Free Agent/Trade/Waiver Thread, 2025-26

[Fierce1]

I still feel like vrad thoughtbhe was gonna be able to get this great haul for simons and he grossly miscalculated his value and is now in full damage control while trying to talk simons up

He got off of Jrue's contract. It's already a win regardless of what happens with Simons.

Compare that to Brad giving OKC a 1st rnd pick so that OKC will absorb Kemba's contract in 2021.

That 2021 Celtics 1st rnd pick ended up becoming Alperen Sengun.

[flintsky21]

Id rather play Neemi, Amari, Garza and just rehab X-Man or if X's knee is cooked, package him with a second and bring in the next Theis, a 25 yr old big in Europe with NBA dreams.

I don't want to waste time in this season with Vooch or Ben Simmons or anything like that ...

Other then Cassell and PJ Brown what cashed veteran "big name" did we ever bring in on a minimum that panned out: Troy Murphy? Barbosa? Marbury Mike Sweetney? Mike Finley? Carlos Arroyo? Darko??

Amari will be gone in 2 years, Tillman will be gone before the season starts.

Vucevic will be gone in 1 year….

Maybe. But for the minimum, there's very little risk. And the reward is big if Vooch somehow likes Boston and buys into the idea of competing for a title when Tatum is back, and you can convince him to re-sign for a team-friendly extension. Then you've got your KP replacement -- less shotblocking but more rebounding, but also more durable and cheaper.

[Curmudgeon]

You aren't going to compete for a title with Vucevic. He's Enes Kanter with a better jump shot.

[tfribs45]

You aren't going to compete for a title with Vucevic. He's Enes Kanter with a better jump shot.

have you seen the alternatives at the 5. You absolutely roll the dice on Vucevic he's a stud offensive player and great on the boards. C's have had Vuc on the radar for a long time....He's exactly what the C's need, to weather the storm before JT returns

[Larry_Russell]

You aren't going to compete for a title with Vucevic. He's Enes Kanter with a better jump shot.

IMO, arent competing without JT or a freshly returned from injury JT in the spring and arent competing with Simons either.


The worst thing that Vooch does is take any silver lining from the JT injury and being forced to dump salary and turning it into the 18th pick in a loaded draft.


Team needs to do all it can to try and secure at least a top 10 pick.
Then restructure team again NEXT offseason.

[chrisab123]

You aren't going to compete for a title with Vucevic. He's Enes Kanter with a better jump shot.

IMO, arent competing without JT or a freshly returned from injury JT in the spring and arent competing with Simons either.


The worst thing that Vooch does is take any silver lining from the JT injury and being forced to dump salary and turning it into the 18th pick in a loaded draft.


Team needs to do all it can to try and secure at least a top 10 pick.
Then restructure team again NEXT offseason.

Unless you’re putting Brown and White on mothballs it’s not happening. Your best chance is to trade him.

[Hal14]

I still feel like vrad thoughtbhe was gonna be able to get this great haul for simons and he grossly miscalculated his value and is now in full damage control while trying to talk simons up

He got off of Jrue's contract. It's already a win regardless of what happens with Simons.

Compare that to Brad giving OKC a 1st rnd pick so that OKC will absorb Kemba's contract in 2021.

That 2021 Celtics 1st rnd pick ended up becoming Alperen Sengun.

If that was the whole trade, we would have lost the trade. But we also got Horford in the trade, who helped us win banner 18 and gave us 4 really good seasons.

[Hal14]

You aren't going to compete for a title with Vucevic. He's Enes Kanter with a better jump shot.

have you seen the alternatives at the 5. You absolutely roll the dice on Vucevic he's a stud offensive player and great on the boards. C's have had Vuc on the radar for a long time....He's exactly what the C's need, to weather the storm before JT returns

I'd rather play the guys we have and get a better draft pick.

[Larry_Russell]

You aren't going to compete for a title with Vucevic. He's Enes Kanter with a better jump shot.

IMO, arent competing without JT or a freshly returned from injury JT in the spring and arent competing with Simons either.


The worst thing that Vooch does is take any silver lining from the JT injury and being forced to dump salary and turning it into the 18th pick in a loaded draft.


Team needs to do all it can to try and secure at least a top 10 pick.
Then restructure team again NEXT offseason.

Unless you’re putting Brown and White on mothballs it’s not happening. Your best chance is to trade him.

I agree.

I was a advocate for trading brown this offseason for a high pick and 2026 offseason capspace.

But since that didnt happen, rest the **** out of those guys all season long.

[Fierce1]

He got off of Jrue's contract. It's already a win regardless of what happens with Simons.

Compare that to Brad giving OKC a 1st rnd pick so that OKC will absorb Kemba's contract in 2021.

That 2021 Celtics 1st rnd pick ended up becoming Alperen Sengun.

If that was the whole trade, we would have lost the trade. But we also got Horford in the trade, who helped us win banner 18 and gave us 4 really good seasons.

Agree.

Just pointing out that the last time Brad wanted out of a bad contract, Brad had to surrender a 1st rnd pick.

[brackdan70]

Amari will be gone in 2 years, Tillman will be gone before the season starts.

Vucevic will be gone in 1 year….

Maybe. But for the minimum, there's very little risk. And the reward is big if Vooch somehow likes Boston and buys into the idea of competing for a title when Tatum is back, and you can convince him to re-sign for a team-friendly extension. Then you've got your KP replacement -- less shotblocking but more rebounding, but also more durable and cheaper.

He will be 36 years old to start the 26/27 season.
If we can get him on a minimum that year and he can contribute then great. No need for him this year. We need to get minutes for the younger guys, mainly Queta.

[brackdan70]

Compare that to Brad giving OKC a 1st rnd pick so that OKC will absorb Kemba's contract in 2021.

That 2021 Celtics 1st rnd pick ended up becoming Alperen Sengun.

If that was the whole trade, we would have lost the trade. But we also got Horford in the trade, who helped us win banner 18 and gave us 4 really good seasons.

Agree.

Just pointing out that the last time Brad wanted out of a bad contract, Brad had to surrender a 1st rnd pick.

That wasn't really getting out of a bad contract though. It was trading for a better player, it cost a pick. Celtics also received a 2nd and Moses Brown(who they traded for Josh Richardson)

[Celts17Pride]

Vucevic will be gone in 1 year….

Maybe. But for the minimum, there's very little risk. And the reward is big if Vooch somehow likes Boston and buys into the idea of competing for a title when Tatum is back, and you can convince him to re-sign for a team-friendly extension. Then you've got your KP replacement -- less shotblocking but more rebounding, but also more durable and cheaper.

He will be 36 years old to start the 26/27 season.
If we can get him on a minimum that year and he can contribute then great. No need for him this year. We need to get minutes for the younger guys, mainly Queta.

What you are basically saying is winning is not important this year. Not saying that is wrong or right. People just need to say it like it is. If the Celtics go into the season with Queta, Garza, A Wiliams and Tillman then they are telling the world their intent is to win as little games as possible. Again, I'm not saying that is wrong, just stop pretending for it to be something different.

To say Nikola Vucevic wouldn't help when you are throwing Queta, Garza, A Williams and Tillman out there is just ridiculous. It wouldn't help if your goal is to lose games. Again, I'm not saying that is wrong.

[31to6]

Who are some players who you would like as the Celtics next center? Not necessarily this year but for a title run when Tatum comes back.

Sabonis makes a lot of sense to me as he’s in the west (meaning his team would be more open to dealing him to Boston) and has the talent needed. I would prefer a more defensive oriented center but talent is the most important thing and the Celtics aren’t in a position to be picky as you don’t want to waste a year of Tatum’s prime without a legit big man.

Gobert / Minni situation is something I am definitely monitoring. Gobert is the ideal guy to put next to White Simons Brown Tatum lineup. It would be an expensive lineup but we should be title favorites. Championships cost $$$. Gobert makes 35 next year, 36.5 the following year and has a player option the following year.

Dallas has a lot of front court talent. Is Flagg a 3? Does a Flagg Davis Center front court have enough shooting? I’m hoping the answers are Flagg is a 4, Mavs slide Davis to the 5 and one of Lively Gafford becomes available. They’re both the right age and on reasonable contracts.

Utah with Markanen and Kessler is interesting. Lauri has the talent, is the right age but playing him at center is going to put a real ceiling on a teams defensive potential.

My favorite scenario from the above is the Dallas one and the Celtics getting Lively.

I would love Bam but I don’t see Miami/Riley trading him to Boston

Sabonis and Gobert are too expensive.
Lively would be great, Gafford a maybe, Kessler would be alright.
I’d like to see how Queta progresses given more PT first…same for Garza.

Always wanted it to be Bam, but now agree Heat and Cs never do that deal, and also Bam is a dirty ****
So my new hope is that MEM kinda goes sideways for a while and trades us JJJ for Jaylen at some point. They need to include more salary and we need to include pick(s), but I think he'd be awesome next to White and Tatum -- as long as he rebounds and limits his fouls.

[GreenBlooded]

Maybe. But for the minimum, there's very little risk. And the reward is big if Vooch somehow likes Boston and buys into the idea of competing for a title when Tatum is back, and you can convince him to re-sign for a team-friendly extension. Then you've got your KP replacement -- less shotblocking but more rebounding, but also more durable and cheaper.

He will be 36 years old to start the 26/27 season.
If we can get him on a minimum that year and he can contribute then great. No need for him this year. We need to get minutes for the younger guys, mainly Queta.

What you are basically saying is winning is not important this year. Not saying that is wrong or right. People just need to say it like it is. If the Celtics go into the season with Queta, Garza, A Wiliams and Tillman then they are telling the world their intent is to win as little games as possible. Again, I'm not saying that is wrong, just stop pretending for it to be something different.

To say Nikola Vucevic wouldn't help when you are throwing Queta, Garza, A Williams and Tillman out there is just ridiculous. It wouldn't help if your goal is to lose games. Again, I'm not saying that is wrong.

You're conflating "winning isn't important this year" with "their intent is to win as little games as possible". Those are not the same thing.

[Celts17Pride]

He will be 36 years old to start the 26/27 season.
If we can get him on a minimum that year and he can contribute then great. No need for him this year. We need to get minutes for the younger guys, mainly Queta.

What you are basically saying is winning is not important this year. Not saying that is wrong or right. People just need to say it like it is. If the Celtics go into the season with Queta, Garza, A Wiliams and Tillman then they are telling the world their intent is to win as little games as possible. Again, I'm not saying that is wrong, just stop pretending for it to be something different.

To say Nikola Vucevic wouldn't help when you are throwing Queta, Garza, A Williams and Tillman out there is just ridiculous. It wouldn't help if your goal is to lose games. Again, I'm not saying that is wrong.

You're conflating "winning isn't important this year" with "their intent is to win as little games as possible". Those are not the same thing.

I agree they are different but the results will be similar. Brad Stevens knows throwing this team out there as currently constructed that they won't win many games. Celtics are too good to reach the bottom, but will easily be a play-in team. That's why Stevens won't add to this team and risk the play-in. You won't see Bassey, Vucevic or anyone else for that matter. Celtics with 100% effort will be a bottom 10 defense easily and may be bottom 5 defense.

[165bows]

I don’t think they need to worry about finding minutes for Queta or whoever there are currently minutes galore at the C position.

[fallguy]

I like the idea of rolling out Vucevic and Simons in the starting lineup. Let's build a lottery level defense.

[Celts17Pride]

I like the idea of rolling out Vucevic and Simons in the starting lineup. Let's build a lottery level defense.

Celtics going to have one anyways.

[brackdan70]

He will be 36 years old to start the 26/27 season.
If we can get him on a minimum that year and he can contribute then great. No need for him this year. We need to get minutes for the younger guys, mainly Queta.

What you are basically saying is winning is not important this year. Not saying that is wrong or right. People just need to say it like it is. If the Celtics go into the season with Queta, Garza, A Wiliams and Tillman then they are telling the world their intent is to win as little games as possible. Again, I'm not saying that is wrong, just stop pretending for it to be something different.

To say Nikola Vucevic wouldn't help when you are throwing Queta, Garza, A Williams and Tillman out there is just ridiculous. It wouldn't help if your goal is to lose games. Again, I'm not saying that is wrong.

You're conflating "winning isn't important this year" with "their intent is to win as little games as possible". Those are not the same thing.

Exactly.
Brad has said they are looking to 26/27 when Tatum is back. This year is about setting the Celtics up for that. Vuc does nothing to help except take PT away from Queta.
Like I said if he is still kickin’ and able to contribute I have no problem bringing him on at a minimum in 26/27, but at least for it makes no sense this year.
I’d wager that Queta puts up better impact metrics this season than Vuc. He’s just waiting to break out.