Celtics 2025-26, Off-Season/Training Camp Thread

[phincsfan]

I don't see the need to keep Walsh and Tillman around.

4.7mil IMO is a waste for those two.

Without those 2 you have 11 signed. Rock with that rotation. Feet to the fire for Rico and Oooogo'. They realized JD wasn't going to cut it and call me crazy but I had more faith in him than Walsh. And I'm no JD fan.

I actually hope Harper shows up at camp and outplays Walsh. Give him a few a clams.

As raw as the Brit looked, bring him up as many times as they are allowed and see what he got. From what I saw over the summer and a bunch of full Kentucky games I watched, he doesn't make a ton of mistakes which is a good thing. He's mature enough that I bet he doesn't wilt in the bigs.

This roster will give Stevens his first crack at a top 15 pick. It is what it is. Next year they'll be right back to picking in the back end of the draft because a year like this will give positive mileage to Neems, Rico, Ooogo' and Garza. IMO, that's important going forward.

[Fierce1]

I think you underestimate the desire of teams with a real hope of winning it all to go for it at the deadline. That and injuries. I can see many contenders that might have suffered an injury needing a player like Simons. I can also see a team like the spurs, magic or cavs feeling like they are one piece away. Creatively creating cap space to get to a championship is a time-honored tradition.

True.

And right now, the only team that can fully absorb Simons' contract is Brooklyn.

So it's like not there are multiple teams with cap space now.

[playa-hater]

Read on Twitter

So what he is saying is Boston is getting a top 5 pick!!!!! YESSSS!!!

[Fierce1]

I don't see the need to keep Walsh and Tillman around.

4.7mil IMO is a waste for those two.

Without those 2 you have 11 signed. Rock with that rotation. Feet to the fire for Rico and Oooogo'. They realized JD wasn't going to cut it and call me crazy but I had more faith in him than Walsh. And I'm no JD fan.

I actually hope Harper shows up at camp and outplays Walsh. Give him a few a clams.

As raw as the Brit looked, bring him up as many times as they are allowed and see what he got. From what I saw over the summer and a bunch of full Kentucky games I watched, he doesn't make a ton of mistakes which is a good thing. He's mature enough that I bet he doesn't wilt in the bigs.

This roster will give Stevens his first crack at a top 15 pick. It is what it is. Next year they'll be right back to picking in the back end of the draft because a year like this will give positive mileage to Neems, Rico, Ooogo' and Garza. IMO, that's important going forward.

You're underestimating this Celtics team.

[Hal14]

Simons was probably the only deal where Stevens didn't have to take back any money past this year.

Maybe, maybe not. That hasn't been verified yet, to my understanding.

15 minutes after the deal was completed news was out that the Celtics wanted to move Simons.

Is there a specific video, tweet or article you're referring to?

This was the ESPN vid after the trade was announced:

Watch on YouTube

;t=22s

TL/DR for the vid:

Shams: "the celtics are discussing trades with other players on their roster. Porzingis is getting shopped. "Anfernee Simons - he could get interest on the open market. Jaylen Brown and Derrick White are going to get serious interest. The Celtics I'm told prefer not to trade Derrick White and Jaylen Brown"

Bobby Marks "the goal was to get under the 2nd apron. Jrue Holiday was number 1. We're gonna keep an eye on Kristaps Porzingis"

Simons hasn't come off the bench in 3+ years and now news is leaking that Simons shouldn't even think about starting.

What report are you referring to here?

The one by some random Dallas reporter who's Twitter timeline is filled with tweets about the Dallas' WNBA team?

I'm on his twitter page now, trying to find where he tweeted about Pritchard starting but I've been scrolling for awhile now and can't find it..all I see is tweets about Paige Bueckers and the dallas Wings.

I'm still scrolling on his timeline - got to August 9 and still nothing about the Celtics starting lineup from this Dallas reporter.

I do some google searching and find this article by the Dallas reporter on some random, unknown website "Fastbreak Journal"

https://fastbreakjournal.com/boston-celtics-payton-pritchard-start-anfernee-simons-bench-nba-news/

There are zero quotes in the article. There's nothing in it where he quotes Brad or anyone affiliated with the Celtics org. It seems like purely speculation, by a Dallas reporter on a website no one has ever heard of.

And it's also odd that the reporter Grant Afseth didn't tweet out a link to the article.

The article was on August 14. He's tweeted out tons of articles in the past week - pretty much all of them have been about the WNBA..none have been about the Celtics.

So I take this article with a grain of salt.

Will Pritchard start over Simons? Maybe. If he does, it might just be because Pritchard has been here way longer. Or perhaps since Simons is the better scorer, they might want to stagger JB and Simons a bit, so you have JB as the go to scorer for the 1st unit and Simons as the go to scorer for the 2nd unit.

We don't know for sure who's starting or what the rationale is, because we don't have any quotes from anyone affiliated with the Celtics yet.

We probably won't get anything like that till training camp.

The article by Afseth certainly doesn't say anything like "Simons shouldn't even think about starting."

I'm sure JB and White will get plenty of rest days during a bridge year, especially on back to backs..so Simons probably would get some starts here and there.

Simons was a starter in Portland, yes..but they were a very bad team so it shouldn't be that surprising if be comes off the bench as the 6th man here on a better team. That wouldn't necessarily mean that the Celtics don't want him.

Bringing someone off the bench doesn't necessarily mean you don't want them. We brought Horford off the bench after he had been starting for his entire career. We brought D-white off the bench when he first got here. Smart came off the bench quite a bit, so did Time Lord. So did Kevin McHale.

I predict in 3 weeks this will all be over when trade restrictions are lifted. You will see the rumors pick up the beginning of September.

The only thing that will change in September is Simons can be aggregated with another player's contract in a trade in order to match the salary of the player who is being acquired.

So like, the only use case for that would be trading Simons + Player X (like Walsh or Tillman, for example) for a player making like $29mil.

But that seems very unlikely, because the whole point of it if we trade Simons would be to shed payroll, so trading for a guy who makes more $ than Simons does the opposite of that.

[Celts17Pride]

I predict in 3 weeks this will all be over when trade restrictions are lifted. You will see the rumors pick up the beginning of September.

The only thing that will change in September is Simons can be aggregated with another player's contract in a trade in order to match the salary of the player who is being acquired.

So like, the only use case for that would be trading Simons + Player X (like Walsh or Tillman, for example) for a player making like $29mil.

But that seems very unlikely, because the whole point of it if we trade Simons would be to shed payroll, so trading for a guy who makes more $ than Simons does the opposite of that.

Not Celtics, other teams can aggregate players. For example, Pat Connaughton can't be aggregated with another player until Sep 6th.

[bigfoot_cryptozoology]

Read on Twitter

[jmr07019]

My understanding of the CBA is just ok but as I understand it teams that are either hard capped by the first apron or over the first apron cannot aggregate players in a trade. There are 7 teams who can aggregate players in a trade currently.

Brooklyn, GSW, MIL, PHI, OKC, PHX, DEN

Everyone else is either over the first apron or already hard capped by it.

[Gant]

My understanding of the CBA is just ok but as I understand it teams that are either hard capped by the first apron or over the first apron cannot aggregate players in a trade. There are 7 teams who can aggregate players in a trade currently.

Brooklyn, GSW, MIL, PHI, OKC, PHX, DEN

Everyone else is either over the first apron or already hard capped by it.

Only teams over the second apron are prohibited from aggregating salaries.

[playa-hater]

Is it just me? Or does it seem like these Dog days of summer are longer than ever this year??

I mean, how long can we keep talking about Simons??

[31to6]

Is it just me? Or does it seem like these Dog days of summer are longer than ever this year??

I mean, how long can we keep talking about Simons??

longer than they should have been by 2 - 5 weeks

EuroBasket won't save us

But once we get to September, hoops is right around the corner -- keep the faith!

[Fierce1]

Is it just me? Or does it seem like these Dog days of summer are longer than ever this year??

I mean, how long can we keep talking about Simons??

longer than they should have been by 2 - 5 weeks

EuroBasket won't save us

But once we get to September, hoops is right around the corner -- keep the faith!

The Olympics kept us busy last year in August.

September will be a relief because the NFL starts.

[Shak_Celts]

Is it just me? Or does it seem like these Dog days of summer are longer than ever this year??

I mean, how long can we keep talking about Simons??

We were ousted in the 2nd round is the answer. That has been a rare thing for over a decade really.

[playa-hater]

Is it just me? Or does it seem like these Dog days of summer are longer than ever this year??

I mean, how long can we keep talking about Simons??

We were ousted in the 2nd round is the answer. That has been a rare thing for over a decade really.

True Dat

[bigfoot_cryptozoology]

I don't envy the Moderators here, this upcoming season, because the posters are going to be very steamy...

[Bill Lumbergh]

I don't envy the Moderators here, this upcoming season, because the posters are going to be very steamy...

Yeah, if we get half way through the season and we're in play-in territory, there will be a not insignificant number of people who will want us to tank for a better draft pick, and of course, others who want no part of that. You're right, it's gonna get testy. God speed, mods.

[brackdan70]

Read on Twitter

My guess is Tatum is aware of the changes lol.

[brackdan70]

I don't envy the Moderators here, this upcoming season, because the posters are going to be very steamy...

Steamy and maybe a bit spicy.
Our Mods rock!!! I know they are up for the job.

[brackdan70]

Just did some calculations based on projected WS/48 for our players, included some statistically dodgy adjustments with estimated PT and games played.
I am not going to show my work but I have the team as currently constructed with no Tatum getting 48 wins+/- 5.5

[Parliament10]

Just did some calculations based on projected WS/48 for our players, included some statistically dodgy adjustments with estimated PT and games played.
I am not going to show my work but I have the team as currently constructed with no Tatum getting 48 wins+/- 5.5

That was good for 5th Seed in the East last Season.
48 Wins for a Developmental Team, is not too shabby.