true. ORL has swap rights with PHX, superseded by WAS' swap rights with PHX, which has protections and limitations...it's very easy to imagine the pick being in the top part of the lottery in next summer's loaded draft.

*lots of people want to throw expirings at BOS but that doesn't help them, financially, in the short term. Next year, they're not likely to contend, but the following year - with Tatum back, they'll be back in the mix. So having a bunch of salary drop off next summer is interesting, but they'll still likely be way above the cap, so it's not like they'll be signing a big free agent. Isaac is a really interesting situation, if he's traded before July 1 - his "trade price" is $25m, but his actual cap hit for next year is only $15m (If I've got it right)...that's pretty enticing for BOS. I think only BRK or DET can just absorb significantly more than they send out, so with Isaac actually being an impactful player AND a straight dump of $10m being additional incentive, he could be on BOS' radar. I'd be interested but not overly excited about getting Jrue - but the 26 frp wouldn't be in play, imo...but Derrick White is another story. BOS gets an impactful player in Isaac, slides Pritchard into the starting spot next to Jrue and, if the chips fall the right way, they pull off a Len Bias high draft pick next summer, despite being already loaded with great players.


ORL sends: Jonathan Isaac (25m - drops to $15m), ORL 26 frp with high lottery swap potential
BOS sends: Derrick White (20m-jumps to $28.1m), Sam Hauser (2.1m - jumps to $10m)

BOS saves $23m in 25-26, which is a non-Tatum year, then watches the lottery like they haven't done in years. Derrick White is a big give, but everybody is aging next year (White will turn 32 when Tatum re-emerges next summer) as well as getting paid in a non-contending year for BOS. Not fun to think about for fans, but financial reality of the 2nd Apron and repeater penalties as well as player movement handcuffs are very real for ANY ownership group.

I don't expect that a realistic fan can expect some kind of "stay in contention" haul for KP or Jrue.

Celtics can't execute this trade as you have it. They're over the 2nd apron in '24-25. They can't take back more salary than they're sending out as you have here. And they can't aggregate either so adding more guys to solve the total issue won't work either.

And then dong the deal in 25-26 year (after July 1st) has issues on the ORL side financially. Taking back more salary than you send out isn't doable for ORL without being hard capped at the 1st apron. Right now, if you exercised all team options, you'd be $3.4M over the 1st apron already and that's BEFORE signing the first round picks. Decline Gary Harris' $7.5M option and the 1st rounders still take you over. ORL is in a tough tax apron situation themselves and wouldn't be able to offer the savings you're promising here unless you chipped in more value to dump contracts on other teams in the deal, because you have to send out more than you send back to avoid either an illegal trade or an impractical roster crunch in filling out the roster spots. Landing Hauser in the deal too is probably out of the question as well, not that it's a big deal for BOS since he's so easily movable into a number of team's TPE.

So in summary, if the math could be worked out on the ORL side, I think White for Issac and a very solid looking '26 1st like that is something BOS would have to seriously consider. That's just going to require the Magic to send out good players on their end for additional salary (F Wagner, Black) or chip in further assets to dump undesirable salary on other teams. Because Issac for White straight up doesn't work in either league year these teams can trade in this offseason.

[Curmudgeon]

Trade white and you can forget about a ring. He is absolutely a key piece, more important than Brown because White's BBIQ is higher. I suspect Tatum knows this, so if you don't want Tatum to bolt, keep White.

[165bows]

This is based on my (correct? ) understanding of the potentially tremendous value of ORL's next year's swap rights. It still seems too good to be true. ORL has swap rights with PHX, superseded by WAS' swap rights with PHX, which has protections and limitations...it's very easy to imagine the pick being in the top part of the lottery in next summer's loaded draft.

*lots of people want to throw expirings at BOS but that doesn't help them, financially, in the short term. Next year, they're not likely to contend, but the following year - with Tatum back, they'll be back in the mix. So having a bunch of salary drop off next summer is interesting, but they'll still likely be way above the cap, so it's not like they'll be signing a big free agent. Isaac is a really interesting situation, if he's traded before July 1 - his "trade price" is $25m, but his actual cap hit for next year is only $15m (If I've got it right)...that's pretty enticing for BOS. I think only BRK or DET can just absorb significantly more than they send out, so with Isaac actually being an impactful player AND a straight dump of $10m being additional incentive, he could be on BOS' radar. I'd be interested but not overly excited about getting Jrue - but the 26 frp wouldn't be in play, imo...but Derrick White is another story. BOS gets an impactful player in Isaac, slides Pritchard into the starting spot next to Jrue and, if the chips fall the right way, they pull off a Len Bias high draft pick next summer, despite being already loaded with great players.


ORL sends: Jonathan Isaac (25m - drops to $15m), ORL 26 frp with high lottery swap potential
BOS sends: Derrick White (20m-jumps to $28.1m), Sam Hauser (2.1m - jumps to $10m)

BOS saves $23m in 25-26, which is a non-Tatum year, then watches the lottery like they haven't done in years. Derrick White is a big give, but everybody is aging next year (White will turn 32 when Tatum re-emerges next summer) as well as getting paid in a non-contending year for BOS. Not fun to think about for fans, but financial reality of the 2nd Apron and repeater penalties as well as player movement handcuffs are very real for ANY ownership group.

I don't expect that a realistic fan can expect some kind of "stay in contention" haul for KP or Jrue.

Celtics can't execute this trade as you have it. They're over the 2nd apron in '24-25. They can't take back more salary than they're sending out as you have here. And they can't aggregate either so adding more guys to solve the total issue won't work either.

And then dong the deal in 25-26 year (after July 1st) has issues on the ORL side financially. Taking back more salary than you send out isn't doable for ORL without being hard capped at the 1st apron. Right now, if you exercised all team options, you'd be $3.4M over the 1st apron already and that's BEFORE signing the first round picks. Decline Gary Harris' $7.5M option and the 1st rounders still take you over. ORL is in a tough tax apron situation themselves and wouldn't be able to offer the savings you're promising here unless you chipped in more value to dump contracts on other teams in the deal, because you have to send out more than you send back to avoid either an illegal trade or an impractical roster crunch in filling out the roster spots. Landing Hauser in the deal too is probably out of the question as well, not that it's a big deal for BOS since he's so easily movable into a number of team's TPE.

So in summary, if the math could be worked out on the ORL side, I think White for Issac and a very solid looking '26 1st like that is something BOS would have to seriously consider. That's just going to require the Magic to send out good players on their end for additional salary (F Wagner, Black) or chip in further assets to dump undesirable salary on other teams. Because Issac for White straight up doesn't work in either league year these teams can trade in this offseason.

Also just wait until ‘26 and see if that pick is any good. Not trading White for some meh young guy.

[Shamrock23]

Trade Tatum or Brown, but no way White. He is the only Celtic that play their heart out on both ends of the court and with higher BB I.Q than the rest of the team. White is Celtic for life!

[Curmudgeon]

Yep. Tatum, Brown, some rookie late first round picks and the role players you get when dumping the salaries of White, Porzingis and Holiday aren't going to win bupkus. That's a wonderful Yiddish word derived from bobkes, used to describe goat poop.

[The Corey's]

Blow it up man.

We need to start this rebuild so when Flagg becomes available we have a young talented team to plug him into.

[celtxman]

Maybe my standard is so low since I'm not a Boston local, but for me, anything we get back for KP and Jrue is just gravy at this point (just no long-term albatross salary). We got a title out of trading for them. Job done. I just hope Brad doesn't surrender more than a meh 2nd rounder to offload either/both of them. And I'm still confident about the team being relevant as long as they don't bungle Tatum's recovery. If Joe stays, get him more help. I think it hurt that we lost Charles Lee and JVG. Get a different voice in that locker room. Our offense needs more variety and creativity (but I still maintain this is mostly dependent on what Jays are able and more importantly willing to do).

EDIT: Our defense (despite the regular season numbers) wasn't all that either. OKC has now set the bar on that end.

I believe Brad can get something good out of both Jrue and KP. Assuming they aren't trading Brown, they can get under the 2nd apron by trading Jrue, taking back little to no assets and have Brad beat the bushes for another guard. If they can't get good value for KP around the trade deadline - don't trade him - or at least not yet. The center market is extremely barren. If they trade Jrue first, before July 1, they can open the books on the 25-26 season with the right trade. Now other teams can't take advantage in a KP trade because they can't hold the 2nd apron over the Celtics head. Even if KP isnt healthy that $31 million expiring contract has value to get a real player back. I can understand the Celtics not wanting to go into a third post season with little or no KP. But other teams desperate to get this kind of talent and rolling the dice.

[The Corey's]

This team is about to go from championship expectations for like a 44 win 6th seed.

That's unacceptable