Free Agent/Trade/Waiver Thread, 2025-26, part 2

[brackdan70]

Rondae Hollis Jefferson.
He is 30 yo. Been playing internationally for last 3 years.
I thought he was a solid player when in the league. Defense first guy, great athlete. Not a great outside shooter. Looking to get back in the league.
Idk if he is worth a camp invite.

[Hal14]

Rondae Hollis Jefferson.
He is 30 yo. Been playing internationally for last 3 years.
I thought he was a solid player when in the league. Defense first guy, great athlete. Not a great outside shooter. Looking to get back in the league.
Idk if he is worth a camp invite.

We don't have anymore camp invites to give.

We're at the maximum 21 guys already:

[jmr07019]

Id still take Lonnie Walker over 8-10 of the 21 guys coming to camp

[Curmudgeon]

I'd take Kenneth Lofton Jr. over Lonnie Walker.

[phincsfan]

Not in the short run. But if the mediocrity continues, it will. The failed Pitino regime certainly helped Grousbeck & Co. to purchase the franchise in 2002 for the bargain price of $360M.

I'm trying to get a more detailed list, but the Cavs were bought by Gilbert in 05' for 375mil, Cuban bought the Mavs in 2000 for 285mil, Suns were bought by Sarver in o4' for 401mil and the Sonics were bought in 06' for 350mil.

360mil seems close to the going rate back then.

None of those other teams had 16 championships and international brand recognition. The Celtics did.

The days of wealthy people buying teams based on the love for the sport or organization like the Steinbrenners, Jerry Jones or Al Davis are long gone. Franchises are like monopoly spaces for the uber rich. Nothing but status symbols now. Obviously they want to win, but in the end they'll turn a profit somehow.

[Curmudgeon]

No, the game is to use losses from the franchise to offset gains in other profitable ventures, and then to sell the franchise for more than you paid for it.

[Parliament10]

I'd take Kenneth Lofton Jr. over Lonnie Walker.

I'll see your Kenny Lofton, and raise you a Charles Bassey.

[Curmudgeon]

I'd take Kenneth Lofton Jr. over Lonnie Walker.

I'll see your Kenny Lofton, and raise you a Charles Bassey.

I'll take either of them over Lonnie Walker. Lonnie had his chance to be a Celtic and didn't impress anyone.

[Hal14]

I'd take Kenneth Lofton Jr. over Lonnie Walker.

I'll see your Kenny Lofton, and raise you a Charles Bassey.

I'll take either of them over Lonnie Walker. Lonnie had his chance to be a Celtic and didn't impress anyone.

At least Lonnie is good enough for a professional basketball team to sign him. Walker signed with a EuroLeague team awhile ago. Bassey and Loften are jobless - even though all 30 NBA teams, all 30 g league teams and the dozens of overseas pro teams have had all offseason to sign them.

[Parliament10]

I'll see your Kenny Lofton, and raise you a Charles Bassey.

I'll take either of them over Lonnie Walker. Lonnie had his chance to be a Celtic and didn't impress anyone.

At least Lonnie is good enough for a professional basketball team to sign him. Walker signed with a EuroLeague team awhile ago. Bassey and Loften are jobless - even though all 30 NBA teams, all 30 g league teams and the dozens of overseas pro teams have had all offseason to sign them.

Not so sure that Lofton and Bassey want to be overseas?
Even Walker has 2 NBA Outs in his Contract.

[Parliament10]

Rondae Hollis Jefferson.
He is 30 yo. Been playing internationally for last 3 years.
I thought he was a solid player when in the league. Defense first guy, great athlete. Not a great outside shooter. Looking to get back in the league.
Idk if he is worth a camp invite.

We don't have anymore camp invites to give.

We're at the maximum 21 guys already:

Don't like this 21 Max Roster limit. It should be 25 for the Offseason.
Something like up to 5 x Two-Ways and 8 x Exhibit-10's.

NBPA and the NBA need to adjust the CBA, to accommodate it's Minor League. Elsewise, why have one?

[Hal14]

t minus 2 days until Simons is no longer a celtic.

I'm not really seeing the logic here.

a) 2 days until he's eligible to be aggregated with another celtic player's salary in order to acquire a player who makes more $ than Simons (Simons + X player's salary = acquire a player making more $ than Simons) but that seems unlikely since all of our moves this offseason have been acquiring players who make significantly *less* than the player we sent out in the deal.

Trading for a player who makes more $ than Simons seems very counterintuitive to what Brad has been trying to do all summer - slash payroll and get under tax/aprons.

If we're trading for a player(s) who make less $ than Simons, then we wouldn't be aggregating Simons contract with another Celtics players contract to acquire a more expensive player. A Simons trade would likely be Simons in exchange for 1 (or more) smaller contracts. Which is something we can do now..we don't have to wait till Sept 7 to do that.

b) Even if there was a deal we wanted to do but had to wait till Sept 7, we could announce the trade now and just wait till 9/7 for it to be made official by the league, which is what we did with the Jrue trade and what has happened with tons of trades in the past where it's announced 2-10 days before it can be made official..

[Curmudgeon]

I think they've tried hard to trade Simons but failed. I expect him to be around until the deadline.

[Celts17Pride]

t minus 2 days until Simons is no longer a celtic.

I'm not really seeing the logic here.

a) 2 days until he's eligible to be aggregated with another celtic player's salary in order to acquire a player who makes more $ than Simons (Simons + X player's salary = acquire a player making more $ than Simons) but that seems unlikely since all of our moves this offseason have been acquiring players who make significantly *less* than the player we sent out in the deal.

Trading for a player who makes more $ than Simons seems very counterintuitive to what Brad has been trying to do all summer - slash payroll and get under tax/aprons.

If we're trading for a player(s) who make less $ than Simons, then we wouldn't be aggregating Simons contract with another Celtics players contract to acquire a more expensive player. A Simons trade would likely be Simons in exchange for 1 (or more) smaller contracts. Which is something we can do now..we don't have to wait till Sept 7 to do that.

b) Even if there was a deal we wanted to do but had to wait till Sept 7, we could announce the trade now and just wait till 9/7 for it to be made official by the league, which is what we did with the Jrue trade and what has happened with tons of trades in the past where it's announced 2-10 days before it can be made official..

Hal,

We all are just going to have to wait and find out. A lot of your post makes no sense. One possible trade could be Simons and Tillman to Charlotte for Grant Williams and Connaughton. I'm not saying do that trade or saying I would do that trade. It's just an example. In that example the Celtics have to wait until Sep 7th for Simons and the Hornets need to wait until Sep 6th for Connaughton.

In other words, everyone just has to wait.

As I mentioned last week, if Simons makes it past say Sep 10th then it's probably a great chance he starts the season with the Celtics. We all will just have to wait to find out.

Brad Stevens doesn't announce deals unless they are officially completed.

[Hal14]

t minus 2 days until Simons is no longer a celtic.

I'm not really seeing the logic here.

a) 2 days until he's eligible to be aggregated with another celtic player's salary in order to acquire a player who makes more $ than Simons (Simons + X player's salary = acquire a player making more $ than Simons) but that seems unlikely since all of our moves this offseason have been acquiring players who make significantly *less* than the player we sent out in the deal.

Trading for a player who makes more $ than Simons seems very counterintuitive to what Brad has been trying to do all summer - slash payroll and get under tax/aprons.

If we're trading for a player(s) who make less $ than Simons, then we wouldn't be aggregating Simons contract with another Celtics players contract to acquire a more expensive player. A Simons trade would likely be Simons in exchange for 1 (or more) smaller contracts. Which is something we can do now..we don't have to wait till Sept 7 to do that.

b) Even if there was a deal we wanted to do but had to wait till Sept 7, we could announce the trade now and just wait till 9/7 for it to be made official by the league, which is what we did with the Jrue trade and what has happened with tons of trades in the past where it's announced 2-10 days before it can be made official..

Hal,

We all are just going to have to wait and find out. A lot of your post makes no sense. One possible trade could be Simons and Tillman to Charlotte for Grant Williams and Connaughton. I'm not saying do that trade or saying I would do that trade. It's just an example. In that example the Celtics have to wait until Sep 7th for Simons and the Hornets need to wait until Sep 6th for Connaughton.

In other words, everyone just has to wait.

As I mentioned last week, if Simons makes it past say Sep 10th then it's probably a great chance he starts the season with the Celtics. We all will just have to wait to find out.

Brad Stevens doesn't announce deals unless they are officially completed.

I think you're misunderstanding my post.

I'm certainly well aware that there are *some* trade scenarios that would have to wait till Sept 7 to be official with the league.

I was simply responding to Larry Russell's post..which seemed to imply that *every single* possible Simons trade scenario was dependent on this magic Sept 7 date when he will be eligible to be aggregated in a trade.

I'm simply saying that is not the case.

Also, Simons makes more $ than Grant + Connaughton so Tillman serves no purpose being in that deal. So that deal could be league official as soon as 9/6. Larry Russell was implying that all Simons' deals had to wait till 9/7 though. And plus, if Boston and Charlotte wanted to do that deal it could be announced today (or yesterday or the day before, etc) and then it would just wait till 9/6 to be league official.

Lastly, here's a few examples (there's probably more) where Brad made a trade, it was announced via the media before it could be made official by the league:

1) Porzingis/Smart trade. Media broke it June 21..it became official June 23

2) Jrue traded from BOS to POR. Media broke it 6/23, but it became official on 7/7, a full 2 weeks later

3) Porzingis traded from BOS to ATL. Media broke it 6/24, but it became official on 7/7

4) Media broke the Niang trade to Utah 8/5 but it became official the next day on 8/6

5) we traded a pick in 2023 that turned out to be Marcus Sasser - he went to the Pistons. Trade was on draft night - June 22 but didn't become official until June 28.

Nobody even thought Brad was allowed to make a trade while the playoffs were still going on..yet he flipped Kemba for Al before the NBA finals even began.

Brad doesn't wait around. If he has a deal in place - he makes it happen and it gets announced by the media.

[GoCeltics123]

Read on Twitter

He clarified he meant 2026-27

[djFan71]

Red meat since it's boring out here:

BOS: Robert Williams, K Love
UTA: KCP, X, 27 BOS 1st (lotto protected converts to 2 2nds)
POR: SloMo, Landale, MEM 2nd(s)
MEM: Simons

BOS ducks the tax and gets Rob back. Love / X exchange is for finances on UTA end, but we still get below the line.
UTA gets a first for taking on bad salary.
POR gets a 2nd or two for their 3rd string center
MEM gets scoring and expiring salary.

From a T&T thread where I tweaked redslastlaugh's idea and probably made it too unpalatable.

I know people will say "I'm not trading a first to save hedge fund guys money". But the first is for the year Tatum's fully back and we reload next summer before it. And the savings make reloading more feasible. So, substitute Baylor or Hugo type in there and see if that feels any better. And, yes, I know there's variance and we could get a star at that pick, blah, blah...

tbf, I'm actually torn on if I'd do it. But wanted to toss it out there.

[Fierce1]

Red meat since it's boring out here:

BOS: Robert Williams, K Love
UTA: KCP, X, 27 BOS 1st (lotto protected converts to 2 2nds)
POR: SloMo, Landale, MEM 2nd(s)
MEM: Simons

BOS ducks the tax and gets Rob back. Love / X exchange is for finances on UTA end, but we still get below the line.
UTA gets a first for taking on bad salary.
POR gets a few 2nds for their 3rd string center
MEM gets scoring and expiring salary.

From a T&T thread where I tweaked redslastlaugh's idea and probably made it too unpalatable.

I know people will say "I'm not trading a first to save hedge fund guys money". But the first is for the year Tatum's fully back and we reload next summer before it. And the savings make reloading more feasible. So, substitute Baylor or Hugo type in there and see if that feels any better. And, yes, I know there's variance and we could get a star at that pick, blah, blah...

If it's just about ducking the tax then Simons would've been traded a long time ago.

That trade is very bad for the Cs.
Not only are the Cs taking back a player who's always injured, the Cs also end up wasting a 1st round pick.

Again, if the Cs are willing to send a 1st round pick just to get rid of Simons, the trade would have happened last July.

[djFan71]

Red meat since it's boring out here:

BOS: Robert Williams, K Love
UTA: KCP, X, 27 BOS 1st (lotto protected converts to 2 2nds)
POR: SloMo, Landale, MEM 2nd(s)
MEM: Simons

BOS ducks the tax and gets Rob back. Love / X exchange is for finances on UTA end, but we still get below the line.
UTA gets a first for taking on bad salary.
POR gets a few 2nds for their 3rd string center
MEM gets scoring and expiring salary.

From a T&T thread where I tweaked redslastlaugh's idea and probably made it too unpalatable.

I know people will say "I'm not trading a first to save hedge fund guys money". But the first is for the year Tatum's fully back and we reload next summer before it. And the savings make reloading more feasible. So, substitute Baylor or Hugo type in there and see if that feels any better. And, yes, I know there's variance and we could get a star at that pick, blah, blah...

If it's just about ducking the tax then Simons would've been traded a long time ago.

That trade is very bad for the Cs.
Not only are the Cs taking back a player who's always injured, the Cs also end up wasting a 1st round pick.

Again, if the Cs are willing to send a 1st round pick just to get rid of Simons, the trade would have happened last July.

I hate that argument, lol. Trades happen on their own timeline. Brad may not have wanted to in July, but comes to the realization he does by Sept. Or other teams weren't ready. Plenty of reasons why "it would have happened by now" is just not a thing.

But, I agree it's a harsh price. Like I said, I'm not sure I'd do it. Probably too nostalgic for Rob, lol. For people who think Tatum could be back in the spring, I think that's a better team to integrate him back into. Assuming health of course, which is a HUGE assumption. And, this season isn't really the point.

I think Rob could be a good 3rd/4th big for 26-27 on, but we could obviously just sign him next summer. Getting back to BOS and playing with the guys again might help sway him, though.

Anyways, you're welcome for the juicy steak to tear in to.

[Fierce1]

Red meat since it's boring out here:

BOS: Robert Williams, K Love
UTA: KCP, X, 27 BOS 1st (lotto protected converts to 2 2nds)
POR: SloMo, Landale, MEM 2nd(s)
MEM: Simons

BOS ducks the tax and gets Rob back. Love / X exchange is for finances on UTA end, but we still get below the line.
UTA gets a first for taking on bad salary.
POR gets a few 2nds for their 3rd string center
MEM gets scoring and expiring salary.

From a T&T thread where I tweaked redslastlaugh's idea and probably made it too unpalatable.

I know people will say "I'm not trading a first to save hedge fund guys money". But the first is for the year Tatum's fully back and we reload next summer before it. And the savings make reloading more feasible. So, substitute Baylor or Hugo type in there and see if that feels any better. And, yes, I know there's variance and we could get a star at that pick, blah, blah...

If it's just about ducking the tax then Simons would've been traded a long time ago.

That trade is very bad for the Cs.
Not only are the Cs taking back a player who's always injured, the Cs also end up wasting a 1st round pick.

Again, if the Cs are willing to send a 1st round pick just to get rid of Simons, the trade would have happened last July.

I hate that argument, lol. Trades happen on their own timeline. Brad may not have wanted to in July, but comes to the realization he does by Sept. Or other teams weren't ready. Plenty of reasons why "it would have happened by now" is just not a thing.

But, I agree it's a harsh price. Like I said, I'm not sure I'd do it. Probably too nostalgic for Rob, lol. For people who think Tatum could be back in the spring, I think that's a better team to integrate him back into. Assuming health of course, which is a HUGE assumption. And, this season isn't really the point.

I think Rob could be a good 3rd/4th big for 26-27 on, but we could obviously just sign him next summer. Getting back to BOS and playing with the guys again might help sway him, though.

Anyways, you're welcome for the juicy steak to tear in to.

Reason why July was the best time to deal Simons is the Cs had multiple options.

Now, it's just the Nets who have significant cap space.

Back in July the Jazz were also a viable option for a Simons salary dump.

And like I said, what's stopping Brad from making a trade now and making it official on Sep. 7?

The Cs traded for Simons on June 24, but it only became official on July 7.
That didn't stop the Cs from announcing they had acquired Simons way before July 7.