Free Agent/Trade/Waiver Thread, 2025-26

[phincsfan]

Jaden Springer also waived
That's 3 sunken 2nd round picks
Shulga is the 4th (we could have had Penda or Raynoud...)

I don't get why you promise guys a two-way in the late 2nd round. We are now missing on real talent (like the unconscious shooter from SA, Bassey maybe, Lofton) for this bum

With Ainge and Cofield gone, maybe that won't be the case any longer.

[Hal14]

Ok, I'm starting to change my mind about Ben Simmons.

There's a lot of if's. If we run his medicals and everything checks out ok. If we bring him and meet with the staff and it seems like his head is in the right place and he actually wants to be here and wants to help us win.

If those boxes are checked, the next if becomes, if we are able to clear a roster spot for him. Because after we just worked so hard to dip under the 2nd apron, I doubt we are going right back over it to sign Ben Simmons - or any guy for that matter. If we sign someone else, we're probably going to clear a roster spot first.

One way that can be done is trading Tillman. It could look something like these other trades that happen when 1 team is just trying to dump another player but doesn't want to waive them. 2 examples:

"the Boston Celtics traded Noah Vonleh and cash to the San Antonio Spurs in exchange for a conditional future second-round draft pick."

"The Boston Celtics traded Jaden Springer to the Houston Rockets for a conditional 2031 second-round pick and a 2030 second-round pick"

So here's what we do:
-Trade Tillman as a dump, other team maybe keeps him (if they need another big) or they maybe waive him afterwards
-Sign Simmons, basically with the same $2.5 mil for this season. And maybe tack on a team option for 26-27 season to make it more appealing to him and beat out the other teams pursuing him
-Extend Simons and Niang to cheap, team friendly extensions at some point between now and next summer
-Get Tatum back healthy for the 26-27 season

We'd then be in position to compete for another championship.

Having another elite defender on the team (Simmons) would help to cover any gaps in our defense. Simmons and White could be all-defense team. The Jays could be in the mix as well. Queta will protect the room for like 20, maybe 25 MPG.

In this scenario, you're basically having Simmons, Queta and Garza split mins at the 5. Sometimes just playing 1 of them at a time, Sometimes play 2 of them together at the 4 and the 5..especially if it's Simmons (non shooter, elite defender) paired with Garza (shooter, suspect defender) because they pair well together. But with those 3 guys at the 5, you've got a really good passer/defender (Simmons), a rim runner, lob catcher, rim protector 7-footer (Queta) and a stretch big who has potential to shoot and score in the post (Garza) so they each bring something unique to the table.

One other point with regards to Simmons. While he has had injury problems, that's both a red flag as well as an advantage. How so? Well, think about it. He's 29 yrs old. But he had 2 entire seasons he missed due to injury/holdout. Plus another season where he only played in 15 games. So that's basically 3 seasons he didn't play. So a 29 yr old guy basically has the wear and tear on him of a 26 yr old in terms of the amount of NBA games he's played in. Plus he fits the timeline nicely with the Jays and D-white.

If we can get him here for a minimum deal, I say do it. Especially if we're able to find a team that will take Tillman's contract off our hands.

[GreenBlooded]

Some people still don't get it. More moves are coming. Celtics payroll is going to continue to decrease. Could be a trade in the next month but the key date is Sep 7th when Simons and Niang can be combined with other players in a trade. Opening night roster is going to look very different than the July 25th roster.

Maybe, maybe not.

I don't see anyone saying that this is the final roster and I don't see anyone saying that we won't make anymore trades.

Not sure why Sept 7 is significant. Seems highly doubtful we would combine Simons and Niang's salaries in a trade. Simons makes $27mil. Niang makes $8mil. So you think we're gonna combine them to trade for a guy making $35mil? That puts a $35mil guy in Simons' salary slot. Then even if you put a minimum guy in Niang's salary slot you still end up with higher payroll than we have now.

Even if the trade reduces overall salary, it's significant due the flexibility it would allow in a multi-team trade in which we may need to send out additional salaries to 3rd/4th teams for salary matching or shedding.

[phincsfan]

Ok, I'm starting to change my mind about Ben Simmons.

There's a lot of if's. If we run his medicals and everything checks out ok. If we bring him and meet with the staff and it seems like his head is in the right place and he actually wants to be here and wants to help us win.

If those boxes are checked, the next if becomes, if we are able to clear a roster spot for him. Because after we just worked so hard to dip under the 2nd apron, I doubt we are going right back over it to sign Ben Simmons - or any guy for that matter. If we sign someone else, we're probably going to clear a roster spot first.

One way that can be done is trading Tillman. It could look something like these other trades that happen when 1 team is just trying to dump another player but doesn't want to waive them. 2 examples:

"the Boston Celtics traded Noah Vonleh and cash to the San Antonio Spurs in exchange for a conditional future second-round draft pick."

"The Boston Celtics traded Jaden Springer to the Houston Rockets for a conditional 2031 second-round pick and a 2030 second-round pick"

So here's what we do:
-Trade Tillman as a dump, other team maybe keeps him (if they need another big) or they maybe waive him afterwards
-Sign Simmons, basically with the same $2.5 mil for this season. And maybe tack on a team option for 26-27 season to make it more appealing to him and beat out the other teams pursuing him
-Extend Simons and Niang to cheap, team friendly extensions at some point between now and next summer
-Get Tatum back healthy for the 26-27 season

We'd then be in position to compete for another championship.

Having another elite defender on the team (Simmons) would help to cover any gaps in our defense. Simmons and White could be all-defense team. The Jays could be in the mix as well. Queta will protect the room for like 20, maybe 25 MPG.

He can't stay healthy.

This is Porzingis 2.0 minus a two year 60mil deal. Possibly worse that Porzingis because at least Porzingus isn't a headcase who causes issues.

I'm telling you, he's the poster child of a rich athlete who when he feels like shutting it down because he can, he does.

[GreenBlooded]

Over the past three seasons, Simmons played 62 fewer games than KP at a clip of 34 games/season. Let that sink in...

[bucknersrevenge]

Some people still don't get it. More moves are coming. Celtics payroll is going to continue to decrease. Could be a trade in the next month but the key date is Sep 7th when Simons and Niang can be combined with other players in a trade. Opening night roster is going to look very different than the July 25th roster.

Maybe, maybe not.

I don't see anyone saying that this is the final roster and I don't see anyone saying that we won't make anymore trades.

Not sure why Sept 7 is significant. Seems highly doubtful we would combine Simons and Niang's salaries in a trade. Simons makes $27mil. Niang makes $8mil. So you think we're gonna combine them to trade for a guy making $35mil? That puts a $35mil guy in Simons' salary slot. Then even if you put a minimum guy in Niang's salary slot you still end up with higher payroll than we have now.

Even if the trade reduces overall salary, it's significant due the flexibility it would allow in a multi-team trade in which we may need to send out additional salaries to 3rd/4th teams for salary matching or shedding.

At the beginning of this offseason I was saying the same thing; that this team could look considerably different by the end and that Simons was a big candidate to go. But I softened on that stance after Brad's presser where he spoke about not doing any trade-salary dumps and ownership saying that it was okay to not get under the luxury tax so long as they were not over the 2nd apron. Regardless of if they sign Simmons or not, they will most certainly be under by the end of this season in time. But I'm expecting Simons to come to camp with us. The streets saying that we're still interested in moving Simons is not the same thing as there's a market for Simons. Certainly not if we're not willing to attach draft comp to do it and Brad stated pretty clearly (if you choose to believe him) that we won't be. And if I was Brad, I wouldn't be much obliged to dump a solid midrange salary slot just to get under the tax anyway. With each day that passes, there's stronger reason to actually KEEP Simons and not only that, extend him if for no other reason than to keep that salary slot available to be used in a future trade. In the meantime, Simons has the opportunity to fill a significant role on one of the marquee teams in the league-- something he's always wanted.

[snowman]

With the releasing of Davison, I think Brad is looking to do a 2-1 deal. Taking back 2 smaller contracts, while saving cap space, in my mind, is the next step. Then he can trade either or both when the right deal comes along.

[phincsfan]

Ok, I'm starting to change my mind about Ben Simmons.

There's a lot of if's. If we run his medicals and everything checks out ok. If we bring him and meet with the staff and it seems like his head is in the right place and he actually wants to be here and wants to help us win.

If those boxes are checked, the next if becomes, if we are able to clear a roster spot for him. Because after we just worked so hard to dip under the 2nd apron, I doubt we are going right back over it to sign Ben Simmons - or any guy for that matter. If we sign someone else, we're probably going to clear a roster spot first.

One way that can be done is trading Tillman. It could look something like these other trades that happen when 1 team is just trying to dump another player but doesn't want to waive them. 2 examples:

"the Boston Celtics traded Noah Vonleh and cash to the San Antonio Spurs in exchange for a conditional future second-round draft pick."

"The Boston Celtics traded Jaden Springer to the Houston Rockets for a conditional 2031 second-round pick and a 2030 second-round pick"

So here's what we do:
-Trade Tillman as a dump, other team maybe keeps him (if they need another big) or they maybe waive him afterwards
-Sign Simmons, basically with the same $2.5 mil for this season. And maybe tack on a team option for 26-27 season to make it more appealing to him and beat out the other teams pursuing him
-Extend Simons and Niang to cheap, team friendly extensions at some point between now and next summer
-Get Tatum back healthy for the 26-27 season

We'd then be in position to compete for another championship.

Having another elite defender on the team (Simmons) would help to cover any gaps in our defense. Simmons and White could be all-defense team. The Jays could be in the mix as well. Queta will protect the room for like 20, maybe 25 MPG.

In this scenario, you're basically having Simmons, Queta and Garza split mins at the 5. Sometimes just playing 1 of them at a time, Sometimes play 2 of them together at the 4 and the 5..especially if it's Simmons (non shooter, elite defender) paired with Garza (shooter, suspect defender) because they pair well together. But with those 3 guys at the 5, you've got a really good passer/defender (Simmons), a rim runner, lob catcher, rim protector 7-footer (Queta) and a stretch big who has potential to shoot and score in the post (Garza) so they each bring something unique to the table.

One other point with regards to Simmons. While he has had injury problems, that's both a red flag as well as an advantage. How so? Well, think about it. He's 29 yrs old. But he had 2 entire seasons he missed due to injury/holdout. Plus another season where he only played in 15 games. So that's basically 3 seasons he didn't play. So a 29 yr old guy basically has the wear and tear on him of a 26 yr old in terms of the amount of NBA games he's played in. Plus he fits the timeline nicely with the Jays and D-white.

If we can get him here for a minimum deal, I say do it. Especially if we're able to find a team that will take Tillman's contract off our hands.

Porzingis was also a key cog for the defense AND he was also a scoring threat. What does Simmons really do at this point in his career? 6/5/6?

He's a pipe dream imo.

Let the young guys play and force Joe to have to coach youth and not a full team of vets.

[Hal14]

Over the past three seasons, Simmons played 62 fewer games than KP at a clip of 34 games/season. Let that sink in...

A) Porzingis was making $30 mil a year and we were relying on him to play 31 MPG so his injuries were much more of an issue. Simmons would be a vet min contract, playing like 20 MPG, maybe 25. We'd sit him on back to backs and load manage the crap out of him this season since it's bridge year..probably just have him play like 40 or so games this season so that a) we get a better draft pick and b) we're putting less miles on him so he has is more likely to be healthy in 26-27 when we're going for a ring

B) a lot of the games Simmons has missed over the past few years were just because he was holding out, didn't want to play, was out with COVID/non COVID illness, team was tanking, etc. KP on the other hand? His games missed were due to injury and a few because of that weird illness he got last season.

I think if we watch his minutes and his amount of games played, we can hopefully keep him fairly healthy.

[redslastlaugh]

Simons + Tillman to Memphis

Vince Williams + John Konchar + Brandon Clarke coming back

thats my best guess prediction: Celts save $9 mil this yr

With the releasing of Davison, I think Brad is looking to do a 2-1 deal. Taking back 2 smaller contracts, while saving cap space, in my mind, is the next step. Then he can trade either or both when the right deal comes along.

[Hal14]

Ok, I'm starting to change my mind about Ben Simmons.

There's a lot of if's. If we run his medicals and everything checks out ok. If we bring him and meet with the staff and it seems like his head is in the right place and he actually wants to be here and wants to help us win.

If those boxes are checked, the next if becomes, if we are able to clear a roster spot for him. Because after we just worked so hard to dip under the 2nd apron, I doubt we are going right back over it to sign Ben Simmons - or any guy for that matter. If we sign someone else, we're probably going to clear a roster spot first.

One way that can be done is trading Tillman. It could look something like these other trades that happen when 1 team is just trying to dump another player but doesn't want to waive them. 2 examples:

"the Boston Celtics traded Noah Vonleh and cash to the San Antonio Spurs in exchange for a conditional future second-round draft pick."

"The Boston Celtics traded Jaden Springer to the Houston Rockets for a conditional 2031 second-round pick and a 2030 second-round pick"

So here's what we do:
-Trade Tillman as a dump, other team maybe keeps him (if they need another big) or they maybe waive him afterwards
-Sign Simmons, basically with the same $2.5 mil for this season. And maybe tack on a team option for 26-27 season to make it more appealing to him and beat out the other teams pursuing him
-Extend Simons and Niang to cheap, team friendly extensions at some point between now and next summer
-Get Tatum back healthy for the 26-27 season

We'd then be in position to compete for another championship.

Having another elite defender on the team (Simmons) would help to cover any gaps in our defense. Simmons and White could be all-defense team. The Jays could be in the mix as well. Queta will protect the room for like 20, maybe 25 MPG.

In this scenario, you're basically having Simmons, Queta and Garza split mins at the 5. Sometimes just playing 1 of them at a time, Sometimes play 2 of them together at the 4 and the 5..especially if it's Simmons (non shooter, elite defender) paired with Garza (shooter, suspect defender) because they pair well together. But with those 3 guys at the 5, you've got a really good passer/defender (Simmons), a rim runner, lob catcher, rim protector 7-footer (Queta) and a stretch big who has potential to shoot and score in the post (Garza) so they each bring something unique to the table.

One other point with regards to Simmons. While he has had injury problems, that's both a red flag as well as an advantage. How so? Well, think about it. He's 29 yrs old. But he had 2 entire seasons he missed due to injury/holdout. Plus another season where he only played in 15 games. So that's basically 3 seasons he didn't play. So a 29 yr old guy basically has the wear and tear on him of a 26 yr old in terms of the amount of NBA games he's played in. Plus he fits the timeline nicely with the Jays and D-white.

If we can get him here for a minimum deal, I say do it. Especially if we're able to find a team that will take Tillman's contract off our hands.

Porzingis was also a key cog for the defense AND he was also a scoring threat. What does Simmons really do at this point in his career? 6/5/6?

He's a pipe dream imo.

Let the young guys play and force Joe to have to coach youth and not a full team of vets.

Elite defender. Elite passer. Good rebounder. Good ball handler. Positional size. Depth at the 5 spot..

Simmons was at 37 for assist % last season. I don't think we've had a guy on our team with a mark that high since Rondo. Not to mention a potential all-defense guy who's 6'10" and can guard 1-5, on a minimum contract who's not even 30 yrs old yet? Sign me up.

This is 2025. What are we using box score numbers for? Especially for a minimum contract signing.

[Hal14]

With the releasing of Davison, I think Brad is looking to do a 2-1 deal. Taking back 2 smaller contracts, while saving cap space, in my mind, is the next step. Then he can trade either or both when the right deal comes along.

But then we'd be back to 15 guys on the standard roster. Brad had pretty much always gone with the minimum of 14 for flexibility and cost savings reasons..

I don't think we need to overthink it. We did this to dip under the 2nd apron, to get ourselves down to 14 guys on the standard roster and releasing him now gives JD more time to latch on with a different team and gives Brad and ownership peace of mind that we are now under the 2nd apron - and because of that now have more flexibility for future moves that may present themselves either in the near future or further down the line.

[cl2117]

No case for optimism?

If Cs declare Tatum will be out for the 2026 season then I would agree.

But the Cs could have an average regular season and a great playoffs.

Not saying it's guaranteed, but as long as the door is open for a Tatum return in March then I wouldn't rule anything out.

Optimism for what? To win anything signficant next year? There really shouldn't be any based on the current roster, even if Tatum were to come back.

We've got one of the worst frontcourts in the league. Outside of Brown/Hauser we've got a ton of wings with upside but who will go through more than their fair share of growing pains. Our backcourt is solid with White/PP/Simons but has serious defensive concerns outside of Derrick.

We're set up to have a below average regular season and, hopefully, miss the playoffs entirely. I don't see where the optimism is. Not saying it's doom and gloom either. Got some interesting pieces to develop via the draft, FA and what's already on the roster but even with how weak the East is we should be bottom feeders.

That can change if Brad makes moves in season, but right now we are a play-in team at best.

Weak front court?! IT'S QUETA TIME BRO! 82-0



For real though I think we're a little better than a play in team mainly because the east is tepid at best, I'm feeling somewhere between 4 and 6 in the East healthy. I guess the nice thing about that is if we're better I'll be happily surprised and if we are worse I'll be happily surprised just for the draft odds.

I've got this as a top 6 barring injury pretty locked in:

1. Cavs
2. Knicks
3. Bucks
4. Pistons
5. Magic
6. Hawks

So I think at best we're a play-in team. I think Miami and Philly are both potential a step above us barring injuries. Then I think you might have a wildcard or two from one of the bottom feeders (Raptors, Hornets, Bulls, Haliburton-less Pacers).

I think we are likely on the outside looking in, which would be my preference given the draft implications. Could overperform or other teams fall apart but at this stage I think we're firmly in the 7-12 range in the East.

[Bad-Thoma]

Optimism for what? To win anything signficant next year? There really shouldn't be any based on the current roster, even if Tatum were to come back.

We've got one of the worst frontcourts in the league. Outside of Brown/Hauser we've got a ton of wings with upside but who will go through more than their fair share of growing pains. Our backcourt is solid with White/PP/Simons but has serious defensive concerns outside of Derrick.

We're set up to have a below average regular season and, hopefully, miss the playoffs entirely. I don't see where the optimism is. Not saying it's doom and gloom either. Got some interesting pieces to develop via the draft, FA and what's already on the roster but even with how weak the East is we should be bottom feeders.

That can change if Brad makes moves in season, but right now we are a play-in team at best.

Weak front court?! IT'S QUETA TIME BRO! 82-0



For real though I think we're a little better than a play in team mainly because the east is tepid at best, I'm feeling somewhere between 4 and 6 in the East healthy. I guess the nice thing about that is if we're better I'll be happily surprised and if we are worse I'll be happily surprised just for the draft odds.

I've got this as a top 6 barring injury pretty locked in:

1. Cavs
2. Knicks
3. Bucks
4. Pistons
5. Magic
6. Hawks

So I think at best we're a play-in team. I think Miami and Philly are both potential a step above us barring injuries. Then I think you might have a wildcard or two from one of the bottom feeders (Raptors, Hornets, Bulls, Haliburton-less Pacers).

I think we are likely on the outside looking in, which would be my preference given the draft implications. Could overperform or other teams fall apart but at this stage I think we're firmly in the 7-12 range in the East.

That honestly looks like a pretty fair list with all teams healthy with the exception of the Bucks, that defense has the potential to be an atrocity on the perimeter. I'm an optimist when it comes to the Celtics though, can't help it as it doesn't cost me anything.

[darrendaye]

Ok, I'm starting to change my mind about Ben Simmons.

There's a lot of if's. If we run his medicals and everything checks out ok. If we bring him and meet with the staff and it seems like his head is in the right place and he actually wants to be here and wants to help us win.

If those boxes are checked, the next if becomes, if we are able to clear a roster spot for him. Because after we just worked so hard to dip under the 2nd apron, I doubt we are going right back over it to sign Ben Simmons - or any guy for that matter. If we sign someone else, we're probably going to clear a roster spot first.

One way that can be done is trading Tillman. It could look something like these other trades that happen when 1 team is just trying to dump another player but doesn't want to waive them. 2 examples:

"the Boston Celtics traded Noah Vonleh and cash to the San Antonio Spurs in exchange for a conditional future second-round draft pick."

"The Boston Celtics traded Jaden Springer to the Houston Rockets for a conditional 2031 second-round pick and a 2030 second-round pick"

So here's what we do:
-Trade Tillman as a dump, other team maybe keeps him (if they need another big) or they maybe waive him afterwards
-Sign Simmons, basically with the same $2.5 mil for this season. And maybe tack on a team option for 26-27 season to make it more appealing to him and beat out the other teams pursuing him
-Extend Simons and Niang to cheap, team friendly extensions at some point between now and next summer
-Get Tatum back healthy for the 26-27 season

We'd then be in position to compete for another championship.

Having another elite defender on the team (Simmons) would help to cover any gaps in our defense. Simmons and White could be all-defense team. The Jays could be in the mix as well. Queta will protect the room for like 20, maybe 25 MPG.

In this scenario, you're basically having Simmons, Queta and Garza split mins at the 5. Sometimes just playing 1 of them at a time, Sometimes play 2 of them together at the 4 and the 5..especially if it's Simmons (non shooter, elite defender) paired with Garza (shooter, suspect defender) because they pair well together. But with those 3 guys at the 5, you've got a really good passer/defender (Simmons), a rim runner, lob catcher, rim protector 7-footer (Queta) and a stretch big who has potential to shoot and score in the post (Garza) so they each bring something unique to the table.

One other point with regards to Simmons. While he has had injury problems, that's both a red flag as well as an advantage. How so? Well, think about it. He's 29 yrs old. But he had 2 entire seasons he missed due to injury/holdout. Plus another season where he only played in 15 games. So that's basically 3 seasons he didn't play. So a 29 yr old guy basically has the wear and tear on him of a 26 yr old in terms of the amount of NBA games he's played in. Plus he fits the timeline nicely with the Jays and D-white.

If we can get him here for a minimum deal, I say do it. Especially if we're able to find a team that will take Tillman's contract off our hands.

Still not being able to send cash out makes trading Tillman without attaching a draft asset more tricky/less likely though. I saw the vision similar to what you've laid out, though I personally wouldn't bump Minott from those PF minutes, at least to start off. For me, he'd have to accept a 12 minute or so role. He's a prime hack-a target so that gets weighed to some degree. But if he's willing to do that as well as take the beating of playing the 5 primarily, defense and strong pick setting, then, my mind is open.

[brackdan70]

Simons + Tillman to Memphis

Vince Williams + John Konchar + Brandon Clarke coming back

thats my best guess prediction: Celts save $9 mil this yr

With the releasing of Davison, I think Brad is looking to do a 2-1 deal. Taking back 2 smaller contracts, while saving cap space, in my mind, is the next step. Then he can trade either or both when the right deal comes along.

And add 21m next year. Clarke is the only useful player of that bunch…is that worth it?

[Hal14]

Ok, I'm starting to change my mind about Ben Simmons.

There's a lot of if's. If we run his medicals and everything checks out ok. If we bring him and meet with the staff and it seems like his head is in the right place and he actually wants to be here and wants to help us win.

If those boxes are checked, the next if becomes, if we are able to clear a roster spot for him. Because after we just worked so hard to dip under the 2nd apron, I doubt we are going right back over it to sign Ben Simmons - or any guy for that matter. If we sign someone else, we're probably going to clear a roster spot first.

One way that can be done is trading Tillman. It could look something like these other trades that happen when 1 team is just trying to dump another player but doesn't want to waive them. 2 examples:

"the Boston Celtics traded Noah Vonleh and cash to the San Antonio Spurs in exchange for a conditional future second-round draft pick."

"The Boston Celtics traded Jaden Springer to the Houston Rockets for a conditional 2031 second-round pick and a 2030 second-round pick"

So here's what we do:
-Trade Tillman as a dump, other team maybe keeps him (if they need another big) or they maybe waive him afterwards
-Sign Simmons, basically with the same $2.5 mil for this season. And maybe tack on a team option for 26-27 season to make it more appealing to him and beat out the other teams pursuing him
-Extend Simons and Niang to cheap, team friendly extensions at some point between now and next summer
-Get Tatum back healthy for the 26-27 season

We'd then be in position to compete for another championship.

Having another elite defender on the team (Simmons) would help to cover any gaps in our defense. Simmons and White could be all-defense team. The Jays could be in the mix as well. Queta will protect the room for like 20, maybe 25 MPG.

In this scenario, you're basically having Simmons, Queta and Garza split mins at the 5. Sometimes just playing 1 of them at a time, Sometimes play 2 of them together at the 4 and the 5..especially if it's Simmons (non shooter, elite defender) paired with Garza (shooter, suspect defender) because they pair well together. But with those 3 guys at the 5, you've got a really good passer/defender (Simmons), a rim runner, lob catcher, rim protector 7-footer (Queta) and a stretch big who has potential to shoot and score in the post (Garza) so they each bring something unique to the table.

One other point with regards to Simmons. While he has had injury problems, that's both a red flag as well as an advantage. How so? Well, think about it. He's 29 yrs old. But he had 2 entire seasons he missed due to injury/holdout. Plus another season where he only played in 15 games. So that's basically 3 seasons he didn't play. So a 29 yr old guy basically has the wear and tear on him of a 26 yr old in terms of the amount of NBA games he's played in. Plus he fits the timeline nicely with the Jays and D-white.

If we can get him here for a minimum deal, I say do it. Especially if we're able to find a team that will take Tillman's contract off our hands.

Still not being able to send cash out makes trading Tillman without attaching a draft asset more tricky/less likely though. I saw the vision similar to what you've laid out, though I personally wouldn't bump Minott from those PF minutes, at least to start off. For me, he'd have to accept a 12 minute or so role. He's a prime hack-a target so that gets weighed to some degree. But if he's willing to do that as well as take the beating of playing the 5 primarily, defense and strong pick setting, then, my mind is open.

Everything I laid out is for the 26-27 season.

This season there should be plenty of PF/SF mins for Minott to either sink or swim, with Tatum out and Simmons being load managed heavily.

Also, we can't send cash out in a trade if we're over the 2nd apron. But we just got under the 2nd apron, so I believe that is doable now..

[Shak_Celts]

Hear me out, what if when we traded for Simons the idea was to re-sign him? What if we had a number we thought would be good, but maybe Simons and his camp don’t like it and they aren’t close to meeting on the numbers? Maybe his camp thinks they can get him around the same thing he’s getting now in free agency? Do celts want to pay him near 27m? I doubt it.

What if he’s being shopped for this reason, but it’s hard to find a good deal because Simons is saying he’s not signing with the new team if they can’t hit a certain number? Remember it’s player empowerment age. Could be promising he’s going to test FA no matter what. Maybe teams want him, but want a guarantee they aren’t wasting assets for him to just bolt next offseason, but Simons isn’t willing to meet at a good number. To get to 27m isn’t that easy if they have to match and give us assets, if I’m the other team, I’m not sending much for Simons without a guarantee. We could just let him walk if we aren’t going a good asset back. We aren’t paying to get him out, because no one has the space anyway and that would be dumb when we can just let him walk.

We have too many other movable assets that we can get real assets back before we have to pay to move off Simons, if the objective is to get under the first apron, like people are saying. Even then, who could we pay? People keep saying we can dump him on bkn but notice, Bkn hasn’t taken on any of the bad contracts, they are holding tight to that space. There is no way teams weren’t aware that bkn wasn’t in the business of salary dumping before they made any moves this offseason. Teams talk all the time.

[Celts17Pride]

Celtics are not paying a $70+ million tax bill in 2025/2026 for a team the has little to no chance of doing something this season. It's just bad business. More moves are coming, it's just a matter of when.

[redslastlaugh]

Simons + Tillman to Memphis

Vince Williams + John Konchar + Brandon Clarke coming back

thats my best guess prediction: Celts save $9 mil this yr

With the releasing of Davison, I think Brad is looking to do a 2-1 deal. Taking back 2 smaller contracts, while saving cap space, in my mind, is the next step. Then he can trade either or both when the right deal comes along.

And add 21m next year. Clarke is the only useful player of that bunch…is that worth it?

You do this deal and get 3 way smaller, more manageable and dealable contracts with the caveat that they all extend past this season. If my math is right, I think, if you do this deal and save the $9.3 million, then you are only one trade (Niang + seconds traded into another team's exception) to be out of the tax with a full roster (14).

Clarke is an NBA PF, playable or tradeable. Konchar is dead weight, but it's a small figure. Vince Williams, you get a look at a guy whose shown flashes when healthy...

Probably worth it, I'd do it, I think.