Free Agent/Trade/Waiver Thread, 2025-26

[Hal14]

If the numbers are to be believed, defensively Simons is worse than a scrub.

Most defensive statistics are very misleading.

He's never been on a real NBA team with real coaching, a real defensive system..plus he was the 1st/2nd option in Portland so was using so much energy on offense, made it hard to be a good defender. He'll be able to use more energy on D here, as the 3rd/4th option for our offense.

He's quick, athletic. Has a 6'9" wingspan. And is entering his prime right now (younger players typically are worse defenders but as they develop more and reach age 26+ they usually get better on D)

[snowman]

I want Brad to bring back Bassy for depth at the 5 spot. Probably get him for the minimum. Sign him for 2 years, plus two years at team option. At 24 years old he would still be around when Tatum comes back if he is good enough.

[Hal14]

Brad, come and have a little word with me! This is the one year to let people have a chance and this is what you do before you have to????!!!! You would do this to me and I been loyal to you??? You would drop the lil squirt before I can see him in preseason?????? Jrue said he’s an NBA player!!!!!! Why?!!! You gave Carson Edwards more chances than JD!! You have waters more chances!! JD couldn’t get 5 minutes behind only PP and maybe Simons??? He’s that bad???!!!! I don’t buy it!

IMO it's strategic. It could be a sign Simons is not going to be moved if Brad's trade talk intelligence indicated there isn't a good match. Or that, since 6'3" guards are the RBs of the NBA, any package sending Simons or Niang out likely would have a small guard coming back, Davison wouldn't have a runway here this year. White/Pritchard/Simons takes out all of the 96 available guard minutes. IMO White and Pritchard take all of the "PG" minutes. Finding time for Scheierman in a regular rotation may be a challenge.

I was hoping they would whittle Simons down to a SG they could get away with playing 20 minutes a night and have a slot to rotate some of these 9th-12th guys in and give Davison (and a couple others) frequent cameo appearances even with good overall roster health.

Most of the PG mins will be White and Pritchard. A little bit of Simons. JB can bring the ball up sometimes too.

At the 2 we have JB, Pritchard/white (both can play the 1 or the 2), Simons..plus Hugo and Scheierman. Shulga might get some spot mins as well..

JD was expendable. And the priority here was getting under the 2nd apron, rather than having enough guys at each position during a bridge year..

[Hal14]

I want Brad to bring back Bassy for depth at the 5 spot. Probably get him for the minimum.

That would put us back over the 2nd apron though.

We're currently at 14 guys on standard contracts, 3 2-ways. And we're under 2nd apron.

I expect it to stay this way..unless there's a trade of someone like Simons/Niang/Hauser but unless that happens, I wouldn't think anyone else gets signed - other than a couple more exhibit 10 guys to round out the training camp roster.

At the 5 we have Queta, Garza, Tillman, Williams. And Niang can play some small ball 5..that's enough bodies. It's obviously not a great C rotation but it's a bridge year so doesn't matter that much..

[snowman]

I want Brad to bring back Bassy for depth at the 5 spot. Probably get him for the minimum.

That would put us back over the 2nd apron though.

We're currently at 14 guys on standard contracts, 3 2-ways. And we're under 2nd apron.

I expect it to stay this way..unless there's a trade of someone like Simons/Niang/Hauser but unless that happens, I wouldn't think anyone else gets signed - other than a couple more exhibit 10 guys to round out the training camp roster.

At the 5 we have Queta, Garza, Tillman, Williams. And Niang can play some small ball 5..that's enough bodies. It's obviously not a great C rotation but it's a bridge year so doesn't matter that much..

I think we should move Tillman and sign Bassy. Tillman hasn't shown that much since we signed him.

[darrendaye]

I want Brad to bring back Bassy for depth at the 5 spot. Probably get him for the minimum.

That would put us back over the 2nd apron though.

We're currently at 14 guys on standard contracts, 3 2-ways. And we're under 2nd apron.

I expect it to stay this way..unless there's a trade of someone like Simons/Niang/Hauser but unless that happens, I wouldn't think anyone else gets signed - other than a couple more exhibit 10 guys to round out the training camp roster.

At the 5 we have Queta, Garza, Tillman, Williams. And Niang can play some small ball 5..that's enough bodies. It's obviously not a great C rotation but it's a bridge year so doesn't matter that much..

I think we should move Tillman and sign Bassy. Tillman hasn't shown that much since we signed him.

I'm going to likely sound ridiculous saying this, but, I'm in favor of keeping a spot open in case Hayden Gray happens to have a strong shooting performance in the G-league and leaves a clean route to promote one of the 2-ways and sign Gray to keep him away from buzzards.

[phincsfan]

Neems and Garza have both shown durability so far in their limited careers.

Let them rock and roll.

[darrendaye]

I want Brad to bring back Bassy for depth at the 5 spot. Probably get him for the minimum.

That would put us back over the 2nd apron though.

We're currently at 14 guys on standard contracts, 3 2-ways. And we're under 2nd apron.

I expect it to stay this way..unless there's a trade of someone like Simons/Niang/Hauser but unless that happens, I wouldn't think anyone else gets signed - other than a couple more exhibit 10 guys to round out the training camp roster.

At the 5 we have Queta, Garza, Tillman, Williams. And Niang can play some small ball 5..that's enough bodies. It's obviously not a great C rotation but it's a bridge year so doesn't matter that much..

I think we should move Tillman and sign Bassy. Tillman hasn't shown that much since we signed him.

Personally I'm not sending out a draft asset for someone to take Tillman. I like Bassey but don't see him as so much of an upgrade to Tillman to warrant that. Bassey has a long injury history himself, so even with the most pessimistic view of Tillman's chances of getting over that hill, it's tough to ignore Bassey's likelihood of continuing his pattern.

[Hal14]

I want Brad to bring back Bassy for depth at the 5 spot. Probably get him for the minimum.

That would put us back over the 2nd apron though.

We're currently at 14 guys on standard contracts, 3 2-ways. And we're under 2nd apron.

I expect it to stay this way..unless there's a trade of someone like Simons/Niang/Hauser but unless that happens, I wouldn't think anyone else gets signed - other than a couple more exhibit 10 guys to round out the training camp roster.

At the 5 we have Queta, Garza, Tillman, Williams. And Niang can play some small ball 5..that's enough bodies. It's obviously not a great C rotation but it's a bridge year so doesn't matter that much..

I think we should move Tillman and sign Bassy. Tillman hasn't shown that much since we signed him.

I'm fine with that. I just doubt any team would want to trade for Tillman. And his contract is guaranteed.

Unless we do a trade with Tillman, similar to the one where we traded Vonleh:

"The Boston Celtics traded Noah Vonleh to the San Antonio Spurs for cash considerations and a conditional second-round pick"

The Spurs then waived Vonleh.

Also, rumor has it Bassey might be signing with an overseas team..probably so he can get a guaranteed 25+ MPG, rather than being an end of the bench guy in the NBA.

Tillman on the other hand, seems to be content with a smaller role where he's not playing a lot.

[Hal14]

I feel like JD being waived means Simons is more likely to stick around..at least till opening night because:

a) We're under the 2nd apron now so there's less urgency to trim more payroll

b) We just lost a guard, so we need Simons or else we'd be screwed in terms of back court / ball handling depth

[Curmudgeon]

I feel like JD being waived means Simons is more likely to stick around.

Oh I think it's the opposite, since the Celtics can now aggregate.

[darrendaye]

That would put us back over the 2nd apron though.

We're currently at 14 guys on standard contracts, 3 2-ways. And we're under 2nd apron.

I expect it to stay this way..unless there's a trade of someone like Simons/Niang/Hauser but unless that happens, I wouldn't think anyone else gets signed - other than a couple more exhibit 10 guys to round out the training camp roster.

At the 5 we have Queta, Garza, Tillman, Williams. And Niang can play some small ball 5..that's enough bodies. It's obviously not a great C rotation but it's a bridge year so doesn't matter that much..

I think we should move Tillman and sign Bassy. Tillman hasn't shown that much since we signed him.

I'm fine with that. I just doubt any team would want to trade for Tillman. And his contract is guaranteed.

Unless we do a trade with Tillman, similar to the one where we traded Vonleh:

"The Boston Celtics traded Noah Vonleh to the San Antonio Spurs for cash considerations and a conditional second-round pick"

The Spurs then waived Vonleh.

Also, rumor has it Bassey might be signing with an overseas team..probably so he can get a guaranteed 25+ MPG, rather than being an end of the bench guy in the NBA.

Tillman on the other hand, seems to be content with a smaller role where he's not playing a lot.

That what I expected re: Bassey. Highly likely Lofton Jr's plight as well, but I still hope he's willing to take a one year G-league affiliate player internship to better stay on the radar, and he could come onboard. Back to Bassey, if he can make it though a full season he'll get better offers (or at least more offers) over here next year.

[fallguy]

If the numbers are to be believed, defensively Simons is worse than a scrub.

Most defensive statistics are very misleading.

He's never been on a real NBA team with real coaching, a real defensive system..plus he was the 1st/2nd option in Portland so was using so much energy on offense, made it hard to be a good defender. He'll be able to use more energy on D here, as the 3rd/4th option for our offense.

He's quick, athletic. Has a 6'9" wingspan. And is entering his prime right now (younger players typically are worse defenders but as they develop more and reach age 26+ they usually get better on D)

No, he's bad on defense.

Could he get better? Sure. But the Blazers are building a defensive oriented team and that's one reason they jettisoned him.

Via: https://ripcityproject.com/blazers-defense-wont-succeed-ditch-weakest-link

Simons has had the worst defensive rating in all seven seasons he's been on the team.

[Hal14]

I feel like JD being waived means Simons is more likely to stick around.

Oh I think it's the opposite, since the Celtics can now aggregate.

Well, if by aggregate you mean "combining the salaries of multiple players on one team to match the salary of a single player or a group of players on another team when making a trade." we wouldn't be doing that with Simons anyways.

If we trade Simons, it would be to trim payroll, so we would be taking back way less $ in the deal. So combining Simons $27mil salary + one of our other players salaries to go and acquire a player making like $30mil a year would not apply in this case..we wouldn't do that because then we'd be adding salary to our payroll, which is the opposite of what we're trying to do..

[Hal14]

If the numbers are to be believed, defensively Simons is worse than a scrub.

Most defensive statistics are very misleading.

He's never been on a real NBA team with real coaching, a real defensive system..plus he was the 1st/2nd option in Portland so was using so much energy on offense, made it hard to be a good defender. He'll be able to use more energy on D here, as the 3rd/4th option for our offense.

He's quick, athletic. Has a 6'9" wingspan. And is entering his prime right now (younger players typically are worse defenders but as they develop more and reach age 26+ they usually get better on D)

No, he's bad on defense.

Could he get better? Sure. But the Blazers are building a defensive oriented team and that's one reason they jettisoned him.

Via: https://ripcityproject.com/blazers-defense-wont-succeed-ditch-weakest-link

Simons has had the worst defensive rating in all seven seasons he's been on the team.

Yup, defensive rating is one of the stats I was referring to when I said many defensive stats are misleading.

Defensive rating is a team stat. It is not very helpful as an individual stat.

I'm not moved by what some random Blazers blogger with 1,100 followers and no blue check mark says.

And what do you mean by no? What exactly did I say that was incorrect?

The Blazers haven't won anything in a very long time. If they wanted to move Simons, that doesn't really tell me much about him as a player.

Darius Garland, Lamelo Ball, Jordan Poole, Tyler Herro, Damian Lillard, Steph Curry (for the first half of his career), Kemba Walker, Trae Young, De'Aaron Fox, Ja Morant, CJ McCollum, Bradley Beal, John Wall, Jalen Brunson, Tyrese Haliburton, Harden, Kyrie, Luka, Jamal Murray, Donovan Mitchell, Tyrese Maxey, etc.

All good players. All poor defenders. I think we'll be ok with Simons especially since (for reasons I've already stated) there's a good chance he'll improve defensively here (as Pritchard, Hauser, Kornet, Tatum and others have done) and he'll have a bunch of good defenders to help insulate him and cover any gaps (JB, JT, White, etc.)

[fallguy]

Most defensive statistics are very misleading.

He's never been on a real NBA team with real coaching, a real defensive system..plus he was the 1st/2nd option in Portland so was using so much energy on offense, made it hard to be a good defender. He'll be able to use more energy on D here, as the 3rd/4th option for our offense.

He's quick, athletic. Has a 6'9" wingspan. And is entering his prime right now (younger players typically are worse defenders but as they develop more and reach age 26+ they usually get better on D)

No, he's bad on defense.

Could he get better? Sure. But the Blazers are building a defensive oriented team and that's one reason they jettisoned him.

Via: https://ripcityproject.com/blazers-defense-wont-succeed-ditch-weakest-link

Simons has had the worst defensive rating in all seven seasons he's been on the team.

Yup, defensive rating is one of the stats I was referring to when I said many defensive stats are misleading.

Defensive rating is a team stat. It is not very helpful as an individual stat.

I'm not moved by what some random Blazers blogger with 1,100 followers and no blue check mark says.

And what do you mean by no? What exactly did I say that was incorrect?

If the premise of your argument is that AS is a good defender, I say you're wrong. As does basically everyone in the league.

[redslastlaugh]

I feel like JD being waived means Simons is more likely to stick around.

Oh I think it's the opposite, since the Celtics can now aggregate.

Well, if by aggregate you mean "combining the salaries of multiple players on one team to match the salary of a single player or a group of players on another team when making a trade." we wouldn't be doing that with Simons anyways.

Even with JD on the roster, we could've aggregated salaries in a trade if the result of the trade is our cap total drops under the 2nd apron.

If we were exactly $300,000 over the 2nd apron, we could aggregate if the amount of money coming back was -$300,001 of what we sent out, because then we'd be under the 2nd apron

[fallguy]

Half of our current roster will be GONE GONE GONE by opening day 26-27.

[Hal14]

No, he's bad on defense.

Could he get better? Sure. But the Blazers are building a defensive oriented team and that's one reason they jettisoned him.

Via: https://ripcityproject.com/blazers-defense-wont-succeed-ditch-weakest-link

Yup, defensive rating is one of the stats I was referring to when I said many defensive stats are misleading.

Defensive rating is a team stat. It is not very helpful as an individual stat.

I'm not moved by what some random Blazers blogger with 1,100 followers and no blue check mark says.

And what do you mean by no? What exactly did I say that was incorrect?

If the premise of your argument is that AS is a good defender, I say you're wrong. As does basically everyone in the league.

I didn't say that he is a good defender. You're arguing a point I didn't make.

[fallguy]

Yup, defensive rating is one of the stats I was referring to when I said many defensive stats are misleading.

Defensive rating is a team stat. It is not very helpful as an individual stat.

I'm not moved by what some random Blazers blogger with 1,100 followers and no blue check mark says.

And what do you mean by no? What exactly did I say that was incorrect?

If the premise of your argument is that AS is a good defender, I say you're wrong. As does basically everyone in the league.

I didn't say that he is a good defender. You're arguing a point I didn't make.

Fair enough. That said, I do feel like you're trying to talk everyone else into a player by minimizing his legitimate flaws. I don't think it matters either way as there's about a 1% chance this guy is on our roster a year from now. But he sucks defensively.