Free Agent/Trade/Waiver Thread, 2025-26

[Half-Full]

Simons' Contract is killing us. He gotta go. Niang probably is off the roster, too.

Simons is our 4th best player (3rd best while Tatum is out).

Niang gives basically everything Hauser does, but on a cheaper contract and without the nagging back injury..and with more playoff experience/production.

I wouldn't be surprised if Hauser is moved, rather than Niang..I could see it going either way, though..maybe Niang is moved, maybe Hauser is moved, maybe they both stay for the whole season..maybe 1 is moved at the deadline..

There is 0% chance that if the choice is keeping Niang or keep Hauser that they keep Niang. The two may be somewhat similar offensive players (+.9 offensive EPM for Hauser vs +.4 for Niang, both elite shooters) but Hauser is a much, much better defender (-2.2 Def EPM for Niang vs -.5 for Hauser), 5 years younger and under team control on a reasonable deal. Hauser is a player you likely get an asset for in a trade; Niang probably costs you a second to dump.

I hope they don't dump either of them. We need another big, so it doesn't make sense to dump Niang. He is a solid role player. Hauser is more of a wing, not really a player I would categorize as a "big." Ideally we can add someone that can start at PF, and have Niang coming off the bench. Less opposed to moving Hauser, but only if it will bring us a quality big. Who might that be? No idea.

[djFan71]

Simons is our 4th best player (3rd best while Tatum is out).

Niang gives basically everything Hauser does, but on a cheaper contract and without the nagging back injury..and with more playoff experience/production.

I wouldn't be surprised if Hauser is moved, rather than Niang..I could see it going either way, though..maybe Niang is moved, maybe Hauser is moved, maybe they both stay for the whole season..maybe 1 is moved at the deadline..

There is 0% chance that if the choice is keeping Niang or keep Hauser that they keep Niang. The two may be somewhat similar offensive players (+.9 offensive EPM for Hauser vs +.4 for Niang, both elite shooters) but Hauser is a much, much better defender (-2.2 Def EPM for Niang vs -.5 for Hauser), 5 years younger and under team control on a reasonable deal. Hauser is a player you likely get an asset for in a trade; Niang probably costs you a second to dump.

I hope they don't dump either of them. We need another big, so it doesn't make sense to dump Niang. He is a solid role player. Hauser is more of a wing, not really a player I would categorize as a "big." Ideally we can add someone that can start at PF, and have Niang coming off the bench. Less opposed to moving Hauser, but only if it will bring us a quality big. Who might that be? No idea.

I think the big they would get back from Hauser would probably be another British chap, Morecap F Lexibility.

[cloverleaf]

Only reason Dame to Boston is a positive is if it makes Tatum happy.

There's a bigger chance that Dame will not be the same player, when he recovers, because of age.

I think the C's have done quite enough to make Tatum happy.

[bigfoot_cryptozoology]

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[bigfoot_cryptozoology]

Feisty article by The Herald. Doesn't hold anything back. Paints a bleak picture...

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[bigfoot_cryptozoology]

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Seems like an old twist...

[SuperDeluxe]

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Seems like an old twist...

Yes it does. Clickbait "journalism" is a pain.

[playa-hater]

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Seems like an old twist...

Yes it does. Clickbait "journalism" is a pain.

I don't even know what the "old twist is"??

[GoCeltics123]

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[phincsfan]

Feisty article by The Herald. Doesn't hold anything back. Paints a bleak picture...

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But Stevens said their gonna fight like hell to win every game

[redslastlaugh]

Just the shooting like you said. Bassey has made 3/13 3pt in his limited career. Garza has made 49/156 3pt in his limited career.

Exactly. I think it's the combination of Garza's shooting + feel/basketball IQ/fundamentals that the Celtics like.

He's obviously been a better shooter and has more shooting upside than Bassey.

Also, a direct quote in a Twitter DM from databallr, who runs a basketball stats/analytics site:

"Garza is averaging 27.6 points per 36 on 62% TS in his last 3 seasons with a monster o-reb rate while also spacing the floor. And he absolutely torched the g league in his stints there. I’ve watched him in the NBA, he’s clearly a very good offensive player with a great motor."

Now of course, you have to kind of take this with a grain of salt, these per 36 stats for a guy like Garza who was only playing like 8 MPG. We obviously don't know for sure that his numbers would have held up on a much larger amount of MPG. But still, this at least is a clue into what may be some untapped potential in Garza, if given more of a role.

At the presser Brad called Luka Garza a "stat darling" ,if I am remembering correctly, and I was like "what stats" because his basketball ref advanced is PER 18.8 last year, which isn't like crazy impressive the way advanced stats overvalue productive bigs in backup minutes. And also his entire 4 yr NBA sample is 973 minutes which is largely the last 150 seconds of various blowouts when the opponent may not be playing much defense.

I'm not knocking Luka but I was just surpised he was called a "stat darling" but I do like the swing.

Also, just "stat darling" is a fun thing to call someone, lol

[redslastlaugh]

Bassey hit 18/59 threes his final year in college and has had a solid mid range game though not really shown in the pros a whole lot. I wouldn’t call him a non-shooter in comparison to Queta/Timelord. Kornet shot a decent amount of threes throughout his career than pretty much went away from it his final years in Boston. Feels like Brad wants to have a higher motor/more moment, which points to Garza more so Tillman/Queta. Wouldn’t be surprised if we see a couple more moves in the front court.

I didn't know Bassey hit 18/59 his draft year in college.

That makes him a little more interesting, I also like that Morey drafted him because I like Morey's track record on picks in the 20s-50s in the draft. (Though otherwise I am not a big Morey fan.)

My personal opinion is that Xavier Tillman is probably not going to be a Celtic much longer and we will need another big on a minimum to get some run, so Charles Bassey seems like the pole position contender for that slot.

[Hal14]

Feisty article by The Herald. Doesn't hold anything back. Paints a bleak picture...

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But Stevens said their gonna fight like hell to win every game

Do you expect Brad to say we're gonna lose every game?

[Hal14]

Bassey hit 18/59 threes his final year in college and has had a solid mid range game though not really shown in the pros a whole lot. I wouldn’t call him a non-shooter in comparison to Queta/Timelord. Kornet shot a decent amount of threes throughout his career than pretty much went away from it his final years in Boston. Feels like Brad wants to have a higher motor/more moment, which points to Garza more so Tillman/Queta. Wouldn’t be surprised if we see a couple more moves in the front court.

I didn't know Bassey hit 18/59 his draft year in college.

That makes him a little more interesting, I also like that Morey drafted him because I like Morey's track record on picks in the 20s-50s in the draft. (Though otherwise I am not a big Morey fan.)

My personal opinion is that Xavier Tillman is probably not going to be a Celtic much longer and we will need another big on a minimum to get some run, so Charles Bassey seems like the pole position contender for that slot.

That was like 5 years ago..means very little when projecting how he might play this season.

[jmr07019]

Pritchard for Lively

Celtics get a starting center they desperately need.

Mavs could use more talent in the back court especially while Kyrie is out. Not only will this open up more minutes for Flagg, Davis, Washington and Gafford but it will give them a lot more space due to Pritchard shooting gravity.

[bfchs123]

How does it work, do we have first dibs on signing any of the SL team guys to a contract or can any team beat us to the punch on like Bassey?

[cloverleaf]

How does it work, do we have first dibs on signing any of the SL team guys to a contract or can any team beat us to the punch on like Bassey?

I'd imagine his agent would give the C's the opportunity to beat any offer, but that'd have to be pretty immediate.

[cloverleaf]

Bassey hit 18/59 threes his final year in college and has had a solid mid range game though not really shown in the pros a whole lot. I wouldn’t call him a non-shooter in comparison to Queta/Timelord. Kornet shot a decent amount of threes throughout his career than pretty much went away from it his final years in Boston. Feels like Brad wants to have a higher motor/more moment, which points to Garza more so Tillman/Queta. Wouldn’t be surprised if we see a couple more moves in the front court.

I didn't know Bassey hit 18/59 his draft year in college.

That makes him a little more interesting, I also like that Morey drafted him because I like Morey's track record on picks in the 20s-50s in the draft. (Though otherwise I am not a big Morey fan.)

My personal opinion is that Xavier Tillman is probably not going to be a Celtic much longer and we will need another big on a minimum to get some run, so Charles Bassey seems like the pole position contender for that slot.

That was like 5 years ago..means very little when projecting how he might play this season.

But it is why some are wondering whether they might do the "reverse Luke" with him -- and stretch out his range again. I could see some value in that occasionally, but he's so effective on offense when he's near the basket that I wouldn't want to take too much of that away.

[cloverleaf]

Two fairly different perspectives on joining the C's:

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[Celts17Pride]

How does it work, do we have first dibs on signing any of the SL team guys to a contract or can any team beat us to the punch on like Bassey?

Any team can sign Bassey to a standard contract at any moment. Bassey is an UFA