Free Agent/Trade/Waiver Thread, 2025-26

[cloverleaf]

The Eastern Conference part of Keith Smith's summer league intel summary is out. This is always great. Here's the Celtics stuff. Also, read the brief second apron section at the very least.

Eastern Conference Summer League Notes

Boston Celtics

On the roster changes: “Still figuring it all out. As you’ve noted, we’re still above the second apron. We won’t finish there. It sucked to trade Jrue (Holiday) and KP (Kristaps Porzingis), because we loved those guys and they loved Boston,” a Celtics front office executive said. “But it was being brutally honest that we aren’t the same level of team without Jayson (Tatum). We’ll be good. We’ll be a playoff team, but…you know. It’ll come for every team that lands where we did. You can’t be over the second apron and not a title contender. It’s just poor management for both the short- and long-term. The frozen pick and pick dropping stuff is real.”

On Charles Bassey: “Considering he got added to our team so late, this was an awesome run for him. No idea if we’ll have roster space for him or not. But we’d love to keep working with Charles and see if we can make something work,” a Celtics front office executive said.

On Jordan Walsh: “This is sort of a make-or-break year for him. The minutes will be there, if he takes them. This summer was a good start,” a Celtics coach said.

On Hugo Gonzalez: “I don’t care about the shooting numbers. His legs were Jello. He was exhausted. But he competed. He wants to win. The shot looked good before his legs went. We’ll take it slow, but he’s going to get real minutes as a rookie,” a Celtics coach said.

On Baylor Scheierman: “Not worried at all about the shooting. He took more self-created shots out here (Las Vegas) than his entire rookie year. That won’t be his thing in the league…yet. We think he can get there. What was really exciting for us was his defense, his passing and his rebounding. That’s all the connective stuff we drafted him to do,” a Celtics coach said.

https://www.spotrac.com/news/_/id/2912/eastern-conference-summer-league-notes

Smitty got some good quotes here.

Good stuff. Sounds to me like Brad and Matt.

[165bows]

It kind is for me As a teacher July is my Saturday. August, while great is like Sunday; equally great but the closer to the end, reality tends to creeps up on you.

Fellow teacher and this analogy is the truth. We're getting late in the day on Saturday.

hah, with you, my friends!
let's party
or: do more laundry:)

As a sole proprietor household going down to minimal income for the week on vacation this week let me most cordially say **** you guys lol

[flintsky21]

Please stay away from Ben Simmons. He's never healthy, and at this point, he can only be played at the 5, but he doesn't really offer any resistance at the rim. Also, I've never seen such a disinterested NBA player in my whole life. He also went from someone who can't shoot to someone who can't even score at all. The only thing he gives you at this point is some playmaking from a big but we'd be better off giving those reps to Amari.

[Fierce1]

Simmons passing to Simons.

[Hal14]

My biggest objection to Simmons is he doesn't like basketball.

Yeah, no way we sign Ben Simmons. Brad is a big culture guy. He's been on team culture and big on character. Only brings certain guys in to this locker room. Anyone who he thinks might be a distraction, a locker room cancer, might have a bad attitude, might have work ethic concerns? He doesn't touch them with a 10 foot pole.

Well...

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Good call ddb, I guess??

Meh. There was also rumors that we showed passing interest in John Wall a couple of years ago but we didn't end up signing him. Terrance Davis too. There was maybe some rumors we were gonna also sign Dwight Howard and Hassan Whiteside a couple years ago too.

I'd be pretty surprised if we sign Simmons.

It seems like ever since the Kyrie fiasco, our org has really made a point to only bring in high character, high work ethic guys so they have peace of mind the player won't cause any off court issues.

Plus there was also Tristan Thompson (there was rumors after he left that guys here didn't like him or something) and Juancho Hernangomez (he was saying crap after he left about how he didn't like it here or something).

Especially ever since Juancho, Brad seems like he's been extra careful about what *people* he adds to the roster.

Not to mention, we have no open roster spots. What are we gonna do, waive a guy or trade a guy just to make room for...Ben Simmons? During a season where we're not even competing for a title? Nah, it makes no sense.

[brackdan70]

I'm saying it's a possibility Kuminga could wind up here. It's been a rough restricted free agent market not just for him but Giddey and Cam Thomas as well. No one seems to want to give up anything of real value for Kuminga, not even the Kings or Bulls.

Plus, I can see the Celtics being ultra cautious even after next season with JT's recovery. Kuminga can absorb all those extra minutes, but his bball IQ leaves a lot to be desired and there had been past questions about his work ethic. He had a hard time cracking Kerr's playoff rotation, but hey if he comes cheap enough, why not roll the dice? Plus, those two guys can commiserate with each other about playing for Kerr.

How will we sign him?

S&T
Al could be part of it.

A Sign and Trade hard caps the Celtics at the first Apron. We are significantly over it currently. Would need to make a trade prior to get way under. Kuminga is going to make at least 20 million right? Even at 15 million there is just no way to really do it. Would need to trade Simons for near 0 salary first.

[playa-hater]

Yeah, no way we sign Ben Simmons. Brad is a big culture guy. He's been on team culture and big on character. Only brings certain guys in to this locker room. Anyone who he thinks might be a distraction, a locker room cancer, might have a bad attitude, might have work ethic concerns? He doesn't touch them with a 10 foot pole.

Well...

Read on Twitter

Good call ddb, I guess??

Meh. There was also rumors that we showed passing interest in John Wall a couple of years ago but we didn't end up signing him. Terrance Davis too. There was maybe some rumors we were gonna also sign Dwight Howard and Hassan Whiteside a couple years ago too.

I'd be pretty surprised if we sign Simmons.

It seems like ever since the Kyrie fiasco, our org has really made a point to only bring in high character, high work ethic guys so they have peace of mind the player won't cause any off court issues.

Plus there was also Tristan Thompson (there was rumors after he left that guys here didn't like him or something) and Juancho Hernangomez (he was saying crap after he left about how he didn't like it here or something).

Especially ever since Juancho, Brad seems like he's been extra careful about what *people* he adds to the roster.

Not to mention, we have no open roster spots. What are we gonna do, waive a guy or trade a guy just to make room for...Ben Simmons? During a season where we're not even competing for a title? Nah, it makes no sense.

That would be a Win win..

If Simmons, does actually reach a ceiling, we get a much needed talent for dirt cheap. If the more likely happens that he hits rock Bottom, then Tank is in full gear. (which actually is my top choice, because I want a good-great lottery pick)

[phincsfan]

Simmons is the perfect example of an overpaid guaranteed money athlete who's made enough cash that he doesn't have to change for anybody.

[bigfoot_cryptozoology]

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[Larry_Russell]

Read on Twitter

Lots of teams would like Jrue.

We did him dirty and ended up with **** for the return.

I would much rather have a couple of the lakers expirings and an asset for Jrue and use a useless 2nd rounder for dumping one of Lakers contracts.

IE:

Vanderbilt, Knect and Gabe Vincent (offloaded with 2nds) would have been a massive improvement on the deal from simons.

[brackdan70]

Well...

Read on Twitter

Good call ddb, I guess??

Meh. There was also rumors that we showed passing interest in John Wall a couple of years ago but we didn't end up signing him. Terrance Davis too. There was maybe some rumors we were gonna also sign Dwight Howard and Hassan Whiteside a couple years ago too.

I'd be pretty surprised if we sign Simmons.

It seems like ever since the Kyrie fiasco, our org has really made a point to only bring in high character, high work ethic guys so they have peace of mind the player won't cause any off court issues.

Plus there was also Tristan Thompson (there was rumors after he left that guys here didn't like him or something) and Juancho Hernangomez (he was saying crap after he left about how he didn't like it here or something).

Especially ever since Juancho, Brad seems like he's been extra careful about what *people* he adds to the roster.

Not to mention, we have no open roster spots. What are we gonna do, waive a guy or trade a guy just to make room for...Ben Simmons? During a season where we're not even competing for a title? Nah, it makes no sense.

That would be a Win win..

If Simmons, does actually reach a ceiling, we get a much needed talent for dirt cheap. If the more likely happens that he hits rock Bottom, then Tank is in full gear. (which actually is my top choice, because I want a good-great lottery pick)

I can’t see any reason why we would sign Simmons. He will cost more than Davison, unless we sign him to a one year vet min and then there isn’t any point. I am calling BS…no pun intended…or maybe there is

[brackdan70]

Read on Twitter

Lots of teams would like Jrue.

We did him dirty and ended up with **** for the return.

I would much rather have a couple of the lakers expirings and an asset for Jrue and use a useless 2nd rounder for dumping one of Lakers contracts.

IE:

Vanderbilt, Knect and Gabe Vincent (offloaded with 2nds) would have been a massive improvement on the deal from simons.

How did we do him dirty? Signed him to a very nice contract.
Yeah we traded him when his preference was to stay, but that’s the trade off of making 30 million a year.
Simons is still 26 and there is some upside and we got off of 100 million .
That lakers package includes zero good players. Knect maybe becomes something, but then you have to keep his Salary. Vanderbilt probably takes a first to offload.

[Larry_Russell]

Read on Twitter

Lots of teams would like Jrue.

We did him dirty and ended up with **** for the return.

I would much rather have a couple of the lakers expirings and an asset for Jrue and use a useless 2nd rounder for dumping one of Lakers contracts.

IE:

Vanderbilt, Knect and Gabe Vincent (offloaded with 2nds) would have been a massive improvement on the deal from simons.

How did we do him dirty? Signed him to a very nice contract.
Yeah we traded him when his preference was to stay, but that’s the trade off of making 30 million a year.
Simons is still 26 and there is some upside and we got off of 100 million .
That lakers package includes zero good players. Knect maybe becomes something, but then you have to keep his Salary. Vanderbilt probably takes a first to offload.

Treaded him where he didnt want to be. Thats doing him dirty.

And Vandy is fine as a backup PF, Vincent costs a 2nd to offload

[bucknersrevenge]

It kind is for me As a teacher July is my Saturday. August, while great is like Sunday; equally great but the closer to the end, reality tends to creeps up on you.

Fellow teacher and this analogy is the truth. We're getting late in the day on Saturday.

hah, with you, my friends!
let's party
or: do more laundry:)

High school teacher here as well and have always operated under that analogy, In fact have to go on a school related PD at the beginning of August. REALLY starting to feel like Sunday

[celticgreenie]

Fellow teacher and this analogy is the truth. We're getting late in the day on Saturday.

hah, with you, my friends!
let's party
or: do more laundry:)

High school teacher here as well and have always operated under that analogy, In fact have to go on a school related PD at the beginning of August. REALLY starting to feel like Sunday

As a fellow teacher too, I can relate to that Sunday analogy.

[bucknersrevenge]

Meh. There was also rumors that we showed passing interest in John Wall a couple of years ago but we didn't end up signing him. Terrance Davis too. There was maybe some rumors we were gonna also sign Dwight Howard and Hassan Whiteside a couple years ago too.

I'd be pretty surprised if we sign Simmons.

It seems like ever since the Kyrie fiasco, our org has really made a point to only bring in high character, high work ethic guys so they have peace of mind the player won't cause any off court issues.

Plus there was also Tristan Thompson (there was rumors after he left that guys here didn't like him or something) and Juancho Hernangomez (he was saying crap after he left about how he didn't like it here or something).

Especially ever since Juancho, Brad seems like he's been extra careful about what *people* he adds to the roster.

Not to mention, we have no open roster spots. What are we gonna do, waive a guy or trade a guy just to make room for...Ben Simmons? During a season where we're not even competing for a title? Nah, it makes no sense.

That would be a Win win..

If Simmons, does actually reach a ceiling, we get a much needed talent for dirt cheap. If the more likely happens that he hits rock Bottom, then Tank is in full gear. (which actually is my top choice, because I want a good-great lottery pick)

I can’t see any reason why we would sign Simmons. He will cost more than Davison, unless we sign him to a one year vet min and then there isn’t any point. I am calling BS…no pun intended…or maybe there is

I'm not even sure why Simmons would be interested in us. The Suns, Knicks, and Kings are also interested. Suns are probably his best fit I think. Considering who we've been in recent years as a 3=point shooting team, I can't see why he would want to put himself in a position where one of his weaknesses might be exposed. Still, the idea of Joe Mazzulla, king of psychological warfare and mind games getting his hands on Ben Simmons would be hilarious. When the unstoppable force meets the immovable object, who wins? Jesus, think if we did sign him, we'd have Simmons AND Simons. That would be a nightmare for Drew calling games.

I kinda think the bigger news in all this is the evidence of a potential shift in offensive philosophy for this upcoming season. We will not have our halfcourt engine on the court for this year to help generate offense, so we're gonna have to find ways to get easy baskets, which means transition. We were 29th in Pace last year and have been in the bottom half of the league in this stat for 7 years running. Out goes KP, Jrue, Al, and for a season, JT. All guys who excelled in halfcourt execution, and for most, needed a slower pace to maximize performance. Now in their place we have Simons, Minott, Hugo, and Niang (believe it or not, Niang plays well in uptempo systems). And you don't go after Ben Simmons unless you wanna run. That's what he does.

Jaylen has begged for this team to play faster in recent years to no avail. With this team being in essence "his team for the year", he might just get his wish. They seem to be surrounding him with horses; guys who complement him playing the way that he plays best. And PP and White can play in ANY system. I'm convinced this is what JB was talking on that podcast a week ago when he mentioned having to sacrifice to fit within the team concept. This was a big part of it. We don't fill lanes on the break. And nobody runs with him when he wants to. Also more cutting off-ball serves him better as well. For many of us, I think that's the kind of role we always wanted for him in the first place. So that's what I'm taking away here.

[bucknersrevenge]

hah, with you, my friends!
let's party
or: do more laundry:)

High school teacher here as well and have always operated under that analogy, In fact have to go on a school related PD at the beginning of August. REALLY starting to feel like Sunday

As a fellow teacher too, I can relate to that Sunday analogy.

Wow, I didn't realize that there were so many of us. I don't know why but that kinda makes me happy as hell. Do we need an OT teachers thread or something?

[Hal14]

I'm not even sure why Simmons would be interested in us. The Suns, Knicks, and Kings are also interested. Suns are probably his best fit I think. Considering who we've been in recent years as a 3=point shooting team, I can't see why he would want to put himself in a position where one of his weaknesses might be exposed. Still, the idea of Joe Mazzulla, king of psychological warfare and mind games getting his hands on Ben Simmons would be hilarious. When the unstoppable force meets the immovable object, who wins? Jesus, think if we did sign him, we'd have Simmons AND Simons. That would be a nightmare for Drew calling games.

I kinda think the bigger news in all this is the evidence of a potential shift in offensive philosophy for this upcoming season. We will not have our halfcourt engine on the court for this year to help generate offense, so we're gonna have to find ways to get easy baskets, which means transition. We were 29th in Pace last year and have been in the bottom half of the league in this stat for 7 years running. Out goes KP, Jrue, Al, and for a season, JT. All guys who excelled in halfcourt execution, and for most, needed a slower pace to maximize performance. Now in their place we have Simons, Minott, Hugo, and Niang (believe it or not, Niang plays well in uptempo systems). And you don't go after Ben Simmons unless you wanna run. That's what he does.

Jaylen has begged for this team to play faster in recent years to no avail. With this team being in essence "his team for the year", he might just get his wish. They seem to be surrounding him with horses; guys who complement him playing the way that he plays best. And PP and White can play in ANY system. I'm convinced this is what JB was talking on that podcast a week ago when he mentioned having to sacrifice to fit within the team concept. This was a big part of it. We don't fill lanes on the break. And nobody runs with him when he wants to. Also more cutting off-ball serves him better as well. For many of us, I think that's the kind of role we always wanted for him in the first place. So that's what I'm taking away here.

My sense is that it's 2-fold:

a) We like to experiment here and there with different things sometimes. Like sometimes Joe will experiment with different lineup combinations, different plays to run at the end of games to just see what happens, see what works..he'll experiment with zone a little bit..

And with this basically being a throw away season (or bridge year) then it's the perfect time to be able to get lots of data for an experiment (the more data, the more accurate the experiment) so maybe the experiment is, see how this team looks if we really commit to playing faster and doing more cutting, more transition stuff..less reliant on iso plays, less reliant on 3PA.

b) Brad might be looking at our offense and how when we have struggled during the Mazzulla era, it's been when we slow it down too much, get too deliberate on offense, settle for ill advised 3PA, we don't play fast enough..not enough ball movement/player movement. Offense becomes to predictable, opposing teams know we want to shoot 3's so they either bait us into taking them (what Miami has done where we lost the ECF to them when we missed tons of 3's) or they play way up on us defensively to take the 3's away (what orlando did in the 1st round this season)

So he might be trying to get us to diversify our offense a bit..

[canman1971]

Fellow teacher and this analogy is the truth. We're getting late in the day on Saturday.

hah, with you, my friends!
let's party
or: do more laundry:)

High school teacher here as well and have always operated under that analogy, In fact have to go on a school related PD at the beginning of August. REALLY starting to feel like Sunday

I just went in yesterday and one more on Thursday. Then the real crying begins
Edit: And yes I’m aware we suck to the regular non-teacher workforce out there

[Hal14]

But I thought he was so good? It was Brad's biggest mistake to not sign him, right?

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