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

[Fierce1]

I've seen Kalkbrenner a few times and the last time was 12 hours ago.
He's just too slow.

I think Amari has a higher ceiling than Kalkbrenner.

[Celts17Pride]

It doesn't seem like the Celtics value the center spot unless they can shoot and / or guard other spots. I like Zubac but he's just a better version of Queta

I'm still all in on Myles Turner if the Bucks blow it up. PP/White/JB/Tatum/Turner would be elite and a championship contender

I don't think there is any chance the Celtics pay $25 million for a center. Just my opinion. Look at what Queta is doing for $2.5 million. I think the Celtics add another cheap center and maybe draft another to go with Queta and Williams.

[Larry_Russell]

It doesn't seem like the Celtics value the center spot unless they can shoot and / or guard other spots. I like Zubac but he's just a better version of Queta

I'm still all in on Myles Turner if the Bucks blow it up. PP/White/JB/Tatum/Turner would be elite and a championship contender

Turner seems like a terrible fit in Milwaukee. This would be a way to get out of that contract and get Simons and Hauser to help out Giannis. But that’s just me

Gladly give Simons and top 5 protected first for Turner.

[Larry_Russell]

It doesn't seem like the Celtics value the center spot unless they can shoot and / or guard other spots. I like Zubac but he's just a better version of Queta

I'm still all in on Myles Turner if the Bucks blow it up. PP/White/JB/Tatum/Turner would be elite and a championship contender

I don't think there is any chance the Celtics pay $25 million for a center. Just my opinion. Look at what Queta is doing for $2.5 million. I think the Celtics add another cheap center and maybe draft another to go with Queta and Williams.

Joe 100% wants that center that can space the floor and block some shots.

Turner takes team to a whole other level above those 2 guys.

[Celts17Pride]

It doesn't seem like the Celtics value the center spot unless they can shoot and / or guard other spots. I like Zubac but he's just a better version of Queta

I'm still all in on Myles Turner if the Bucks blow it up. PP/White/JB/Tatum/Turner would be elite and a championship contender

I don't think there is any chance the Celtics pay $25 million for a center. Just my opinion. Look at what Queta is doing for $2.5 million. I think the Celtics add another cheap center and maybe draft another to go with Queta and Williams.

Joe 100% wants that center that can space the floor and block some shots.

Turner takes team to a whole other level above those 2 guys.

I highly doubt the Celtics are paying a center $25 million. Big reason why there was never any movement on a Kessler trade in my opinion. Myles Turner is averaging 12 ppg, 6 rpg, spending $25 million on that is a waste of resources. Queta is avaraging 10 ppg, 8 rpg for $2.5 million.

[Larry_Russell]

I don't think there is any chance the Celtics pay $25 million for a center. Just my opinion. Look at what Queta is doing for $2.5 million. I think the Celtics add another cheap center and maybe draft another to go with Queta and Williams.

Joe 100% wants that center that can space the floor and block some shots.

Turner takes team to a whole other level above those 2 guys.

I highly doubt the Celtics are paying a center $25 million. Big reason why there was never any movement on a Kessler trade in my opinion. Myles Turner is averaging 12 ppg, 6 rpg, spending $25 million on that is a waste of resources.

I agree he is overpaid.

But I can also guarantee that Joe and Brad 100000% want a center who can spread the floor. Maybe that comes from re-signing KP in the offseason at a discount. Keep him healthy for big games and playoffs.

[Celts17Pride]

Joe 100% wants that center that can space the floor and block some shots.

Turner takes team to a whole other level above those 2 guys.

I highly doubt the Celtics are paying a center $25 million. Big reason why there was never any movement on a Kessler trade in my opinion. Myles Turner is averaging 12 ppg, 6 rpg, spending $25 million on that is a waste of resources.

I agree he is overpaid.

But I can also guarantee that Joe and Brad 100000% want a center who can spread the floor. Maybe that comes from re-signing KP in the offseason at a discount. Keep him healthy for big games and playoffs.

Trust me, it's going to be a cheap option. MLE or a draft pick, probably both. It's just the right thing to do with limited resources.

[Larry_Russell]

I highly doubt the Celtics are paying a center $25 million. Big reason why there was never any movement on a Kessler trade in my opinion. Myles Turner is averaging 12 ppg, 6 rpg, spending $25 million on that is a waste of resources.

I agree he is overpaid.

But I can also guarantee that Joe and Brad 100000% want a center who can spread the floor. Maybe that comes from re-signing KP in the offseason at a discount. Keep him healthy for big games and playoffs.

Trust me, it's going to be a cheap option. MLE or a draft pick, probably both. It's just the right thing to do with limited resources.

Its what I would do.

But that center rotation is not championship caliber

[playa-hater]

Sorry but these ideas are killing me. Boston giving up 2 first rd picks to pay for a center who makes 18 million. Instead we could have Drafted Kalk with only 1 2nd rd pick and paid him two million to be Queta's backup.

Queta at this time keeps staying underrated on here despite out playing most of the centers so far. Including the player, we want to give up so many valuable assets for. Smh.

Ok we could have drafted Kalk… we didn’t though. I don’t understand the relevancy. And are you trying to imply $19M is a lot? That’s pretty damn solid contract number for Zubac. He was in a situation like Dwhite where his max extension was below market but it was close enough that it was worth it to lock in the security. So if they do trade him, he carries the benefit of a below fair market value deal.

Queta is having a great year and has emerged as a key piece. He’s not outplaying Zubac though. That’s nonsense. No one is disrespecting him. He’s playing 24 minutes and if we added a high end center like Zubac that probably Lu gets cut to 18-20, but that’s hardly dismissing or diminishing him. If we had him and Zubac that’s 48 minutes of great center play.

My point is, Stevens seems to be a very logical person. If Stevens bypassed a position and/or player at extreme need (Kalk) that would have cost 2 million, Does anyone actually think Stevens will now spend 18 per on a center all while potentially giving up much higher assets??

I would be shocked and disappointed if that happened.

[bfchs123]

I highly doubt the Celtics are paying a center $25 million. Big reason why there was never any movement on a Kessler trade in my opinion. Myles Turner is averaging 12 ppg, 6 rpg, spending $25 million on that is a waste of resources.

I agree he is overpaid.

But I can also guarantee that Joe and Brad 100000% want a center who can spread the floor. Maybe that comes from re-signing KP in the offseason at a discount. Keep him healthy for big games and playoffs.

Trust me, it's going to be a cheap option. MLE or a draft pick, probably both. It's just the right thing to do with limited resources.

Turner is just a bad fit in MIL, he's been averaging ~16-18ppg in IND the prior three years and was a key component on an almost title team. Floor spreading, shot blocking big man is the perfect fit in Joe's offense (like KP was when healthy). I like Queta but he is closer to the Kornet role on a championship team (at least for now). We finished the last game with 4 wings on the floor so clearly the Queta big type is not his preferred type.

I love Walsh, Minott, etc. but it's not going to work every night with some of the real bigs in the league (but is passable for soft bigs like KAT)

[Fierce1]

A guy like Zubac is one of the best Centers in the NBA.

That's why he's getting 18-20m per year and that's also why it would cost you 1st round picks.

Myles Turner at 25-29m is just too high.

That's why I think Rob Williams and Vucevic are possible targets also.

[Celts17Pride]

I agree he is overpaid.

But I can also guarantee that Joe and Brad 100000% want a center who can spread the floor. Maybe that comes from re-signing KP in the offseason at a discount. Keep him healthy for big games and playoffs.

Trust me, it's going to be a cheap option. MLE or a draft pick, probably both. It's just the right thing to do with limited resources.

Turner is just a bad fit in MIL, he's been averaging ~16-18ppg in IND the prior three years and was a key component on an almost title team. Floor spreading, shot blocking big man is the perfect fit in Joe's offense (like KP was when healthy). I like Queta but he is closer to the Kornet role on a championship team (at least for now). We finished the last game with 4 wings on the floor so clearly the Queta big type is not his preferred type.

I love Walsh, Minott, etc. but it's not going to work every night with some of the real bigs in the league (but is passable for soft bigs like KAT)

MLE and a draft pick to go with Queta and Williams. I would be shocked if Brad Stevens spent more than the MLE on a center. Again, just not the best way to spend your limited resources.

[hugepatsfan]

Sorry but these ideas are killing me. Boston giving up 2 first rd picks to pay for a center who makes 18 million. Instead we could have Drafted Kalk with only 1 2nd rd pick and paid him two million to be Queta's backup.

Queta at this time keeps staying underrated on here despite out playing most of the centers so far. Including the player, we want to give up so many valuable assets for. Smh.

Ok we could have drafted Kalk… we didn’t though. I don’t understand the relevancy. And are you trying to imply $19M is a lot? That’s pretty damn solid contract number for Zubac. He was in a situation like Dwhite where his max extension was below market but it was close enough that it was worth it to lock in the security. So if they do trade him, he carries the benefit of a below fair market value deal.

Queta is having a great year and has emerged as a key piece. He’s not outplaying Zubac though. That’s nonsense. No one is disrespecting him. He’s playing 24 minutes and if we added a high end center like Zubac that probably Lu gets cut to 18-20, but that’s hardly dismissing or diminishing him. If we had him and Zubac that’s 48 minutes of great center play.

My point is, Stevens seems to be a very logical person. If Stevens bypassed a position and/or player at extreme need (Kalk) that would have cost 2 million, Does anyone actually think Stevens will now spend 18 per on a center all while potentially giving up much higher assets??

I would be shocked and disappointed if that happened.

You're kind of writing off the player evaluation piece there. They might just not have liked Kalk as a prospect. You're comparing a rookie with no experience to a proven very good NBA player.

https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nba/news/best-nba-centers-2025-26-ranking-all-30-starters-nikola-jokic/273b9051c665c21094bbda6c

Not saying rankings like this are gospel, but Zubac is ranked 6th in the whole NBA here. Kalk was the 7th center drafted this year.

[hugepatsfan]

A guy like Zubac is one of the best Centers in the NBA.

That's why he's getting 18-20m per year and that's also why it would cost you 1st round picks.

Myles Turner at 25-29m is just too high.

That's why I think Rob Williams and Vucevic are possible targets also.

They can keep this 10-man rotation for each of the next two years and only be a little over the 1st apron:

White / Pritchard
Brown / Hugo
Hauser / Walsh
Tatum / Minott
Turner / Queta

Redistribute how you want. I put Pritchard back to bench to balance ball handlers. I put Hauser as a starter because I think his shooting plays up with added spacing from Tatum/Turner. The point is you have those 10 players, rotate them how you wanr. I'm even factoring in Turner's 15% kicker in those numbers - maybe you could get him to waive. But it adds about $4M/year to his cap numbers, so it's 29-33 not the 25-29 you listed.

It gets tricky in 2027-28 when all of Queta/Walsh/Minott are FAs so you need to make some decisions unless you want to go back into the 2nd apron. And then the year after (ahead of 28-29) Pritchard is up so it gets really tough. I doubt Turner costs any 1sts though if we send them Simons' expiring deal so we'd have picks that can hopefully step in and fill those depth roles. So you're probably looking at letting a couple guys go to stay below the 2nd apron in 27-28 and then going back into the 2nd apron to keep Pritchard in 28-29. Assuming window is still open and all of these guys keep playing well.

If they could get Turner in a MIL fire sale scenario, I think it's worth it if they can sustain those payroll levels (all at repeater rates since there's no resetting).

They could acquire Turner and still duck the tax this year (even after trade kicker) but that requires removing Hauser from the rotation and they'd still be a tax team next year. So it'd just be a 1 year reprieve from repeater rates so the long term math stays mostly the same.

[playa-hater]

Ok we could have drafted Kalk… we didn’t though. I don’t understand the relevancy. And are you trying to imply $19M is a lot? That’s pretty damn solid contract number for Zubac. He was in a situation like Dwhite where his max extension was below market but it was close enough that it was worth it to lock in the security. So if they do trade him, he carries the benefit of a below fair market value deal.

Queta is having a great year and has emerged as a key piece. He’s not outplaying Zubac though. That’s nonsense. No one is disrespecting him. He’s playing 24 minutes and if we added a high end center like Zubac that probably Lu gets cut to 18-20, but that’s hardly dismissing or diminishing him. If we had him and Zubac that’s 48 minutes of great center play.

My point is, Stevens seems to be a very logical person. If Stevens bypassed a position and/or player at extreme need (Kalk) that would have cost 2 million, Does anyone actually think Stevens will now spend 18 per on a center all while potentially giving up much higher assets??

I would be shocked and disappointed if that happened.

You're kind of writing off the player evaluation piece there. They might just not have liked Kalk as a prospect. You're comparing a rookie with no experience to a proven very good NBA player.

https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nba/news/best-nba-centers-2025-26-ranking-all-30-starters-nikola-jokic/273b9051c665c21094bbda6c

Not saying rankings like this are gospel, but Zubac is ranked 6th in the whole NBA here. Kalk was the 7th center drafted this year.

Zubac is a good/verygood center but I still believe if Stevens really valued that position, he would have signed Kornet instead of Hauser. or he would have drafted Filipowski instead of Scheierman..Drafted Kalk instead of trading down.. but instead trade much more in Assets and cap space still seems very unlikely to me.