Free Agent/Trade/Waiver Thread, 2025-26

[djFan71]

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

Read on Twitter

2nd biggest after letting Bol Bol slip away.

[Bill Lumbergh]

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

Read on Twitter

2nd biggest after letting Bol Bol slip away.

Let's not forget the massive failure that was not signing Harry Giles. We could have had 2, maybe 3 more titles. Plus, he's Jayson's friend!

[chakdaddy]

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

Read on Twitter

2nd biggest after letting Bol Bol slip away.

Let's not forget the massive failure that was not signing Harry Giles. We could have had 2, maybe 3 more titles. Plus, he's Jayson's friend!

Giles could have made up for letting Vonleh go!

[darrendaye]

2nd biggest after letting Bol Bol slip away.

Let's not forget the massive failure that was not signing Harry Giles. We could have had 2, maybe 3 more titles. Plus, he's Jayson's friend!

Giles could have made up for letting Vonleh go!

Ok, now I'm taking this personally.....

[Parliament10]

Relevant Posts moved over to this OT Thread.:

OT: Art, Music, Literature, Media, Teachers & More!! - Part 3
https://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?p=119402154#p119402154

[winsomme2]

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

Read on Twitter

2nd biggest after letting Bol Bol slip away.

If we moved Simons to free up salary, I would definitely be interested in Lonnie. I always liked him.

[celtxman]

Ben Simmons is on the Mount Rushmore of players I have disliked in my life. An athlete who decided to be so thin-skinned that he decided that his pride was more important than being a better player when he was called out by Rivers after that notorious playoff game. But beggars can't be chosers. Right or wrong this financial reset decision the Celtics made requires kicking the tires on EVERYONE, Lillard, Beal, Simmons or others like them. It's where the Celtics are right now.

[celtxman]

I think Sabonis can be a highly effective player for his remaining contract. Elite enough to be a main piece on a championship team. He's been relatively healthy the last 3 seasons and I think his game ages well. These internet trades are probably nothing, but I would be interested if there were ever serious talk.

[He_Got_Game]

In EPM Kuminga is ranked 195th
The two guys above him are Anfernee Simons and Royce O'Neale
&
The two guys below him are Gary Trent Jr and Jaylen Clarke on T'Wolves

Jaylen Clarke was a late 2nd round pick playing for $2.2 million next year. Gary Trent just signed for under $4 million. Anfernee Simons is untreadeable at $27 million and Royce O'Neale is a $10 million player and may not even be positive value at $10

Kuminga is maybe a $10 million a yr player and I wouldn't even want him at that level contract

hard pass, lol

Why would we want Kuminga?

Not all of us.

Just some.

No offense man but this is all wrong. You cannot just look at stats and numbers when evaluating these prospects. Jonathan Kuminga to me is probably one of the top 5 most athletic players in the entire NBA. Does this mean he's a great basketball player right now? No it doesn't. But he was born with physical gifts that only a couple other players in the world have better than him. He's basically a younger Jaylen Brown. If you can get this guy you should do it 10/10.

[ddb]

Celts trade close to dropping. Simons?

[darrendaye]

Celts trade close to dropping. Simons?

Hopefully a shot of good news.

[redslastlaugh]

good, I sure hope so. we're in the dog days, lol

Celts trade close to dropping. Simons?

[redslastlaugh]

Kuminga is maybe a $10 million a yr player and I wouldn't even want him at that level contract

hard pass, lol

No offense man but this is all wrong. You cannot just look at stats and numbers when evaluating these prospects. Jonathan Kuminga to me is probably one of the top 5 most athletic players in the entire NBA. Does this mean he's a great basketball player right now? No it doesn't. But he was born with physical gifts that only a couple other players in the world have better than him. He's basically a younger Jaylen Brown. If you can get this guy you should do it 10/10.

Kuminga, outside of the stats and numbers, just doesn't seem like a winning player. People did say that about Brown and Jaylen proved the doubters wrong. Kuminga may himself prove me wrong too, but I'd rather Brad just focus on finding less expensive players than acquire a player at the salary figure JK reportedly wants if we are gonna have JT + JB making $100 million between just them two

[Hal14]

Kuminga is maybe a $10 million a yr player and I wouldn't even want him at that level contract

hard pass, lol

No offense man but this is all wrong. You cannot just look at stats and numbers when evaluating these prospects. Jonathan Kuminga to me is probably one of the top 5 most athletic players in the entire NBA. Does this mean he's a great basketball player right now? No it doesn't. But he was born with physical gifts that only a couple other players in the world have better than him. He's basically a younger Jaylen Brown. If you can get this guy you should do it 10/10.

Kuminga, outside of the stats and numbers, just doesn't seem like a winning player. People did say that about Brown and Jaylen proved the doubters wrong. Kuminga may himself prove me wrong too, but I'd rather Brad just focus on finding less expensive players than acquire a player at the salary figure JK reportedly wants if we are gonna have JT + JB making $100 million between just them two

Brad already found a less expensive version of Kuminga.

Josh Minott.

Check out my post from yesterday in the Minott thread - he's about a month and a half younger than Kuminga, he's also a freak athlete and quite a few analytics had him as a better player last season.

[itrsteve]

Ben Simmons is on the Mount Rushmore of players I have disliked in my life. An athlete who decided to be so thin-skinned that he decided that his pride was more important than being a better player when he was called out by Rivers after that notorious playoff game. But beggars can't be chosers. Right or wrong this financial reset decision the Celtics made requires kicking the tires on EVERYONE, Lillard, Beal, Simmons or others like them. It's where the Celtics are right now.

I agree with this but then there's the compelling argument of getting a proven talent for a basement bargain and propping up their value. We know Ben Simmons is fully capable of being effective if he wants to be. A little height, athleticism and floor vision certainly wouldn't kill us if the price were right. Who knows what a change of scenery could do.

My gut thinks it won't happen because Brad is a character guy but perhaps times are changing with bargain bin shopping.

[playa-hater]

Celts trade close to dropping. Simons?

Hopefully a shot of good news.

what??? is there a rumor of something about tp go down, or just wishful thinking here?

[celtxman]

Ben Simmons is on the Mount Rushmore of players I have disliked in my life. An athlete who decided to be so thin-skinned that he decided that his pride was more important than being a better player when he was called out by Rivers after that notorious playoff game. But beggars can't be chosers. Right or wrong this financial reset decision the Celtics made requires kicking the tires on EVERYONE, Lillard, Beal, Simmons or others like them. It's where the Celtics are right now.

I agree with this but then there's the compelling argument of getting a proven talent for a basement bargain and propping up their value. We know Ben Simmons is fully capable of being effective if he wants to be. A little height, athleticism and floor vision certainly wouldn't kill us if the price were right. Who knows what a change of scenery could do.

My gut thinks it won't happen because Brad is a character guy but perhaps times are changing with bargain bin shopping.

I really don't think he's coming to the Celtics either. But I think the Celtics need to take swings at players with talent. They are in a bargain basement kinda place.

[jmr07019]

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

Read on Twitter

Thank god we didn’t let go of Walsh or Davison those guys have really blossomed

[djFan71]

Celts trade close to dropping. Simons?

I’ll guess 3 team with LAL. Kuz or KCP there, Lakers filler to BOS. Sprinkle with seconds

[Hal14]

If we hang on to Simons and start the season with the roster we have now, I think it's fine.

We obviously have a hole at C. We also have a hole at PF but we're obviously not going to contend again till 26-27 season when Tatum is back, so that fixes the PF spot.

I think at C, it's fine to wait it out since we have plenty of time..don't need to have a legit starting caliber C in place till the 2027 playoffs - when we're back in title contention.

By that time, hopefully either one of these scenarios takes place to fill that hole at starting C:

a) Someone on the current roster has emerged as a guy who can at least be a decent enough option as starting C. Remember, the Warriors won titles with guys like Looney and Pachulia at C. When Tatum is back and if we bring back Simons on a team friendly extension, Niang on a minimum extension..we'll be so good at the PG-PG positions that the C won't have to do much

Maybe Queta as like a Mitchell Robinson/Kevon Looney type guy who can do a serviceable job.

Maybe Garza ends up being like a Vucevic/Olynyk type of Towns lite..and emerges as the starting C. This seems less likely though..especially if we keep Simons (and Pritchard and Hauser and Niang) ideally the C would be a better defender..

Maybe Amari with his slick passing ends up developing into the guy. Or Tillman's knee gets better and he ends up being like the guy he was in Memphis and at times when he first got to Boston.

But chances are, none of those guys are gonna be a starting C for a title contender. More likely, they are guys who can compete for mins as a 2nd big/3rd big on a contender. So the more likely path is one of these others below..

b) Maybe we land a legit big in the 2026 draft..maybe we get lucky in the lottery and get Boozer or perhaps Quaintance.

c) You let the 25-26 season play out. then in the summer of 2026 at that point you could always try to make a trade for a big..probably by moving either Simons or Hauser. I'd prefer to move Hauser. Because a guy like Simons who is more dynamic, can score, drive, shoot, pass and potentially be a legit 3rd option on a championship team is harder to find than a 7th/8th man who can defend and hit open shots. I mean, we already have Niang on the team so Hauser is somewhat expendable

But moving Simons, we may be able to get a better big back in a trade.

So you see what options there are and which one you want to trade for a big. But there's no rush. We're not contending till the 2027 playoffs. So nothing wrong with waiting and then making a trade next summer - if need be.

Or maybe we use the Porzingis TPE which is $22.5 mil. We could us some (or all) of that TPE next summer..this might actually be my favorite option. Keep everyone who's on the team now. Resign Simons on team friendly deal, resign Niang to minimum deal. Move someone like JD, Tillman or Walsh before the deadline to dip under the 2nd apron this year. Then next summer use the Porzingis TPE to go and get a starting C.

Then in 26-27 you have:

C acquisition w/ Porzingis TPE
F Tatum
F Brown
G Simons
G White

Bench: Pritchard, Hauser, Queta, Niang + whoever ends up being the best out of Minott/Scheierman/Walsh/Hugo, Garza

That's a serious title contender. And hopefully by that time OKC has lost some of their good role players since they'll be paying such a crazy amount of $ for SGA/Chet/Jdub