Free Agent/Trade/Waiver Thread, 2025-26

[bucknersrevenge]

Bobby Manning:

Simons and Niang can’t be combined with other players in trades until September 7

“I don’t think the Boston Celtics are here to tank…that’s not in their DNA,” Scotto said.

Signing Simmons would guarantee at least part of 15 roster players, a rarity for Boston to begin a season. Bassey, a free agent, hasn’t signed elsewhere yet after leaving Las Vegas after three games with the Celtics, which was pre-arranged, according to the team. Uncertainty at the center position could definitely warrant bringing one of those players to camp

Scotto also mentioned Brooklyn and Utah as the most likely destinations for Simons.

https://www.clnsmedia.com/what-else-to-watch-for-this-celtics-offseason

It would upset me if they only bring back picks in form of assets, I want players, IF you trade Simons. I’ll understand them doing it but I’ll still be miffed. I’m not rooting for picks until they’re used!


JRUUUUUUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE????

ALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL????


Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy???


Picks schmicks!! Save money? Baloney!

100% No point in moving Simons unless you can get an upgrade somewhere. Dumping him just to use an MLE is a waste of time in my opinion. Right now you have a good player in a good salary slot. Why waste it?

[bucknersrevenge]

So this just happened...

Read on Twitter

You don't do this unless another move is imminent. They were in no rush to get under and could've waited. Simmons...?

[The_Ghost_of_JB]

JD is a PG that cannot dribble or shoot which means he will be an all star in the CBA.

[klemen44]

So this just happened...

Read on Twitter

You don't do this unless another move is imminent. They were in no rush to get under and could've waited. Simmons...?

Correct, a trade or maybe they sign bassey?

[Hal14]

So this just happened...

Read on Twitter

You don't do this unless another move is imminent. They were in no rush to get under and could've waited. Simmons...?

Not necessarily.

Guys can be waived at any time, for many different reasons.

Maybe they just knew they wanted to waive him to get under the 2nd apron..sure, they could have waited a bit longer to do it. But why string the guy along? Why get his hopes up?

What, keep him on the roster for the first 2 or 3 months to just sit there on the bench, rotting away? When he could be getting 30 MPG overseas somewhere, making the same amount of $, if not more.

Or you wait till the last day of training camp to waive him? Why? By that time, all the other NBA teams (and g league and overseas teams) have their rosters all filled up and then it becomes much harder for him to get signed on somewhere else.

These overseas teams are signing guys everyday right now. Shake Milton just got signed today by Partizan. Lonnie Walker just got scooped up by an overseas team.

NBA teams are signing guys right now to exhibit 10 deals, 2-way contracts, minimum contracts. It's a race right now. If you're a FA, you gotta hurry up and get signed now while the good opportunities are still available.

Not to mention, we could have signed Ben Simmons to a contract, even if JD was on the roster. We had 1 open spot on our 21 man offseason roster. Sure, we would have had to trim it down from 16 standard contracts down to 15 but we have until end of training camp to do that. So I see no reason why waiving JD today has a connection to us signing a player like Ben Simmons or anyone else.

I just think they made the decision that JD would not be on the roster this season and this move dips us under the 2nd apron so mine as well just make the move now so JD has more time to sign somewhere else before the decent opportunities with other teams are all taken.

Plus now we have flexibility to add 2 more guys to the offseason roster. Maybe 2 more guys from our SL team..

But we've gone with 14 guys on the standard roster for basically every year Brad has been POBO. Waiving JD trims is down from 15 to 14. Especially with all the payroll cuts and Tatum injury, this being a bridge year..it certainly should have been the expectation that we'd be moving someone to get it down to 14 guys on standard contracts. Waiving JD achieves that..

Or like Playa Hater said, maybe JD's camp asked for a release so he could explore opportunities elsewhere..maybe another team already offered him a deal where he'll actually be able to get consistent playing time.

[playa-hater]

So this just happened...

Read on Twitter

You don't do this unless another move is imminent. They were in no rush to get under and could've waited. Simmons...?

Or maybe, JD and his reps realize JD won't make Boston and are hoping to get a new start, so they asked for a release? Just guessing on my part however.

[Hal14]

So this just happened...

Read on Twitter

You don't do this unless another move is imminent. They were in no rush to get under and could've waited. Simmons...?

Correct, maybe they sign bassey?

We could have done that even if JD was still on the team.

Bassey looks to be headed overseas:

Read on Twitter

[bigfoot_cryptozoology]

JD: Another Brad Stevens Draft Bust!

Keep it up, Brad...

[bigfoot_cryptozoology]

Hopefully Rico and oOgo can rescue Brad's draft reputation.

But right now, it's looking really rough....

[Parliament10]

So, we're under the 2nd Apron now.
Brad's gonna do his wheeling and dealing.

Read on Twitter

[redslastlaugh]

JD's contract wasn't guaranteed until January, I think. Seems like, for this yr especially, giving JD some reserve guard run in the beginning of the year would have been all upside. Even if JD stinks and it costs you a couple of games, who cares -- this is a gap year -- you just release him then.

A fast uptempo point guard who rings up assists who is exciting and athletic would have been awesome, but that's not how we play. We slow walk it up, force a switch onto the opponent's weak defender and then step back for a 26 foot jumpshot, and this just isn't something JD would be able to do.

[Parliament10]

Hopefully Rico and oOgo can rescue Brad's draft reputation.

But right now, it's looking really rough....

Eh. What do you expect? The highest Draft was 30th, before this Draft.

[Hal14]

Hopefully Rico and oOgo can rescue Brad's draft reputation.

But right now, it's looking really rough....

Oh please. JD was the 53rd pick. No such thing as a bust that late in the draft, where the hit rate is so low.

Who was the other bust? Begarin. It's not looking good for him but it's still too soon to call him a bust. He hasn't been given a chance yet in green. He's only 22 years old. There's been some draft and stash guys who didn't come over to the NBA till they were like age 24-26. So there's still a chance he comes over and is a decent player.

And he was 45th pick..again, too late in the draft to be considered a bust.

Hauser was a great UDFA pickup though by Brad.

[Hal14]

JD's contract wasn't guaranteed until January, I think. Seems like, for this yr especially, giving JD some reserve guard run in the beginning of the year would have been all upside. Even if JD stinks and it costs you a couple of games, who cares -- this is a gap year -- you just release him then.

A fast uptempo point guard who rings up assists who is exciting and athletic would have been awesome, but that's not how we play. We slow walk it up, force a switch onto the opponent's weak defender and then step back for a 26 foot jumpshot, and this just isn't something JD would be able to do.

It seems like with the moves this offseason and some of the quotes/interviews with the players/coaches/execs, they do want to play faster and do more cutting, more running this season.

Bottom line, JD was here for 3 years and contributed basically nothing to the big club. He only had like 1 game where he got in during non garbage time and he did nothing in that game. And even in garbage time, he wasn't that good.

There is very little evidence that he's an NBA caliber player. G league MVP but a lot of guys who have accomplished that recently are not NBA caliber guys..Jaden Springer was g league finals MVP and he just got waived today as well.

Bottom line, this gets us under the 2nd apron. And the sooner we waive JD, that gives him more time to find another team that will actually play him. Possibly somewhere overseas..who knows, he may have already gotten an offer from another team so perhaps his camp asked for him to be waived..

[redslastlaugh]

JD's contract wasn't guaranteed until January, I think. Seems like, for this yr especially, giving JD some reserve guard run in the beginning of the year would have been all upside. Even if JD stinks and it costs you a couple of games, who cares -- this is a gap year -- you just release him then.

It seems like with the moves this offseason and some of the quotes/interviews with the players/coaches/execs, they do want to play faster and do more cutting, more running this season.

Bottom line, JD was here for 3 years and contributed basically nothing to the big club. He only had like 1 game where he got in during non garbage time and he did nothing in that game. And even in garbage time, he wasn't that good.

sure, but it a guy contributes nothing to the big club (while being the literal MVP of the minor league) isn't it on the coach or organization to give him some chance if he's literally dominating the lesser league?

JD played 40, 70 and 90 minutes in each of the three seasons. In the title yr, he played literally *0* minutes with Tatum on court over the entire season. It seems more likely that they have a narrow archetype for guards: defend, shoot 3's and don't turn it over, and a deficiency of creativity to even scheme for a player with different strengths

But also ... it's a moot point because JDD is probably just not that good, you're right. So I'm not going to get all flustered that they let him go which was always the most likely outcome anyway... it would have been fun if he couldve played this upcoming Oct/Nov and nothing would have been lost in the worst scenario but c'est la vie. (Hope they dont use his roster spot on freakin Ben Simmons, tho ... lol)

[Parliament10]

Read on Twitter

Ron Harper, Jr. was decent for Maine, last year.
We should pick him up.

[bucknersrevenge]

So this just happened...

Read on Twitter

You don't do this unless another move is imminent. They were in no rush to get under and could've waited. Simmons...?

Not necessarily.

Guys can be waived at any time, for many different reasons.

Maybe they just knew they wanted to waive him to get under the 2nd apron..sure, they could have waited a bit longer to do it. But why string the guy along? Why get his hopes up?

What, keep him on the roster for the first 2 or 3 months to just sit there on the bench, rotting away? When he could be getting 30 MPG overseas somewhere, making the same amount of $, if not more.

Or you wait till the last day of training camp to waive him? Why? By that time, all the other NBA teams (and g league and overseas teams) have their rosters all filled up and then it becomes much harder for him to get signed on somewhere else.

These overseas teams are signing guys everyday right now. Shake Milton just got signed today by Partizan. Lonnie Walker just got scooped up by an overseas team.

NBA teams are signing guys right now to exhibit 10 deals, 2-way contracts, minimum contracts. It's a race right now. If you're a FA, you gotta hurry up and get signed now while the good opportunities are still available.

Not to mention, we could have signed Ben Simmons to a contract, even if JD was on the roster. We had 1 open spot on our 21 man offseason roster. Sure, we would have had to trim it down from 16 standard contracts down to 15 but we have until end of training camp to do that. So I see no reason why waiving JD today has a connection to us signing a player like Ben Simmons or anyone else.

I just think they made the decision that JD would not be on the roster this season and this move dips us under the 2nd apron so mine as well just make the move now so JD has more time to sign somewhere else before the decent opportunities with other teams are all taken.

Plus now we have flexibility to add 2 more guys to the offseason roster. Maybe 2 more guys from our SL team..

But we've gone with 14 guys on the standard roster for basically every year Brad has been POBO. Waiving JD trims is down from 15 to 14. Especially with all the payroll cuts and Tatum injury, this being a bridge year..it certainly should have been the expectation that we'd be moving someone to get it down to 14 guys on standard contracts. Waiving JD achieves that..

Or like Playa Hater said, maybe JD's camp asked for a release so he could explore opportunities elsewhere..maybe another team already offered him a deal where he'll actually be able to get consistent playing time.

I hear you but where I'm stuck is, they didn't have to make a decision on him until January 10th in a bridge year after he won MVP of the G-League. He literally did everything they asked him to do. I don't see how waiving him is "letting him off easy". His contract gave him an opportunity to be on the roster, same as Neemy got, and Luke before him in a year with little guard depth. Getting the roster down to 14 right now 2 whole months before preseason just because we always go down to 14 is pointless right now unless...he asked for it and he has another opportunity waiting. I will buy that option as fair. Otherwise, I have to assume something else is coming because short of him asking, there's no roster management benefit to waiving him this early before the season begins IMO.

[Gant]

Himmelsbach:

A league source said that Davison will likely be positioned to compete for a roster spot elsewhere, but he would also be eligible to sign a two-way deal with a new team.

The Celtics now have one open roster spot, but they are not required to fill it, and the source said that no other moves are imminent.

[playa-hater]

Hopefully Rico and oOgo can rescue Brad's draft reputation.

But right now, it's looking really rough....

Yeah, here is the thing. many will point out where Brad has drafted.. But Brad also keeps trading down.. for 2nd rders that result is nothing.. How about one time, at least. Target a player and try trading up??? Other posters have already mentioned it, at some point teams need to replenish their roster with young and cheaper players through the draft. The idea that we were in contention for some years and "Needed veterans" was a bad narrative IMO. and bad strategy..

[Hal14]

Read on Twitter

Ron Harper, Jr. was decent for Maine, last year.
We should pick him up.

Pick him up, for what?

We already have our 2-way contract spots filled and we just dipped under the 2nd apron by waiving JD. We're not going back over the 2nd apron for Ron Harper Jr.