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

[djFan71]

Hauser for Dalen Terry if CHI is still in play-in contention by the deadline. Probably get a 2nd after Sam bounces back shooting wise.

Saves BOS $4.6M. That coupled with a Simons move that saves $7.5M (which teams not over aprons can do) gets you under the tax. If you save slightly less on the 2nd deal, you pull the cap shenanigan moves with X and/or Boucher and 10-days.

[Fierce1]

Hauser for Dalen Terry if CHI is still in play-in contention by the deadline. Probably get a 2nd after Sam bounces back shooting wise.

Saves BOS $4.6M. That coupled with a Simons move that saves $7.5M (which teams not over aprons can do) gets you under the tax. If you save slightly less on the 2nd deal, you pull the cap shenanigan moves with X and/or Boucher and 10-days.

That's how low your valuation of Hauser is?

Sam Hauser may not be an All-Star, but he's not trash either.

[djFan71]

Hauser for Dalen Terry if CHI is still in play-in contention by the deadline. Probably get a 2nd after Sam bounces back shooting wise.

Saves BOS $4.6M. That coupled with a Simons move that saves $7.5M (which teams not over aprons can do) gets you under the tax. If you save slightly less on the 2nd deal, you pull the cap shenanigan moves with X and/or Boucher and 10-days.

That's how low your valuation of Hauser is?

Sam Hauser may not be an All-Star, but he's not trash either.

It’s not Sam, it’s the money. And the fact that we have 3 other young wings we can’t find time for. I know we don’t have to duck the tax, but like to explore ways to do it since there are obvious benefits to it. You can just ignore these posts, we know you aren’t a fan of these types of moves.

[Fierce1]

Hauser for Dalen Terry if CHI is still in play-in contention by the deadline. Probably get a 2nd after Sam bounces back shooting wise.

Saves BOS $4.6M. That coupled with a Simons move that saves $7.5M (which teams not over aprons can do) gets you under the tax. If you save slightly less on the 2nd deal, you pull the cap shenanigan moves with X and/or Boucher and 10-days.

That's how low your valuation of Hauser is?

Sam Hauser may not be an All-Star, but he's not trash either.

It’s not Sam, it’s the money. And the fact that we have 3 other young wings we can’t find time for. I know we don’t have to duck the tax, but like to explore ways to do it since there are obvious benefits to it. You can just ignore these posts, we know you aren’t a fan of these types of moves.

Don't worry, this will be over soon.

Brad's next move will settle the debate over the money thing.

[brackdan70]

Hauser for Dalen Terry if CHI is still in play-in contention by the deadline. Probably get a 2nd after Sam bounces back shooting wise.

Saves BOS $4.6M. That coupled with a Simons move that saves $7.5M (which teams not over aprons can do) gets you under the tax. If you save slightly less on the 2nd deal, you pull the cap shenanigan moves with X and/or Boucher and 10-days.

That's how low your valuation of Hauser is?

Sam Hauser may not be an All-Star, but he's not trash either.

Cheaper contract and a second seems pretty realistic. I’d be surprised to get a first back for him.
I’d hope to get a useful player back though.

[brackdan70]

Hauser for Dalen Terry if CHI is still in play-in contention by the deadline. Probably get a 2nd after Sam bounces back shooting wise.

Saves BOS $4.6M. That coupled with a Simons move that saves $7.5M (which teams not over aprons can do) gets you under the tax. If you save slightly less on the 2nd deal, you pull the cap shenanigan moves with X and/or Boucher and 10-days.

That's how low your valuation of Hauser is?

Sam Hauser may not be an All-Star, but he's not trash either.

It’s not Sam, it’s the money. And the fact that we have 3 other young wings we can’t find time for. I know we don’t have to duck the tax, but like to explore ways to do it since there are obvious benefits to it. You can just ignore these posts, we know you aren’t a fan of these types of moves.

I like Sam but I’d like to be developing Walsh, Minott and Gonzalez more.
If we could have Hauser from last year then that’s different . I think his back is really slowing him and it might be time to move on.

[hugepatsfan]

I have no problem with Hauser as a player or his contract in a vacuum. I just look at the math. If we make the assumption that eventually they'll turn Simons' salary slot into a front court player (either via trade this year or letting weak and using Porzingis TPE in the offseason) then the math is pretty clear.

Option 1) Keep Hauser, stay in the tax these next two years and beyond for the rest of Tatum's prime, paying repeater rates

Option 2) Lose Hauser so you can stay under these next two years and reset repeater rates for years beyond that when you go back into the tax

Option 1 will cost an extra couple hundred million for the rest of the Tatum window. And none of it goes to the court, it's the incremental tax payments to other owners that they'd pay based on being taxed at a higher rate. If it's more payroll than ownership is ok paying, Brad's hands are tied and he obviously has to move Hauser to accommodate the starting big. And if ownership is willing to pay it, then great. He should STILL trade Hauser because then he can put that couple hundred million they're willing to spend into the on court product and add more players with the same payroll since the tax rate is lower.

It's the same concept as if someone offered you 3 2032 1st rounders for Hauser. Sure, it makes the team worse now, but it's such an obvious overpay that you'd take it. Paying a couple hundred million in tax payments to other owners to keep Hauser is the same type of disproportional overpayment. Move him, deal with the tolerable loss in the rotation and plan to put a good portion of that hundred million into payroll for your actual players rather than tax payments.

[playa-hater]

If the Only thing Boston received by trading Hauser and getting nothing back is allowing more PT for our 4 young Wings in Minott-Hugo-Walsh-Rico, that alone would make it worth it. Saving some money is an extra Bonus.

There has to be a team/playoff contender who needs and values shooting. Just make it happen Brad.

[Hal14]

Hauser for Dalen Terry if CHI is still in play-in contention by the deadline. Probably get a 2nd after Sam bounces back shooting wise.

Saves BOS $4.6M. That coupled with a Simons move that saves $7.5M (which teams not over aprons can do) gets you under the tax. If you save slightly less on the 2nd deal, you pull the cap shenanigan moves with X and/or Boucher and 10-days.

That's how low your valuation of Hauser is?

Sam Hauser may not be an All-Star, but he's not trash either.

It’s not Sam, it’s the money. And the fact that we have 3 other young wings we can’t find time for. I know we don’t have to duck the tax, but like to explore ways to do it since there are obvious benefits to it. You can just ignore these posts, we know you aren’t a fan of these types of moves.

Sam is on a team friendly contract. Our other wings are getting plenty of playing time - there's more wing mins available with Tatum out..it's a long season..season is just getting started..guys will get hurt, there will be back to backs, Joe is playing a deeper bench this year..and not everyone deserves playing time.

Some guys will play their way in or out of the rotation.

Bottom line, the goal should be to get back to winning championships in the near future.

What benefit is there to ducking the tax besides saving some money for billionaire owners? Don't you have to be under it 2 years in a row to reseat the repeater penalties?

This is a bridge *year*, singular year..we're not punting 2 years in a row in the middle of the Jays' prime which is what we'd be doing if we duck the tax 2 years in a row.

The goal is to get back to chasing titles next season, so I'd rather not give up a good, proven rotation player, and one of the best shooters on the planet who helped us win our last title for a bag of chips.

[hugepatsfan]

That's how low your valuation of Hauser is?

Sam Hauser may not be an All-Star, but he's not trash either.

It’s not Sam, it’s the money. And the fact that we have 3 other young wings we can’t find time for. I know we don’t have to duck the tax, but like to explore ways to do it since there are obvious benefits to it. You can just ignore these posts, we know you aren’t a fan of these types of moves.

Sam is on a team friendly contract. Our other wings are getting plenty of playing time - there's more wing mins available with Tatum out..it's a long season..season is just getting started..guys will get hurt, there will be back to backs, Joe is playing a deeper bench this year..and not everyone deserves playing time.

Some guys will play their way in or out of the rotation.

Bottom line, the goal should be to get back to winning championships in the near future.

What benefit is there to ducking the tax besides saving some money for billionaire owners? Don't you have to be under it 2 years in a row to reseat the repeater penalties?

This is a bridge *year*, singular year..we're not punting 2 years in a row in the middle of the Jays' prime which is what we'd be doing if we duck the tax 2 years in a row.

The goal is to get back to chasing titles next season, so I'd rather not give up a good, proven rotation player, and one of the best shooters on the planet who helped us win our last title for a bag of chips.

Ownership isn't going to give Brad an amount of tax they're willing to pay. They're going to tell him what payroll can be. Payroll includes salary that goes to players and luxury tax that goes to other league owners. They will care about the total cash outflow because that's their bottom line. At repeater rates, more of that budget will go to other league owners compared to players on our roster.

The benefit of resetting the repeater tax has nothing to do saving OUR owners money. Brad can spend what they're willing to spend. That number is what that number is. It will be based on their business model and goals. The benefit of resetting the repeater tax is simply that it allows Brad to spend a much higher amount of that money they're giving him to spend on our roster, making the team better as opposed to sending it to OTHER owners.

If they cleared Hauser this year, they'd still have pretty much the same rotation they've had. Just instead of Hugo/Walsh/Minott/Schierman being 4 guys for 3 spots, all 4 of them are nightly players:

Pritchard / Simons
White / Hugo
Brown / Scheierman
Walsh / Minott
Queta / Garza

You called this a bridge year anyway, so I assume you'd be ok sacrificing a bit for this team if it helped the future.

Next year is when you want to get back to championships you say. They'd have 9 of those 10 guys signed, Simons being the one they don't. That's MORE than offset by Tatum coming back though. So they start with a 10 man rotation of:

White / Pritchard
Brown / Hugo
Walsh / Scheierman
Tatum / Minott
Queta / Garza

They'd have enough space to sign their draft pick, use the $22M Porzingis TPE on a C (or a portion of it and spend the rest on a MLE signing) and fill out with minimum players all while still staying under the tax. So still adding to that team.

They could add all of that and keep Hauser too. That would be better. BUT, that means they stay repeater tax in future years which means a few hundred million of the payroll ownership lets Brad spend will go to other owners instead of making us better on the court. It's the same total cash outflow for them either way. They don't "save money". I just think that for what Hauser brings, they have enough other wing options that it's worth letting him go so they can put that future money into the team. I think that benefits their overall chance of championships during Tatum/Brown/White prime years more than Hauser does, even though it is a rotation player lost. I just think a couple hundred million of players vs. tax payments will get more on court value than Hauser.

[CelticFaninLBC]

I can see Simons and Hauser going to Utah. The Jazz could use the shooting. They're 26st in 3 point %.

Simons & Hauser to Utah
Nurkic and Jalen Wilson to BOS
Slo Mo and draft compensation to BKN

Celtics get under the luxury tax and open up playing time for several young guys, while Garza becomes the 3rd center...

[djFan71]

That's how low your valuation of Hauser is?

Sam Hauser may not be an All-Star, but he's not trash either.

It’s not Sam, it’s the money. And the fact that we have 3 other young wings we can’t find time for. I know we don’t have to duck the tax, but like to explore ways to do it since there are obvious benefits to it. You can just ignore these posts, we know you aren’t a fan of these types of moves.

Sam is on a team friendly contract. Our other wings are getting plenty of playing time - there's more wing mins available with Tatum out..it's a long season..season is just getting started..guys will get hurt, there will be back to backs, Joe is playing a deeper bench this year..and not everyone deserves playing time.

Some guys will play their way in or out of the rotation.

Bottom line, the goal should be to get back to winning championships in the near future.

What benefit is there to ducking the tax besides saving some money for billionaire owners? Don't you have to be under it 2 years in a row to reseat the repeater penalties?

This is a bridge *year*, singular year..we're not punting 2 years in a row in the middle of the Jays' prime which is what we'd be doing if we duck the tax 2 years in a row.

The goal is to get back to chasing titles next season, so I'd rather not give up a good, proven rotation player, and one of the best shooters on the planet who helped us win our last title for a bag of chips.

Everything hpf said. And, 1) moving Sam helps build a contender next year, 2) there's not enough PT now.

I think trading Sam makes sense even if we don't duck that tax next year. It's re-allocating $10M from a position of strength, esp w Tatum back, to our obvious needs up front. I think it helps you build a better team next year. If you can still build that team while resetting the repeater, great, but I think contending next year is the bigger goal. We just need that salary $ to go elsewhere to have the best shot at it.

And, even though it's "saving some money for billionaire owners" this season, that still helps them be more willing to spend next year. The pool of money, though large, is still finite. Not that tough a concept.

As for PT, there's clearly not enough. Hugo isn't playing. Walsh or Minott alternate between games where then play 10-15m max. And that's without Tatum back.

[Hal14]

It’s not Sam, it’s the money. And the fact that we have 3 other young wings we can’t find time for. I know we don’t have to duck the tax, but like to explore ways to do it since there are obvious benefits to it. You can just ignore these posts, we know you aren’t a fan of these types of moves.

Sam is on a team friendly contract. Our other wings are getting plenty of playing time - there's more wing mins available with Tatum out..it's a long season..season is just getting started..guys will get hurt, there will be back to backs, Joe is playing a deeper bench this year..and not everyone deserves playing time.

Some guys will play their way in or out of the rotation.

Bottom line, the goal should be to get back to winning championships in the near future.

What benefit is there to ducking the tax besides saving some money for billionaire owners? Don't you have to be under it 2 years in a row to reseat the repeater penalties?

This is a bridge *year*, singular year..we're not punting 2 years in a row in the middle of the Jays' prime which is what we'd be doing if we duck the tax 2 years in a row.

The goal is to get back to chasing titles next season, so I'd rather not give up a good, proven rotation player, and one of the best shooters on the planet who helped us win our last title for a bag of chips.

Ownership isn't going to give Brad an amount of tax they're willing to pay. They're going to tell him what payroll can be. Payroll includes salary that goes to players and luxury tax that goes to other league owners. They will care about the total cash outflow because that's their bottom line. At repeater rates, more of that budget will go to other league owners compared to players on our roster.

The benefit of resetting the repeater tax has nothing to do saving OUR owners money. Brad can spend what they're willing to spend. That number is what that number is. It will be based on their business model and goals. The benefit of resetting the repeater tax is simply that it allows Brad to spend a much higher amount of that money they're giving him to spend on our roster, making the team better as opposed to sending it to OTHER owners.

If they cleared Hauser this year, they'd still have pretty much the same rotation they've had. Just instead of Hugo/Walsh/Minott/Schierman being 4 guys for 3 spots, all 4 of them are nightly players:

Pritchard / Simons
White / Hugo
Brown / Scheierman
Walsh / Minott
Queta / Garza

You called this a bridge year anyway, so I assume you'd be ok sacrificing a bit for this team if it helped the future.

Next year is when you want to get back to championships you say. They'd have 9 of those 10 guys signed, Simons being the one they don't. That's MORE than offset by Tatum coming back though. So they start with a 10 man rotation of:

White / Pritchard
Brown / Hugo
Walsh / Scheierman
Tatum / Minott
Queta / Garza

They'd have enough space to sign their draft pick, use the $22M Porzingis TPE on a C (or a portion of it and spend the rest on a MLE signing) and fill out with minimum players all while still staying under the tax. So still adding to that team.

They could add all of that and keep Hauser too. That would be better. BUT, that means they stay repeater tax in future years which means a few hundred million of the payroll ownership lets Brad spend will go to other owners instead of making us better on the court. It's the same total cash outflow for them either way. They don't "save money". I just think that for what Hauser brings, they have enough other wing options that it's worth letting him go so they can put that future money into the team. I think that benefits their overall chance of championships during Tatum/Brown/White prime years more than Hauser does, even though it is a rotation player lost. I just think a couple hundred million of players vs. tax payments will get more on court value than Hauser.

that's not a championship team. While it might sound nice in the land of ponies, unicorns and rainbows to have your cake and eat it too - duck the tax for 2 years in a row and still compete for a championship in 26-27, in reality the teams that win championships are the teams that spend - a lot.

Signing some MLE guy and using our TPE for a quality C are things that are easier said than done. Teams aren't going to just hand over a good C to us who fits perfectly into that TPE.

Walsh, Scheierman, HUgo and Minott have promise but none of them are proven playoff performers - Hauser is.

The team you outlined above only has 4 proven playoff performers on it - Tatum, Brown, White, Pritchard. That's probably not good enough. That roster you outlined also has 10 guys but only 4 of them are guys we know for sure can shoot a basketball..

[tfribs45]

That's how low your valuation of Hauser is?

Sam Hauser may not be an All-Star, but he's not trash either.

It’s not Sam, it’s the money. And the fact that we have 3 other young wings we can’t find time for. I know we don’t have to duck the tax, but like to explore ways to do it since there are obvious benefits to it. You can just ignore these posts, we know you aren’t a fan of these types of moves.

Sam is on a team friendly contract. Our other wings are getting plenty of playing time - there's more wing mins available with Tatum out..it's a long season..season is just getting started..guys will get hurt, there will be back to backs, Joe is playing a deeper bench this year..and not everyone deserves playing time.

Some guys will play their way in or out of the rotation.

Bottom line, the goal should be to get back to winning championships in the near future.

What benefit is there to ducking the tax besides saving some money for billionaire owners? Don't you have to be under it 2 years in a row to reseat the repeater penalties?

This is a bridge *year*, singular year..we're not punting 2 years in a row in the middle of the Jays' prime which is what we'd be doing if we duck the tax 2 years in a row.

The goal is to get back to chasing titles next season, so I'd rather not give up a good, proven rotation player, and one of the best shooters on the planet who helped us win our last title for a bag of chips.

exactly, IDK why everyone's so worried about the owners money?! Develop as much as possible, add and subtract a few at the deadline or buyout market and game on once JT's back....

[Hal14]

It’s not Sam, it’s the money. And the fact that we have 3 other young wings we can’t find time for. I know we don’t have to duck the tax, but like to explore ways to do it since there are obvious benefits to it. You can just ignore these posts, we know you aren’t a fan of these types of moves.

Sam is on a team friendly contract. Our other wings are getting plenty of playing time - there's more wing mins available with Tatum out..it's a long season..season is just getting started..guys will get hurt, there will be back to backs, Joe is playing a deeper bench this year..and not everyone deserves playing time.

Some guys will play their way in or out of the rotation.

Bottom line, the goal should be to get back to winning championships in the near future.

What benefit is there to ducking the tax besides saving some money for billionaire owners? Don't you have to be under it 2 years in a row to reseat the repeater penalties?

This is a bridge *year*, singular year..we're not punting 2 years in a row in the middle of the Jays' prime which is what we'd be doing if we duck the tax 2 years in a row.

The goal is to get back to chasing titles next season, so I'd rather not give up a good, proven rotation player, and one of the best shooters on the planet who helped us win our last title for a bag of chips.

Everything hpf said. And, 1) moving Sam helps build a contender next year, 2) there's not enough PT now.

I think trading Sam makes sense even if we don't duck that tax next year. It's re-allocating $10M from a position of strength, esp w Tatum back, to our obvious needs up front. I think it helps you build a better team next year. If you can still build that team while resetting the repeater, great, but I think contending next year is the bigger goal. We just need that salary $ to go elsewhere to have the best shot at it.

And, even though it's "saving some money for billionaire owners" this season, that still helps them be more willing to spend next year. The pool of money, though large, is still finite. Not that tough a concept.

As for PT, there's clearly not enough. Hugo isn't playing. Walsh or Minott alternate between games where then play 10-15m max. And that's without Tatum back.

1) We seem to be talking in circles a bit here I already explained why I think there is enough playing time for Walsh/Baylor/Minott/Hugo. But I would just add that Hugo is currently 20th in total mins this season among rookies. Not bad at all for the 28th pick..also factor in Hugo is only 19 (so plenty of time for him to develop, no rush or urgency to spoon feed him mins every game)..among players who were age 19 or 18 on draft night, Hugo has played more mins than basically everyone except Flagg (1st pick), Fears (7th pick( and Tre Johnson (6th pick). 

2) Sure it sounds nice in theory to wave a magic wand, trade Hauser and reallocate his money to a part of the roster where we need more talent..in a perfect world, sure, of course, go for it. But it's not a perfect world. Hauser was on the trade block all summer yet he's still a Celtic. If a scenario you're describing was possible, chances are it would have happened by now.

Who is this mythical center you're suggesting we acquire? How are we going to get him? Other teams know we need a center..they're not gonna just hand one over to us. Quality bigs are hard to find - so teams usually hang onto them when they get them.

Again, if we can flip Sam and use his $ for an awesome center, great. I'm not debating that. I'm just saying that is easier said than done. Therefore I think it's more helpful if the people who suggest this path offer a realistic move(s) that actually accomplishes this.

If we're not able to make a move like that happen, I think the best solution may be to play Tatum at center..

https://thecenterhub.substack.com/p/starting-at-center-for-the-boston

Also keep in mind how important shooting is in the modern NBA and how important it is to win championships. If we trade Sam and just get some non-shooting center like Gafford, I'm not liking our title chances. When we won the 2024 title, all 8 of our top rotation guys could shoot. If we trade Sam, let Simons walk and don't replace them with any shooters, we likely won't have enough shooting to win a title. It would just be the Jays, White and Pritchard and that's it for shooters. And White's shooting is down this season..he's on the wrong side of 30 now so his shooting might continue to decline and the Jays can be inconsistent shooters as well.

During his career, Hauser has been one of the best shooters on the planet.

We also won the title with 2 shooting bigs (Al, KP) and now we have none. That problem is exacerbated by moving Sam without replacing him with a shooter.,.not to mention losing Simons and not replacing him with a shooter.

[djFan71]

It’s not Sam, it’s the money. And the fact that we have 3 other young wings we can’t find time for. I know we don’t have to duck the tax, but like to explore ways to do it since there are obvious benefits to it. You can just ignore these posts, we know you aren’t a fan of these types of moves.

Sam is on a team friendly contract. Our other wings are getting plenty of playing time - there's more wing mins available with Tatum out..it's a long season..season is just getting started..guys will get hurt, there will be back to backs, Joe is playing a deeper bench this year..and not everyone deserves playing time.

Some guys will play their way in or out of the rotation.

Bottom line, the goal should be to get back to winning championships in the near future.

What benefit is there to ducking the tax besides saving some money for billionaire owners? Don't you have to be under it 2 years in a row to reseat the repeater penalties?

This is a bridge *year*, singular year..we're not punting 2 years in a row in the middle of the Jays' prime which is what we'd be doing if we duck the tax 2 years in a row.

The goal is to get back to chasing titles next season, so I'd rather not give up a good, proven rotation player, and one of the best shooters on the planet who helped us win our last title for a bag of chips.

exactly, IDK why everyone's so worried about the owners money?! Develop as much as possible, add and subtract a few at the deadline or buyout market and game on once JT's back....

Forget tax and owner's willingness to pay it or not. With the aprons, there is a very real cap on what the 26-27 team total salary will be. Can we agree on that? If so, would you rather $10M of that goes to a 5th tall wing (Tatum, Hauser, Minott, Walsh, Hugo) or to a big?

[Hal14]

Sam is on a team friendly contract. Our other wings are getting plenty of playing time - there's more wing mins available with Tatum out..it's a long season..season is just getting started..guys will get hurt, there will be back to backs, Joe is playing a deeper bench this year..and not everyone deserves playing time.

Some guys will play their way in or out of the rotation.

Bottom line, the goal should be to get back to winning championships in the near future.

What benefit is there to ducking the tax besides saving some money for billionaire owners? Don't you have to be under it 2 years in a row to reseat the repeater penalties?

This is a bridge *year*, singular year..we're not punting 2 years in a row in the middle of the Jays' prime which is what we'd be doing if we duck the tax 2 years in a row.

The goal is to get back to chasing titles next season, so I'd rather not give up a good, proven rotation player, and one of the best shooters on the planet who helped us win our last title for a bag of chips.

exactly, IDK why everyone's so worried about the owners money?! Develop as much as possible, add and subtract a few at the deadline or buyout market and game on once JT's back....

Forget tax and owner's willingness to pay it or not. With the aprons, there is a very real cap on what the 26-27 team total salary will be. Can we agree on that? If so, would you rather $10M of that goes to a 5th tall wing (Tatum, Hauser, Minott, Walsh, Hugo) or to a big?

1) Obviously the big. Nobody is debating otherwise.

But who is the big and how are we getting him? Without filling in those blanks, it's just a hope and pray, it's just noise.

2) You say that as if all of those wings play the same position, like you can't play more than 1 of them on the floor together. As if it's like the quarterback position in football, where only 1 of them can play at a time. All 5 of those guys could play at the same time. Tatum can play small ball 5 (defensively), Minott can play small ball 5. Tatum and Brown can bring the ball up the floor as the 1. Minott, Hauser, Brown, Walsh and Tatum can play the 4. All of these guys can play the 3. Tatum, Brown and Hugo can play the 2. 2025 is the era of positionless basketball.

Plus between Hugo, Minott and Walsh, they're all very suspect shooters. If this team is contending for a championship, we're probably only playing 1 of them in the regular 8 man rotation - if that. When we won the title in 2024, we didn't have any non-shooters in the 8 man rotation. But now we're looking at probably having Queta in there so that makes it even more important that we have enough shooting at the other positions.

I think it's possible that come playoff time 2027, only 1 of those guys (Walsh, Hugo, Minott) is still on the roster. Or maybe 2 of them are still here but only 1 is in the rotation with the other one as a deeper bench type guy..just filling in here and there when needed as like a 10th/11th man.

Point is, when we're back to contending for titles, there likely is not going to be a lot of playing time for non-shooters. These guys can fight, scratch, claw and compete for mins this season during a bridge year to see which of them (if any) are worth keeping around for when we are back to chasing titles in the 2027 playoffs..but Hauser being a shooter who just helped us win a title should be prioritized imo.

[Half-Full]

I have no problem with Hauser as a player or his contract in a vacuum. I just look at the math. If we make the assumption that eventually they'll turn Simons' salary slot into a front court player (either via trade this year or letting weak and using Porzingis TPE in the offseason) then the math is pretty clear.

Option 1) Keep Hauser, stay in the tax these next two years and beyond for the rest of Tatum's prime, paying repeater rates

Option 2) Lose Hauser so you can stay under these next two years and reset repeater rates for years beyond that when you go back into the tax

Option 1 will cost an extra couple hundred million for the rest of the Tatum window. And none of it goes to the court, it's the incremental tax payments to other owners that they'd pay based on being taxed at a higher rate. If it's more payroll than ownership is ok paying, Brad's hands are tied and he obviously has to move Hauser to accommodate the starting big. And if ownership is willing to pay it, then great. He should STILL trade Hauser because then he can put that couple hundred million they're willing to spend into the on court product and add more players with the same payroll since the tax rate is lower.

It's the same concept as if someone offered you 3 2032 1st rounders for Hauser. Sure, it makes the team worse now, but it's such an obvious overpay that you'd take it. Paying a couple hundred million in tax payments to other owners to keep Hauser is the same type of disproportional overpayment. Move him, deal with the tolerable loss in the rotation and plan to put a good portion of that hundred million into payroll for your actual players rather than tax payments.

As much as I like Hauser, your breakdown makes a lot of sense, and trading Hauser would also free up more minutes to develop our young players.

[Hal14]

This is a legit championship contender imo:

C Tatum
F Brown
F Hauser
G White
G Pritchard

6th man: Simons
backup big: Queta / Ngongba (1st round pick)
8th man: whoever emerges as the best option among Hugo/Baylor/Minott/Walsh

And we aren't having to rely on other teams to help us out by trading good players to us and we're not hoping/praying that really good players sign here for the MLE. We have less control with that kind of stuff..it's easier said than done.

This is simply keeping our team together, developing our guys, getting Tatum back healthy, resigning Simons to a team friendly deal and drafting a good center in like the 10-17 range..

[djFan71]

exactly, IDK why everyone's so worried about the owners money?! Develop as much as possible, add and subtract a few at the deadline or buyout market and game on once JT's back....

Forget tax and owner's willingness to pay it or not. With the aprons, there is a very real cap on what the 26-27 team total salary will be. Can we agree on that? If so, would you rather $10M of that goes to a 5th tall wing (Tatum, Hauser, Minott, Walsh, Hugo) or to a big?

1) Obviously the big. Nobody is debating otherwise.

But who is the big and how are we getting him? Without filling in those blanks, it's just a hope and pray, it's just noise.

2) You say that as if all of those wings play the same position, like you can't play more than 1 of them on the floor together. As if it's like the quarterback position in football, where only 1 of them can play at a time. All 5 of those guys could play at the same time. Tatum can play small ball 5 (defensively), Minott can play small ball 5. Tatum and Brown can bring the ball up the floor as the 1. Minott, Hauser, Brown, Walsh and Tatum can play the 4. All of these guys can play the 3. Tatum, Brown and Hugo can play the 2. 2025 is the era of positionless basketball.

Plus between Hugo, Minott and Walsh, they're all very suspect shooters. If this team is contending for a championship, we're probably only playing 1 of them in the regular 8 man rotation - if that. When we won the title in 2024, we didn't have any non-shooters in the 8 man rotation. But now we're looking at probably having Queta in there so that makes it even more important that we have enough shooting at the other positions.

I think it's possible that come playoff time 2027, only 1 of those guys (Walsh, Hugo, Minott) is still on the roster. Or maybe 2 of them are still here but only 1 is in the rotation with the other one as a deeper bench type guy..just filling in here and there when needed as like a 10th/11th man.

Point is, when we're back to contending for titles, there likely is not going to be a lot of playing time for non-shooters. These guys can fight, scratch, claw and compete for mins this season during a bridge year to see which of them (if any) are worth keeping around for when we are back to chasing titles in the 2027 playoffs..but Hauser being a shooter who just helped us win a title should be prioritized imo.

#1 we have to get regardless of Sam or no Sam. So not sure why you get off free without listing one, but I have to provide the exact guy when all I'm saying is another $10M would help, lol. More likely, it's only $6-8M since Walsh is expiring and Josh has a TO, so you could free up their money.

#2 is valid, other than you going too far to make the point as always with the QB thing. But, Sam's a good player and shooting is valuable. Nobody's debating otherwise. Keeping him does come at the cost of having $6-8M less to spend on #1.