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

[Celtics_Champs]

Shams report of them listenting is kind of telling. They’re listening for someone who wants to trade draft capital for him.

The bucks aren’t going to come to us and offer Giannis. Brad isn’t calling them either, apparently.

So the Brown rumors will end after the draft tonight.

What is Sham going to do? Come out on television and say I got nothing? Sham makes stuff up all the time. He is not the only one. They are very careful with their words. Shams is saying stuff like teams are getting offers and are listening. Basically saying absolutely nothing

This happens all the time, yes. Woj and Shams have both been adamant that a player is completely off the table. Then when it happens they brush it off.

[Larry_Russell]

A team that starts a 28th pick in the draft and Kornet and either Pritchard or Simons is not a threat.

They are the portland trailblazers....competing for the playin and a middle of the draft pick.

We started a 29th pick in the draft all last yr

With how many years experience???

[165bows]

Read on Twitter

Shams like Woj before him is as much an agent/mouthpiece of the league as an employee of ESPN thats why they always had scoops no one else had he doesn't get these things out of the thin air. He's prepping the Celtics fanbase for the probability of White or Brown maybe both will be traded this offseason GET READY

We know Ime Udoka had a huge role in landing Durant in Houston, and when he says "if someone meets his price" imo it means if Houston will open the war chest due to Udoka calling and emailing the Houston front office like he's spam targeting a hottie.

Houston already paid way more than I would have expected for Durant I don't expect a deal but I don't think it's unreasonable where Brad has laid out his price (enormous) and Udoka is pushing the team to meet it.

[jfs1000d]

The Celtics could have gotten something better for Porzingis, but those options were not feasible considering the prime purpose of this roster transformation was getting below the second apron.

No doubt teams out there were offering more. But those potential trading partners all have fear of apronitis too. No one wants to take on tons of salary. A Porzingis trade elsewhere would have only resulted in minimal cap savings of about what the Holiday deal did.

The only player at the table who could deliver a clean rip-off-the-bandaid massive cap savings was the Nets. With them included that meant no other suitable bidders, and the return was going to diminish. (All those imaginary four team Fanspo trades were clearly not available.)

If the Celtics had saved only 5-6 million or so on the trade, that would mean still more very painful deals including giving up future draft picks to get rid of guys, no flexibility, no leverage, few options, for sure no Horford or Kornet, and on and on.

Boston dumped a big salary in one move, accomplished what they most needed to, and ended the earliest stage of the makeover.

This.

The thing about Niang is silly. The player didn’t matter. They got under the apron with giving up an assets.

This should be called the Boston Miracle


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[playa-hater]

You guys have to be kidding me. I wake up and see I am behind six pages. I'm thinking something definitely happens. Only to find nothing. Don't you guys sleep

[Marley2Hendrix]

Re: Jaylen Brown

Brown was just superb in the title run. The ECF and Finals MVPs were well earned.

I'm beyond curious, given this is the off-season Brad confronts the existential realities of the CBA, how his deep dive into a Tatum/Brown supermax pairing goes.

Trying to be completely realistic, JB and Tatum have been pillars of consistency in dragging all manner of teams into deep postseason runs. HOWEVER, guys, our title team was absolutely stacked, and, financially, I have doubts if that roster construction ever will be repeated without considerable luck. Even in the year before and year of the championship, White's ascension probably was underrated, title year Jrue still was very close to the best version of him (fourth option, primarily focused on defense), and the overall roster construction was just beautiful (***don't discount the wildly important value of a very old Horford still being Horford).

My main takeaway, throughout the JB/Tatum era, it's always been in my head, they're not particularly synergistic, and their combined gravity never seemed to elevate the rest of the team much more than just one of them running the show when the other was out. Being completely transparent, I don't want to doubt Brad, but, I really question if the stars will align in the future for a JB/Tatum squad to ever replicate the quality of our title team such that we're prohibitive favorites. Now, as we saw with Indy this year, or even the Caleb Martin series, weird stuff happens, and you don't NEED to be prohibitive favorites or close to win a title or get to the Finals, but, I've reconciled that pursuit of future greatness during Phase 2 of Tatum's career very well might require not being a two supermax team. Obviously, risk mitigation, I'm doing cartwheels if Brown can be turned into Flagg, but that doesn't seem realistic.

On the flipside, I'll never bet against Jaylen, and, if he's not moved, I think the entirety of next season needs to focus on him further differentiating himself from tatum as a lead player in such a way that we might see a future where Tatum and Brown together begin elevating lesser players (4th-9th men) in a way we've never seen before. The main outcome I don't want to see is a future three- to four-year stretch of my turn, your turn with Tatum and Brown carrying rosters that will never compare to the title squad to the 2nd Round/ECF with nothing more than a puncher's chance at a title.

[chrisab123]

Riley would hang up the phone.

You guys say Simons is bad and you're expecting a guy like Pat Riley to bite?

Never said he’s necessarily bad. He just doesn’t fit what they should be doing here. Even as a huge Simons fan you have to admit his defense is awful. He’s an expiring, so it allows Miami to move on from money so they can do what they do best, chase and sign free agents.

There are no star players available in FA in 2026.

Simons doesn't fit Boston?

He averaged 9 3pt attempts per game the last 2 seasons.

Ain't that what Joe loves?

And he's just 26 years old.

Like I said, Riley would say some magic words to whoever is calling from the Cs then hang up the phone.

He doesn’t fit Boston because they’re best run with a defensive anchor. Giving Joe Simons is more or less encouraging Joe to drag this team to the early 2000s Phoenix Suns.

[Larry_Russell]

Never said he’s necessarily bad. He just doesn’t fit what they should be doing here. Even as a huge Simons fan you have to admit his defense is awful. He’s an expiring, so it allows Miami to move on from money so they can do what they do best, chase and sign free agents.

There are no star players available in FA in 2026.

Simons doesn't fit Boston?

He averaged 9 3pt attempts per game the last 2 seasons.

Ain't that what Joe loves?

And he's just 26 years old.

Like I said, Riley would say some magic words to whoever is calling from the Cs then hang up the phone.

He doesn’t fit Boston because they’re best run with a defensive anchor. Giving Joe Simons is more or less encouraging Joe to drag this team to the early 2000s Phoenix Suns.

Dont worry. Some here think that Kornet is going to be a top 5 center in the nba withbstarters minutes.....

[The_Ghost_of_JB]

I hate this trade.

I know KP was not exactly reliable but they gave him away for free. I know JT is out next year but still it is insane to me to blow up a team that won a title last year. Seems to me the new owners main focus is getting out of the luxury tax area and their secondary focus is what kind if team they can put on the floor.

I just hope to god this isn't a repeat of the Paul Gaston era.

[Memokerobi]

Spurs will say no.

#2, #14, Keldon, and Vassell will be enough.

Castle will be the deal breaker.

Boston says No

Well if you make this deal you then need to plan to find a new home for Tatum. That’s the thing people are missing. If you deal White and Brown for picks and prospects you’re essentially also committing to deal Tatum to a winning situation when he returns.

Thats why I put Murphy to Bos in the offer and kept White. I agree with your sentiment but I think the resulting team from this trade is a big away from being a contender which you can get with Simons’ salary

Harper/PP
White
Murphy
Tatum/Keldon
Big

You think Tatum would want out of that?

[Fierce1]

Never said he’s necessarily bad. He just doesn’t fit what they should be doing here. Even as a huge Simons fan you have to admit his defense is awful. He’s an expiring, so it allows Miami to move on from money so they can do what they do best, chase and sign free agents.

There are no star players available in FA in 2026.

Simons doesn't fit Boston?

He averaged 9 3pt attempts per game the last 2 seasons.

Ain't that what Joe loves?

And he's just 26 years old.

Like I said, Riley would say some magic words to whoever is calling from the Cs then hang up the phone.

He doesn’t fit Boston because they’re best run with a defensive anchor. Giving Joe Simons is more or less encouraging Joe to drag this team to the early 2000s Phoenix Suns.

Since when has Joe been known for defense?

[The Corey's]

I hate this trade.

I know KP was not exactly reliable but they gave him away for free. I know JT is out next year but still it is insane to me to blow up a team that won a title last year. Seems to me the new owners main focus is getting out of the luxury tax area and their secondary focus is what kind if team they can put on the floor.

I just hope to god this isn't a repeat of the Paul Gaston era.

Id question how a owner can afford to buy the team without even their own stadium for almost 7 billion but a salary cap of 500 mil for a championship roster which is incredibly hard to build is a bridge too far.

The owner isn't the billionaire he wants us all to think he is and I think the only reason he's the owner is because wyc gets to grift for a few more years as the face of the franchise.

I'm not mad they traded KP but I do think they could of got a better player in return.

[Curmudgeon]

I hate this trade.

I know KP was not exactly reliable but they gave him away for free. I know JT is out next year but still it is insane to me to blow up a team that won a title last year. Seems to me the new owners main focus is getting out of the luxury tax area and their secondary focus is what kind if team they can put on the floor.

I just hope to god this isn't a repeat of the Paul Gaston era.

Porzingis had to go, and they took no salary back. That was an excellent move. The one I don't understand is Holiday for Simons, where most of the savings are in 2026-27--assuming they let Simons him walk. They could have gotten more for Jrue at the deadline.

I expect Hauser will be the next to go unless Dallas makes Flagg available for JB, which is wildly unlikely.

[The Corey's]

I hate this trade.

I know KP was not exactly reliable but they gave him away for free. I know JT is out next year but still it is insane to me to blow up a team that won a title last year. Seems to me the new owners main focus is getting out of the luxury tax area and their secondary focus is what kind if team they can put on the floor.

I just hope to god this isn't a repeat of the Paul Gaston era.

Porzingis had to go, and they took no salary back. That was an excellent move. The one I don't understand is Holiday for Simons, where most of the savings are in 2026-27--assuming they let him walk.

I expect Hauser will be the next to go unless Dallas makes Flagg available for JB, which is wildly unlikely.

They did take salary back. A horrendous player who they should just cut.

[Memokerobi]

The Celtics could have gotten something better for Porzingis, but those options were not feasible considering the prime purpose of this roster transformation was getting below the second apron.

No doubt teams out there were offering more. But those potential trading partners all have fear of apronitis too. No one wants to take on tons of salary. A Porzingis trade elsewhere would have only resulted in minimal cap savings of about what the Holiday deal did.

The only player at the table who could deliver a clean rip-off-the-bandaid massive cap savings was the Nets. With them included that meant no other suitable bidders, and the return was going to diminish. (All those imaginary four team Fanspo trades were clearly not available.)

If the Celtics had saved only 5-6 million or so on the trade, that would mean still more very painful deals including giving up future draft picks to get rid of guys, no flexibility, no leverage, few options, for sure no Horford or Kornet, and on and on.

Boston dumped a big salary in one move, accomplished what they most needed to, and ended the earliest stage of the makeover.

Exactly. Technically he returned a first rounder but we used that 1st to dump Mann’s contract

[165bows]

I expect them to combine the Jrue to POR deal with the BRK/ATL 3-way. The trade mechanics of that will mean that both Simons and Niang are acquired via salary matching with Porzingis ($30.7M outgoing enables them to take back both of those guys). That means they'll generate a $32.4M TPE for Jrue.

They'll turn the $35.9M of expiring salary for Simons/Niang into abut $19M of expiring salary to duck the tax. I imagine that takes all their 2nd rounders to do. They'll go into next offseason with a $32.4M TPE and about $30M below the tax line. They'll use their 2026 1st rounder since it probably ends up decently high. They'll have hung on to Tatum/Brown/White/Hauser/Pritchard and hope for good development out of their picks this year and Scheierman to go with the 2026 1st. And they'll have that $32.4M TPE to use in a deal that sends out FUTURE 1sts for a player hopefully to slot in behind Tatum/brown/White as the 4th guy. All while still ducking the tax again in 26-27 that way they can go back to league high payroll levels again after that.

That's the path back to competing, IMO.

Ironically the guy that currently (acknowledging a TON changes between now and then) is Hartenstein. Barely fits into the TPE with his option being team rather than player (like Porzingis, which is how the got him so cheaply), but that is when Okc is going to hit their own payroll issues. Never a bad idea to hurt a rival and they haven't had a dominant rebounder in a looong time.

[Curmudgeon]

I hate this trade.

I know KP was not exactly reliable but they gave him away for free. I know JT is out next year but still it is insane to me to blow up a team that won a title last year. Seems to me the new owners main focus is getting out of the luxury tax area and their secondary focus is what kind if team they can put on the floor.

I just hope to god this isn't a repeat of the Paul Gaston era.

Porzingis had to go, and they took no salary back. That was an excellent move. The one I don't understand is Holiday for Simons, where most of the savings are in 2026-27--assuming they let him walk.

I expect Hauser will be the next to go unless Dallas makes Flagg available for JB, which is wildly unlikely.

They did take salary back. A horrendous player who they should just cut.

But not much salary. He will be Hauser's replacement.

[165bows]

The Celtics could have gotten something better for Porzingis, but those options were not feasible considering the prime purpose of this roster transformation was getting below the second apron.

No doubt teams out there were offering more. But those potential trading partners all have fear of apronitis too. No one wants to take on tons of salary. A Porzingis trade elsewhere would have only resulted in minimal cap savings of about what the Holiday deal did.

The only player at the table who could deliver a clean rip-off-the-bandaid massive cap savings was the Nets. With them included that meant no other suitable bidders, and the return was going to diminish. (All those imaginary four team Fanspo trades were clearly not available.)

If the Celtics had saved only 5-6 million or so on the trade, that would mean still more very painful deals including giving up future draft picks to get rid of guys, no flexibility, no leverage, few options, for sure no Horford or Kornet, and on and on.

Boston dumped a big salary in one move, accomplished what they most needed to, and ended the earliest stage of the makeover.

Exactly. Technically he returned a first rounder but we used that 1st to dump Mann’s contract

This is a very good point if the Celtics had taken the "Mann+#22" part of the deal the majority of people would have been amped about that return.

[Gant]

There are no star players available in FA in 2026.

Simons doesn't fit Boston?

He averaged 9 3pt attempts per game the last 2 seasons.

Ain't that what Joe loves?

And he's just 26 years old.

Like I said, Riley would say some magic words to whoever is calling from the Cs then hang up the phone.

He doesn’t fit Boston because they’re best run with a defensive anchor. Giving Joe Simons is more or less encouraging Joe to drag this team to the early 2000s Phoenix Suns.

Since when has Joe been known for defense?

Celtics rating in team defensive efficiency:

2025: 4th, 2024: 3rd, 2023: 3rd

Celtics in team defensive rating:

2025: 3rd, 2024: 1st, 2023: 2nd

[Celticlifer]

A team that starts a 28th pick in the draft and Kornet and either Pritchard or Simons is not a threat.

They are the portland trailblazers....competing for the playin and a middle of the draft pick.

We started a 29th pick in the draft all last yr

With how many years experience???

This is who we played when we lost to Miami tow years ago.
startersJayson Tatum
Al Horford
Marcus Smart
Derrick White
Jaylen Brown
Grant Williams
Sam Hauser
Mike Muscala
Luke Kornet
Robert Williams III
Malcolm Brogdon
Payton Pritchard

We were contenders then, favorites actually. came back from 3-0. If we resign Horford and Kornet and consider Simons a better or at least equal version of Brogdon, we have basically swapped Smart and Grant for a sixth man of the year and a league top 5 shooter. Plus whatever BS turns into and full draft capital available. That is a contending team, maybe not next year, but for years afterwards.