2025 Offseason Trade and Free Agency Thread (Wow this is fun!)

[CelticFaninLBC]

Can we stop saying trading for a talented Rookie "isn't a Sure thing".. Of course it isn't. It would be a gamble. But some gambles are worth the risk. Some are not. That is where GM's have to make the Difficult decision. That's what can separate good-bad-great ones.

If this was a Brown for Cooper Flag proposal, would anyone say no? ( well I guess there is always someone) But point is, is it a sure thing Cooper (who I love) is a sure thing to end up better than Harper?

And this is more than just trading Brown the player. It is also trading Brown and his contract. THAT is totally being forgotten for some reason. Trading Brown gets Boston quite a few other players besides a talented rookie.

Can't prove it, but I would bet Stevens trades Brown if the possibility for #2 + plus players actually became possible. The ball is in SAS court.

It’s not just the gamble, it’s about the market for a finals MVP and multiple time all star.

Just look at the haul Memphis got for Desmond Bane.

Trading away Jaylen with the main piece being pick 2 in a draft with no sure thing is crazy work.

At minimum the core of Brown and Tatum in a weak East has you in the top 3-4. This has been proven virtually every season of their career.

To break it up on a gamble like that is crazy in my eyes and I believe strongly that Brad would agree.

You make it seem like we'd be trading JB for the 27th pick in the draft.

Massive difference between that and the 2nd pick.

Harper is a Cade/Paolo level prospect..both of them were the 1st pick.

Also, Bane is 36th, JB is 30th on the trade value rankings so not a big difference there:
https://nbarankings.theringer.com/trade-value

While that was a good haul Memphis got for Bane, Harper has a higher odds of becoming a star than any of those assets Memphis got..they got KCP (washed), Cole Anthony (decent guard off the bench) and picks which will likely be outside of the lottery since they're orlando's picks and Orlando will likely be near the top of the eastern conference standings for the foreseeable future with Paolo/Franz/Bane/Suggs. So those picks won't be that good..

I suspect Stevens is looking at being very competitive over the next 3 years versus "trade value," and Jaylens' top 20 when it comes to playoff's value...

[Hal14]

#2 pick in a crappy draft? Yeah it is

All of this tanking talk has really messed with people. Just because you have the 2nd pick does not mean you’re going to pick anyone close to the level of talent that Jaylen Brown has. This is a very mid draft. You have guys who will be solid rotation players but other than Flagg you have no projected stars.

From The Athletic's Sam Vecenie draft guide:



Harper is as good a prospect (or better) than guys like Paolo, Cade, Tatum, Brown, Mobley, Scottie Barnes, Holmgren, Anthony Edwards, SGA, etc. were when they were pre-draft prospects.

You named guys in there that were sure fire #1 picks in most years. Everything other than that blurb from the athletic points out that the Rutgers guys are not worthy of a top 3 pick in a normal draft. He is nowhere near IMO Paolo Cade Edwards or Holmgren as a prospect. I think people are trying to shoehorn this guy into their own narrative to tank.

Harper is not worth blowing it up. Sure he’s young. But you’re telling me if he was in the draft next year you’d take him over Dybantsa, Peterson or Boozer?

I said nothing about next year's draft. And we're too far away from next year's draft for it to be worth much discussion.

"Rutgers guys" I wouldn't lump them in together like they're the same prospect. I (and Vecenie and many others) have Harper as a top 2 pick, a tier above the rest of the draft class..and as a guy who would be in the conversation for no. 1 in quite a few previous draft classes.

Not sure where Ace will end up on my big board..as of now I have him 7th in this draft class.

I stand by what I said about Harper in relation to those other guys as prospects and you said nothing of substance to dispute it.

[FlatearthZorro]

This is why I always loved Pierce and I don't think JT or JB are close to him:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/shorts/84vh9ofksKo[/youtube]

[chrisab123]

From The Athletic's Sam Vecenie draft guide:



Harper is as good a prospect (or better) than guys like Paolo, Cade, Tatum, Brown, Mobley, Scottie Barnes, Holmgren, Anthony Edwards, SGA, etc. were when they were pre-draft prospects.

You named guys in there that were sure fire #1 picks in most years. Everything other than that blurb from the athletic points out that the Rutgers guys are not worthy of a top 3 pick in a normal draft. He is nowhere near IMO Paolo Cade Edwards or Holmgren as a prospect. I think people are trying to shoehorn this guy into their own narrative to tank.

Harper is not worth blowing it up. Sure he’s young. But you’re telling me if he was in the draft next year you’d take him over Dybantsa, Peterson or Boozer?

I said nothing about next year's draft. And we're too far away from next year's draft for it to be worth much discussion.

"Rutgers guys" I wouldn't lump them in together like they're the same prospect. I (and Vecenie and many others) have Harper as a top 2 pick, a tier above the rest of the draft class..and as a guy who would be in the conversation for no. 1 in quite a few previous draft classes.

Not sure where Ace will end up on my big board..as of now I have him 7th in this draft class.

I stand by what I said about Harper in relation to those other guys as prospects and you said nothing of substance to dispute it.

And you said nothing of substance to back it up…so here we are

[celtxman]

If you get the chance look to find the NBC Sports Boston show "The Off C'season", the episode with Bobby Marks. Really insightful info. I've seen some excerpts but it's good to see in totality.
What Marks said to Drew Carter, Chris Forsberg and Kevin O'Connor.

The off- season is considered next season in regards to the cap and officially announced after
July 6th.

Mentioned Cleveland twice in a bad way with the salary cap saying they were "buried in the 2nd apron and dealing with Ty Jerome extension. Teams in 2nd apron going forward will have a tough time getting out.

CBA aprons are here to stay - hard cap at 2nd apron if you get under. Mentioned Denver signing MLJ really hurt them.

Mentioned that teams who draft well but haven't used trades can get hurt, May have to lose younger players because ownership groups want to stay below the 2nd apron.

Jrue options Dallas and Clippers will be tied to Kyrie and Harden decisions in picking up their player options. But he doesn't think the Celtics will have to add draft picks to get rid of Jrue.

KP current trade market not good. He mentioned he is playing for Latvia with FIBA. I checked and the first game is August 27. Marks doesn't love this decision but KP could be waived and stretched for 3 years $10 million per. That deadline is August 29.

His opinion the two most likely suitors for Brown, Houston and SA. It would have to be a "home run" to move him.

Derrick White it would take "Desmond Bane, plus offer." for a trade. He doesn't see it.

Thinks Durant' s most likely spot is Minnesota (Gobert/Divencenzo. He will be moved before the draft but think of Toronto and Detroit as possibilities.

Without actually saying they should keep KP, he mentioned Capela and Larry Nance being available and trying to get the MLE to get one of them. It's a bad center market in his opinion. Mentioned Hauser possibly moving in this equation.

Like Drake Powell and Asa Newell in the draft. Thinks Newell could be the steal of the draft. I was a little confused because they started talking about if the Celtics kept the 28/32 picks and mock drafts have both being gone by then.

He said it would be extremely difficult to do a KG/Ray Allen type addition (KG/Giannis to SA) with the CBA

Those were the points he brought up. It's a good listen.



.

[SparringPartner]

In the context of the deal though we were discussing, he only had us taking back Gafford/Marshall. So 2 players combined for less than Jrue, legal trade even if we end up over the 2nd apron.

[GoCeltics123]

Jake Fischer on his live stream, to no surprise, said the teams he's heard the most for Jrue are Sacramento and Dallas. Mentioned how hard it would be for the Mavs with their second apron issues though

[SuperDeluxe]

Read on Twitter

Shams doesn't understand what words mean but the jist is clear.

What's a "crazy offer"? Something stupidly high or something stupidly low?

[SparringPartner]

Shams doesn't understand what words mean but the jist is clear.

What's a "crazy offer"? Something stupidly high or something stupidly low?

Cooper Flagg, Naji Marshall, and Kyrie Irving is a crazy (literally) offer

[hugepatsfan]

In the context of the deal though we were discussing, he only had us taking back Gafford/Marshall. So 2 players combined for less than Jrue, legal trade even if we end up over the 2nd apron.

Traded can be more than two teams.

With the new CBA, a huge number of trades will be expanded to more than 2 teams. Hardly any trade ever has exactly the same salary so one team is always taking more even if marginally so. But under new CBA, taking back more salary than sent out hard caps you at the first apron. It’s going to result in tons of deals being expanded to dump filler contracts onto teams with TPE and MLE to use so both teams can avoid the hard caps.

[SparringPartner]

Charles Lee demands this crazy trade.

[SparringPartner]

Spurs want White back at all costs!

[playa-hater]

I am sitting here bored out of my mind at my kids practice. Which is running on a thirty minute delay. So if there was ever time to give me some nice juicy rumors, now would be that time..

[TSmith0197]

Spurs want White back at all costs!

I hope you’re just bored because this trade and the JB trade you proposed………

[playa-hater]

Charles Lee demands this crazy trade.

I take that trade so fast. Especially because I like VJ ..B Miller will be really good as well.

[fallguy]

Spurs want White back at all costs!

Good lord. What a terrible trade.

[MrGreenRunsDeep]

Witnessing worst trade for White & Jaylen brown. Some of y’all I think, don’t even watch nba and just throwing random names. Everyone needs to realize, we are not rebuilding..

[Celts17Pride]

No way we trade JB for a bunch of unknowns and someone like Vassell. Harper is 19. If he turns into Cade Cunningham, great, but Cunningham turned into Cunningham in year 4.

-Cade was good before year 4..it's just that the first 3 years he had some of the worst teammates, worst spacing and worst coaching in NBA history.

-Tatum went toe to toe with Lebron in the conference finals as a rookie. Harper is as good a prospect as Tatum was

-The Thunder were the 1 seed when Chet and Jdub were in their 2nd year (1st healthy season for Chet) and they're about to win the finals with chet and jbdub in their 3rd season (2nd healthy season for Chet)

-Paolo led Orlando to the playoffs in his 2nd and 3rd season..

Again, there's more to these decisions than just basketball. Finances are playing a big part in our moves this summer. All the reports say that we're trimming payroll, trading key guys and getting under the apron. Moving JB achieves that..and we can get a lot more for JB via trade than we can get for Jrue, KP and Hauser.

Another factor is extending our window of being a good team. With Tatum/Brown, our window closes in a few yrs when they're out of their prime. Then what? Then we have nothing. No star to build around. We'd have to try and tank for a high draft pick but as we've seen in the past couple of drafts, there is no guarantee that tanking and having a bad record will get you a top 2 pick..or if you do get that top 2 pick, there's a chance it could happen in a bad draft like what happened to the wizards and hawks last year. Or you try and acquire a star via trade/free agency but that's easier said than done.

Or you get Harper now. And your window of being a good team *could* be for the next 15 years, until Harper is out of his prime.

Cade Cunningham who’s claim to fame was knocked out of the first round in the playoffs in year 4.

[Celts17Pride]

The #2 pick and Castle is horrible for Jaylen Brown? GTHO

#2 pick in a crappy draft? Yeah it is

All of this tanking talk has really messed with people. Just because you have the 2nd pick does not mean you’re going to pick anyone close to the level of talent that Jaylen Brown has. This is a very mid draft. You have guys who will be solid rotation players but other than Flagg you have no projected stars.

From The Athletic's Sam Vecenie draft guide:



Harper is as good a prospect (or better) than guys like Paolo, Cade, Tatum, Brown, Mobley, Scottie Barnes, Holmgren, Anthony Edwards, SGA, etc. were when they were pre-draft prospects.

[Celts17Pride]

When I heard Giannis was staying, I thought Bucks would try to do something crazy to get JB. Then everyone said they have nothing to use to surround Giannis with a good team, that means they have nothing to give for JB.

Giannis for JB

Another classic Celtics RealGMer

Two weeks ago people in this forum were saying the equipment people were sewing Giannis name on a Celtics jersey