Holy Offseason I Can’t Believe it’s July FA/Trade/Waiver Thread

[zoyathedestroya]

I still can’t believe Danny Ainge helped Pat Riley land Norman Powell. Heat didn’t give up anything at all.

[bucknersrevenge]

Over eighteen drafts Danny Ainge made 26 first round picks as GM of the Celtics
(Banks, Perk, AlJeff, TA, Delonte, Gerald Green, Rondo, JR Giddens, Avery, Jajuan J., FabMelo, Sullinger, Olynyk, Marcus, James Young, Rozier, RJ Hunter, Jaylen, Yabu, Zizic, JT, Robwill, Romeo, Grant Williams, Nesmith, Pritchard)


In the five drafts since Brad took over we've made 2 first round picks.
The rookie aged players under team control right now: JDD, Jordan Walsh, Scheierman, Hugo, Amari Will, Max Shulga
if two or three of these guys become important rotation players, not stars per se but good players like a Danny Green or Boris Diaw or George Hill type of pro,
then we are in pretty good shape.

If in 3 yrs, none of these guys are in the NBA, we are going to be in trouble. A lot of our second apron and tax situation derives from not getting much yield from our draft picks. The last 3 players we drafted and extended were JB, JT and Payton Pritchard. We should have some Andrew Nembhard's and Christian Braun's coming up to extend but we punted so much on making picks.

Now that Austin Ainge and Remy Cofield are moved on, I hope we can bring in an additional exec/scout to help out with draft prioritization

This thought has been on my mind for a while now. Since we are tied to both Jay's and Derrick White, we need a SERIOUS influx of inexpensive talent to come in and backstop this group because of the situation we're in. As Corey's stated, we traded away talent and got little back. Simons and Niang are okay players but trading them won't bring in anything big, AND if we want to keep either of them, they become a more expensive piece added to a core that is already very expensive. We had to make the trades we did to regain some roster flexibility AND... we are a worse team now because of it. Both things are true. It's not either/or. It's both/and here.

If there was any time to move one of the Jay's this season would've been it. But we're not and that's fine. I totally get why you don't. But I don't get the point of trying to compete with this roster in a bridge year. I would pack up Jaylen for the year. 40 games max, if that. Play PP 35 min at point to get him ready. Get rid of Simons however possible so you can play Scheierman and Hugo, and Minott and Garza and see if we actually have any young talent that can backstop this core when Tatum comes back. And absolutely a big HELL NO to 36-year-olds coming off a ruptured Achilles who didn't even play defense before they got hurt. I mean, what are we doing here?? This half-in, half-out bull is crazy. So I don't always agree with The Corey's but I get his question:

What are we trying to accomplish here?

[Infinite Llamas]

Over eighteen drafts Danny Ainge made 26 first round picks as GM of the Celtics
(Banks, Perk, AlJeff, TA, Delonte, Gerald Green, Rondo, JR Giddens, Avery, Jajuan J., FabMelo, Sullinger, Olynyk, Marcus, James Young, Rozier, RJ Hunter, Jaylen, Yabu, Zizic, JT, Robwill, Romeo, Grant Williams, Nesmith, Pritchard)


In the five drafts since Brad took over we've made 2 first round picks.
The rookie aged players under team control right now: JDD, Jordan Walsh, Scheierman, Hugo, Amari Will, Max Shulga
if two or three of these guys become important rotation players, not stars per se but good players like a Danny Green or Boris Diaw or George Hill type of pro,
then we are in pretty good shape.

If in 3 yrs, none of these guys are in the NBA, we are going to be in trouble. A lot of our second apron and tax situation derives from not getting much yield from our draft picks. The last 3 players we drafted and extended were JB, JT and Payton Pritchard. We should have some Andrew Nembhard's and Christian Braun's coming up to extend but we punted so much on making picks.

Now that Austin Ainge and Remy Cofield are moved on, I hope we can bring in an additional exec/scout to help out with draft prioritization

This thought has been on my mind for a while now. Since we are tied to both Jay's and Derrick White, we need a SERIOUS influx of inexpensive talent to come in and backstop this group because of the situation we're in. As Corey's stated, we traded away talent and got little back. Simons and Niang are okay players but trading them won't bring in anything big, AND if we want to keep either of them, they become a more expensive piece added to a core that is already very expensive. We had to make the trades we did to regain some roster flexibility AND... we are a worse team now because of it. Both things are true. It's not either/or. It's both/and here.

If there was any time to move one of the Jay's this season would've been it. But we're not and that's fine. I totally get why you don't. But I don't get the point of trying to compete with this roster in a bridge year. I would pack up Jaylen for the year. 40 games max, if that. Play PP 35 min at point to get him ready. Get rid of Simons however possible so you can play Scheierman and Hugo, and Minott and Garza and see if we actually have any young talent that can backstop this core when Tatum comes back. And absolutely a big HELL NO to 36-year-olds coming off a ruptured Achilles who didn't even play defense before they got hurt. I mean, what are we doing here?? This half-in, half-out bull is crazy. So I don't always agree with The Corey's but I get his question:

What are we trying to accomplish here?

Baylor turns 25 in a couple months and Garza turns 27 in December. Queta turns 26 next week. These guys aren’t exactly oozing with potential at these ages.

This has to be a make or break year for guys like Walsh and Davison who haven’t developed at all in three years. But then again, they were second round picks so I’m not sure how much to even expect from them at all.

This team is basically devoid of young talent aside from our most recent draft. Even guys who haven’t been in the league that long like Hauser and Pritchard both turn 28 this year. Our team is pretty long in the tooth and we desperately need a top pick in this next draft. If only Billy King was still around to outsource our tank…

[Infinite Llamas]

I still can’t believe Danny Ainge helped Pat Riley land Norman Powell. Heat didn’t give up anything at all.

Watch him trade Kessler to the Lakers for peanuts and go full heel.

[FlatearthZorro]

I still can’t believe Danny Ainge helped Pat Riley land Norman Powell. Heat didn’t give up anything at all.

Watch him trade Kessler to the Lakers for peanuts and go full heel.

It could actually happen.
Thing is, both are up for extensions.
Unless Powell takes a team friendly contract, Heat core would be Powell/Adebayo and Eleven from Stranger Things.
As for Kessler, he'll be in his 4th year?

[Shak_Celts]

Young teams don’t even usually win, now that OKC has, all of a sudden you have to be 19 years old to be something. Our guys are under 30, except white and x, and I’m supposed to believe we’re ancient and on our last legs?

The same people were begging to get rid of the young talent and bring in veterans to help win a championship. It’ll be the same story if some of the younger guys turn out to be good players, but don’t win anything, people will be trying to ship them out as quickly as they can! It would be history repeating itself!

[bucknersrevenge]

Over eighteen drafts Danny Ainge made 26 first round picks as GM of the Celtics
(Banks, Perk, AlJeff, TA, Delonte, Gerald Green, Rondo, JR Giddens, Avery, Jajuan J., FabMelo, Sullinger, Olynyk, Marcus, James Young, Rozier, RJ Hunter, Jaylen, Yabu, Zizic, JT, Robwill, Romeo, Grant Williams, Nesmith, Pritchard)


In the five drafts since Brad took over we've made 2 first round picks.
The rookie aged players under team control right now: JDD, Jordan Walsh, Scheierman, Hugo, Amari Will, Max Shulga
if two or three of these guys become important rotation players, not stars per se but good players like a Danny Green or Boris Diaw or George Hill type of pro,
then we are in pretty good shape.

If in 3 yrs, none of these guys are in the NBA, we are going to be in trouble. A lot of our second apron and tax situation derives from not getting much yield from our draft picks. The last 3 players we drafted and extended were JB, JT and Payton Pritchard. We should have some Andrew Nembhard's and Christian Braun's coming up to extend but we punted so much on making picks.

Now that Austin Ainge and Remy Cofield are moved on, I hope we can bring in an additional exec/scout to help out with draft prioritization

This thought has been on my mind for a while now. Since we are tied to both Jay's and Derrick White, we need a SERIOUS influx of inexpensive talent to come in and backstop this group because of the situation we're in. As Corey's stated, we traded away talent and got little back. Simons and Niang are okay players but trading them won't bring in anything big, AND if we want to keep either of them, they become a more expensive piece added to a core that is already very expensive. We had to make the trades we did to regain some roster flexibility AND... we are a worse team now because of it. Both things are true. It's not either/or. It's both/and here.

If there was any time to move one of the Jay's this season would've been it. But we're not and that's fine. I totally get why you don't. But I don't get the point of trying to compete with this roster in a bridge year. I would pack up Jaylen for the year. 40 games max, if that. Play PP 35 min at point to get him ready. Get rid of Simons however possible so you can play Scheierman and Hugo, and Minott and Garza and see if we actually have any young talent that can backstop this core when Tatum comes back. And absolutely a big HELL NO to 36-year-olds coming off a ruptured Achilles who didn't even play defense before they got hurt. I mean, what are we doing here?? This half-in, half-out bull is crazy. So I don't always agree with The Corey's but I get his question:

What are we trying to accomplish here?

Baylor turns 25 in a couple months and Garza turns 27 in December. Queta turns 26 next week. These guys aren’t exactly oozing with potential at these ages.

This has to be a make or break year for guys like Walsh and Davison who haven’t developed at all in three years. But then again, they were second round picks so I’m not sure how much to even expect from them at all.

This team is basically devoid of young talent aside from our most recent draft. Even guys who haven’t been in the league that long like Hauser and Pritchard both turn 28 this year. Our team is pretty long in the tooth and we desperately need a top pick in this next draft. If only Billy King was still around to outsource our tank…

I'm not even gonna argue against that point. I just want to know "can we even play them??" I mean can any of them be reliable rotation players on the cheap? What can Hugo provide? Is PP a starter? What can he do? What about JD? These are questions we can actually attempt to answer this season if we want to. I don't care if it's a tank or whatever word you want to put on it. Let's COMPETE playing mostly these young guys and see what's here.

[Darthlukey]

I still can’t believe Danny Ainge helped Pat Riley land Norman Powell. Heat didn’t give up anything at all.

Watch him trade Kessler to the Lakers for peanuts and go full heel.

It could actually happen.
Thing is, both are up for extensions.
Unless Powell takes a team friendly contract, Heat core would be Powell/Adebayo and Eleven from Stranger Things.
As for Kessler, he'll be in his 4th year?

Danny is cut throat in every deal, except he gifted the lakers a way out of Westbrook far too cheap

[jmr07019]

Imagine defending the Celtics for tearing down a championship roster.

Understanding why and defending it are two totally different takes.

I understand it. I do not defend it.

What other choice do they have? This is the correct choice, made even more neccessary by Tatum out next year.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This debate only works if you acknowledge that even with Tatum, this team is no longer a championship roster.

And if you agree with that, how do you expect to build a roster with the Jays and White taking up nearly all the cap space?

They're ****. There's no way around it.

You only run a 7 man rotation in the playoffs. Celtics will have 4 (Jays white Pritch) in place.

Possibly 5 (Simons). If Simons isn’t the guy you want to keep fine but that’s 27 million that could go to filling rotation spot 5.

Hauser and Niang combined make 18 million. Thats plenty of money for the 6th man.

7th man you hope other Scheierman or Gonzales can give you some sort of contribution on a rookie contract.

Attach first round picks to expiring contracts and take back a good role player that’s not too hard of a trade to make. Or take some one into the large tpe that was created from the Porzingis trade and give a first or two to the other team.

We’re not ****. Celtics have ways to improve the team.

[165bows]

Big part of the issue worth mentioning was that along with the Js, White was total *** in the playoffs this year on both sides of the ball.

That indeed has to reverse if it doesn’t then that is a massive issue for them.

[Larry_Russell]

Big part of the issue worth mentioning was that along with the Js, White was total *** in the playoffs this year on both sides of the ball.

That indeed has to reverse if it doesn’t then that is a massive issue for them.

Some of that is coaching

Teams understand what the Celtics want to do. And they can gamplan against it. but clueless joe has no counterpunches.

[chrisab123]

Big part of the issue worth mentioning was that along with the Js, White was total *** in the playoffs this year on both sides of the ball.

That indeed has to reverse if it doesn’t then that is a massive issue for them.

It was an issue for sure. I’d say a bigger issue was Jrue being banged up and KP having some random illness. Tatum was ineffective at times and Brown obviously had knee issues. What does this all mean? Could be nothing or it could be that Joe ran these guys into the ground by March. It’s a lot to ask some of these guys to play D’antoni ball on offense and elite defense.

Mazzulla isnt a great coach. He’s passable but he’s definitely not elite. I’m not sure Mike Malone would be the answer or someone who Brad would even entertain but that could be an option if they decide to move on. Sam Cassell also for sure. But the guy that I would hire is Dan Hurley. This might also be the only job his wife would greenlight him leaving UConn for.

[celtxman]

Even if Tatum hadn't gotten injured, we would have lost the Knicks series. Not a championship roster.

If Tatum was healthy right now, I'd still support the KP and Jrue trades. (I'd also be more interested in Simons playing for us next year).

With a healthy KP and s healthy Tatum we might have won it all last season. Less than a month before the Celtics played the Knicks KP scored 34 on the Knicks in a game the Knicks desperately wanted. They had no answers for him in his time with the Celtics. Those historic bad losses would have been wins and everything changes.
It is more than fair to ultimately trade KP. My question is about timing. Do the Celtics know more about his illness long-term ?
If KP overcame the illness , by the trade deadline, the Celtics could consider either trading him for a different big man or signing him to a team friendly extension.
To me it's about assets. We sold him at the bottom. The trade, while done in June was already in the 2025-26 season. The Celtics have till next June to get under the aprons with KP, Hauser, Niang, and Simons as ways to get there by the trade deadline. We sold low on a big man in a market where everyone is looking for a big man.

[Hal14]

https://sports.yahoo.com/article/jayson-tatum-gives-celtics-fans-193028042.html

Will Jayson Tatum play next season

If Justin Tatum's estimation proves true, then Tatum may be able to play during the 2025–2026 regular season, as an eight- to nine-month recovery time places his return during February or March.

Justin Tatum is not a doctor and is not employed by the Celtics. I take what he says with a grain of salt. He is obviously biased towards his son and just wants to see his son out there playing sooner rather than later.

Here's where Marc Spears says what Justin Tatum said:

Read on Twitter

"His dad said he expects him to be out 8-9 months". But who is his dad to say that? Is Justin Tatum a doctor? Is Justin Tatum the one on the Celtics medical staff who's in charge of leading Jayson through his rehab? No and no. So his dad saying this means nothing.

In that same article it also says:

"Tatum's likelihood of playing in the 2025 – 2026 regular season is doubtful, ESPN reporting said." and "There is no official timetable for Tatum's return to regular season action."

Chat GPT says: the Celtics are planning as though he’ll miss the entire 2025–26 regular season, with a possible (but unlikely) return in the postseason."

Also, no one comes back from a torn achilles in less than 10.5 months. So it makes no sense for Justin Tatum to say that his son will be back in 8-9 months. He's just being an optimistic dad.

[Hal14]

Over eighteen drafts Danny Ainge made 26 first round picks as GM of the Celtics
(Banks, Perk, AlJeff, TA, Delonte, Gerald Green, Rondo, JR Giddens, Avery, Jajuan J., FabMelo, Sullinger, Olynyk, Marcus, James Young, Rozier, RJ Hunter, Jaylen, Yabu, Zizic, JT, Robwill, Romeo, Grant Williams, Nesmith, Pritchard)


In the five drafts since Brad took over we've made 2 first round picks.
The rookie aged players under team control right now: JDD, Jordan Walsh, Scheierman, Hugo, Amari Will, Max Shulga
if two or three of these guys become important rotation players, not stars per se but good players like a Danny Green or Boris Diaw or George Hill type of pro,
then we are in pretty good shape.

If in 3 yrs, none of these guys are in the NBA, we are going to be in trouble. A lot of our second apron and tax situation derives from not getting much yield from our draft picks. The last 3 players we drafted and extended were JB, JT and Payton Pritchard. We should have some Andrew Nembhard's and Christian Braun's coming up to extend but we punted so much on making picks.

Now that Austin Ainge and Remy Cofield are moved on, I hope we can bring in an additional exec/scout to help out with draft prioritization

This thought has been on my mind for a while now. Since we are tied to both Jay's and Derrick White, we need a SERIOUS influx of inexpensive talent to come in and backstop this group because of the situation we're in. As Corey's stated, we traded away talent and got little back. Simons and Niang are okay players but trading them won't bring in anything big, AND if we want to keep either of them, they become a more expensive piece added to a core that is already very expensive. We had to make the trades we did to regain some roster flexibility AND... we are a worse team now because of it. Both things are true. It's not either/or. It's both/and here.

If there was any time to move one of the Jay's this season would've been it. But we're not and that's fine. I totally get why you don't. But I don't get the point of trying to compete with this roster in a bridge year. I would pack up Jaylen for the year. 40 games max, if that. Play PP 35 min at point to get him ready. Get rid of Simons however possible so you can play Scheierman and Hugo, and Minott and Garza and see if we actually have any young talent that can backstop this core when Tatum comes back. And absolutely a big HELL NO to 36-year-olds coming off a ruptured Achilles who didn't even play defense before they got hurt. I mean, what are we doing here?? This half-in, half-out bull is crazy. So I don't always agree with The Corey's but I get his question:

What are we trying to accomplish here?

Baylor turns 25 in a couple months and Garza turns 27 in December. Queta turns 26 next week. These guys aren’t exactly oozing with potential at these ages.

This has to be a make or break year for guys like Walsh and Davison who haven’t developed at all in three years. But then again, they were second round picks so I’m not sure how much to even expect from them at all.

This team is basically devoid of young talent aside from our most recent draft. Even guys who haven’t been in the league that long like Hauser and Pritchard both turn 28 this year. Our team is pretty long in the tooth and we desperately need a top pick in this next draft. If only Billy King was still around to outsource our tank…

Age 27 is long in the tooth?

We got much younger this offseason:

Read on Twitter

[165bows]

Big part of the issue worth mentioning was that along with the Js, White was total *** in the playoffs this year on both sides of the ball.

That indeed has to reverse if it doesn’t then that is a massive issue for them.

Some of that is coaching

Teams understand what the Celtics want to do. And they can gamplan against it. but clueless joe has no counterpunches.

I don't really care about defending Psycho Joe but it's also a lazy criticism.

So it's Joe's fault that NY ruthlessly hunted DWhite on D and their elite guard defense tandem got smoked by Jalen freaking Brunson?

Or they got gameplanned against in 2024 when they went 16-3 in the playoffs without their starting center?

[winsomme2]

Big part of the issue worth mentioning was that along with the Js, White was total *** in the playoffs this year on both sides of the ball.

That indeed has to reverse if it doesn’t then that is a massive issue for them.

Some of that is coaching

Teams understand what the Celtics want to do. And they can gamplan against it. but clueless joe has no counterpunches.

I don't really care about defending Psycho Joe but it's also a lazy criticism.

So it's Joe's fault that NY ruthlessly hunted DWhite on D and their elite guard defense tandem got smoked by Jalen freaking Brunson?

Or they got gameplanned against in 2024 when they went 16-3 in the playoffs without their starting center?

I don't know who exactly to blame but Brad has been outspoken about the team losing the first two games of the NY series. He very specifically mentioned the pace of play slowing down.

When you combine that with the type of player that he has been adding, I think it's fair to say that he wants the team to move away from standing around the perimeter and launching threes game plan and toward a hard cutting aggressive constant movement style.

[jmr07019]

Big part of the issue worth mentioning was that along with the Js, White was total *** in the playoffs this year on both sides of the ball.

That indeed has to reverse if it doesn’t then that is a massive issue for them.

Some of that is coaching

Teams understand what the Celtics want to do. And they can gamplan against it. but clueless joe has no counterpunches.

It was roster construction at fault as much if not more than coaching. Celtics really only had two guys who can consistently put pressure on the rim and one of them doesn’t have the best handle or vision. It’s good to have shooters but the Celtics need some variety of skill around Tatum and Brown not 10 guys who stand at the 3 point line but can’t put the ball on the floor. It was less of an issue when Al, Holidays and Porzingis were healthier and younger but the three of them declining in the same season really hurt the Celtics.

[Fierce1]

https://sports.yahoo.com/article/jayson-tatum-gives-celtics-fans-193028042.html

Will Jayson Tatum play next season

If Justin Tatum's estimation proves true, then Tatum may be able to play during the 2025–2026 regular season, as an eight- to nine-month recovery time places his return during February or March.

Justin Tatum is not a doctor and is not employed by the Celtics. I take what he says with a grain of salt. He is obviously biased towards his son and just wants to see his son out there playing sooner rather than later.

Here's where Marc Spears says what Justin Tatum said:

Read on Twitter

"His dad said he expects him to be out 8-9 months". But who is his dad to say that? Is Justin Tatum a doctor? Is Justin Tatum the one on the Celtics medical staff who's in charge of leading Jayson through his rehab? No and no. So his dad saying this means nothing.

In that same article it also says:

"Tatum's likelihood of playing in the 2025 – 2026 regular season is doubtful, ESPN reporting said." and "There is no official timetable for Tatum's return to regular season action."

Chat GPT says: the Celtics are planning as though he’ll miss the entire 2025–26 regular season, with a possible (but unlikely) return in the postseason."

Like I said, 8 months from now we'll know for sure.

[winsomme2]

As much as I am personally interested to see what Simons could do in our offense, I'm pretty frustrated that Brad has not been able to move him when it's clear that that is what he has been trying to do.

Brad has said repeatedly that his number one goal is to gain flexibility, and right now we have little to no flexibility. In fact, it seems to me that the reason Al isn't coming back has little to do with playing younger players and more to do with that fact that we are still over the second apron.

When I compare my Simons curiosity against having a frozen roster due to our payroll situation, I would rather free up our payroll. It totally takes us out of every conversation about released players.

Also, as far as the soft tank, I just don't see JB being okay with sitting when he's healthy. It's just not his makeup. If Brad intentionally puts together a crappy roster, it's going to not sit well with him imo.