Free Agent/Trade/Waiver Thread, 2025-26

[phincsfan]

Stevens putting together a Championship Contender...

Read on Twitter

I just don't see it in this guy. He did nothing in Summer League. I was looking forward to seeing more of Drew Peterson, but Peterson leaves because of getting PT on a shell shocked roster with minutes galore? I understand Hauser is still here (for now)and Peterson was worried. But it feels like we took another step back in talent, but this time with no financial gain

He is a Stevens pick for sure.

He'll be fine.

As for Peterson. I'm glad he's in Charlotte with Lee. I think the kid has a bright future in the NBA.

[phincsfan]

Let's say Simons balls out but the C's still struggle to win games mainly because of the transition to Neems and Garza from Al and Porzingis in the frontcourt. Growing pains, but in the long run will pay off.

Do the C's reward Simons with a deal? Let's say 4yrs/100mil.

That puts the C's at 205mil for 26/27 (not including draft picks next year).

Rico and Ooooogo' get experience in 25/26. Same for Neems and Garza.

JT comes back in 26/27.

Neems-JT-JB-Simons-White

Garza-Hauser-Ooogo'-Rico-PP

26' 1st round lottery pick

IMO, that's a fun team to watch, especially if Simons is a scoring threat.

JT and JB's start of their 3rd leg of their career.

[ddb]

Let's say Simons balls out but the C's still struggle to win games mainly because of the transition to Neems and Garza from Al and Porzingis in the frontcourt. Growing pains, but in the long run will pay off.

Do the C's reward Simons with a deal? Let's say 4yrs/100mil.

That puts the C's at 205mil for 26/27 (not including draft picks next year).

Rico and Ooooogo' get experience in 25/26. Same for Neems and Garza.

JT comes back in 26/27.

Neems-JT-JB-Simons-White

Garza-Hauser-Ooogo'-Rico-PP

26' 1st round lottery pick

IMO, that's a fun team to watch, especially if Simons is a scoring threat.

JT and JB's start of their 3rd leg of their career.

No shot whatsoever. I'd be shocked if he even makes it through the year.

[klemen44]

ddb anything new from your sources?

[165bows]

Kind of like Simons ending up in Chicago, just makes a ton of sense.

White/Simons/Giddy is a decent 1-3 for what they do and won't cost them much.

[Celts17Pride]

Kind of like Simons ending up in Chicago, just makes a ton of sense.

White/Simons/Giddy is a decent 1-3 for what they do and won't cost them much.

Problem is I would do Dosunmu and Collins for Simons and Walsh, Bulls would want to do Simons for Vucevic. Decent chance Celtics could move Dosunmu and Collins again. Celtics won't be able to move Vucevic.

[Hal14]

We continue to see more and more of these fringe NBA guys head overseas:

Read on Twitter

At this point, if you're a vet who's been in the league a few years, you better be a guy who is damn good and a clear cut rotation player on a good team.

Otherwise, NBA teams would rather fill those end of bench spots with guys who are younger which means a) they have more upside and can develop them, mold them into a player who could fit their system and reach a higher ceiling and b) they can pay them less $ because the more years experience a guy has in the league, they more $ they make on a minimum deal.

NBA expansion will help this.

But you also can't fault a player for going overseas where they can play 20+ mins in ever single game, rather than bouncing around from team to team in the NBA, getting traded/waived randomly without any notice and getting DNP's..

[165bows]

Kind of like Simons ending up in Chicago, just makes a ton of sense.

White/Simons/Giddy is a decent 1-3 for what they do and won't cost them much.

Problem is I would do Dosunmu and Collins for Simons and Walsh, Bulls would want to do Simons for Vucevic. Decent chance Celtics could move Dosunmu and Collins again. Celtics won't be able to move Vucevic.

I think Simons to Chicago along with Tillman, then Chicago sends Huerter and Phillips elsewhere for something to Boston.

Would love it to be Memphis with Brandon Clarke coming to Boston is it gives some solid front court depth and gets them all the way out of the tax but MEM pretty sure already moved on from Huerter. Maybe they'd want him back with Bane gone and more front court depth idk.

I think they are somewhat prioritizing trade returns now over $ for the time being (may be different by the trade deadline) so I don't see Zach Collins being the move unless they are out of time and nothing better is available - then it becomes purely cost cutting. But that's a pretty big down grade as Collins seems to have sort of flamed ot.

[Fierce1]

Coby White is a better fit for Boston than Dosunmu.

A White and White backcourt for Boston would be so hard to stop.

[Celts17Pride]

Kind of like Simons ending up in Chicago, just makes a ton of sense.

White/Simons/Giddy is a decent 1-3 for what they do and won't cost them much.

Problem is I would do Dosunmu and Collins for Simons and Walsh, Bulls would want to do Simons for Vucevic. Decent chance Celtics could move Dosunmu and Collins again. Celtics won't be able to move Vucevic.

I think Simons to Chicago along with Tillman, then Chicago sends Huerter and Phillips elsewhere for something to Boston.

Would love it to be Memphis with Brandon Clarke coming to Boston is it gives some solid front court depth and gets them all the way out of the tax but MEM pretty sure already moved on from Huerter. Maybe they'd want him back with Bane gone and more front court depth idk.

I think they are somewhat prioritizing trade returns now over $ for the time being (may be different by the trade deadline) so I don't see Zach Collins being the move unless they are out of time and nothing better is available - then it becomes purely cost cutting. But that's a pretty big down grade as Collins seems to have sort of flamed ot.

I will be surprised if Brad Stevens takes on any salary for 2026/2027.

[Celts17Pride]

Coby White is a better fit for Boston than Dosunmu.

A White and White backcourt for Boston would be so hard to stop.

The Chicago Bulls are not interested in trading starting point guard Coby White, according to NBA insider Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints.

[165bows]

Problem is I would do Dosunmu and Collins for Simons and Walsh, Bulls would want to do Simons for Vucevic. Decent chance Celtics could move Dosunmu and Collins again. Celtics won't be able to move Vucevic.

I think Simons to Chicago along with Tillman, then Chicago sends Huerter and Phillips elsewhere for something to Boston.

Would love it to be Memphis with Brandon Clarke coming to Boston is it gives some solid front court depth and gets them all the way out of the tax but MEM pretty sure already moved on from Huerter. Maybe they'd want him back with Bane gone and more front court depth idk.

I think they are somewhat prioritizing trade returns now over $ for the time being (may be different by the trade deadline) so I don't see Zach Collins being the move unless they are out of time and nothing better is available - then it becomes purely cost cutting. But that's a pretty big down grade as Collins seems to have sort of flamed ot.

I will be surprised if Brad Stevens takes on any salary for 2026/2027.

As our esteemed cantankerous friend mentioned how do they go back up in salary to compete that year if they don't?

Might as well just keep Simons at that point.

[Fierce1]

Coby White is a better fit for Boston than Dosunmu.

A White and White backcourt for Boston would be so hard to stop.

The Chicago Bulls are not interested in trading starting point guard Coby White, according to NBA insider Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints.

Celtics need scoring.

Dosunmu is a good player, but he's not the dynamic scoring Guard the Cs need.

Even Sexton is a better option than Dosunmu.

My guess is Brad does not do dump or downgrade in talent.

Otherwise, guys like Okogie, Mann, or Slo-Mo would already be a Celtic.

[GoCeltics123]

One thing I think that is notable about Simons and Niang:

Niang is announced to be wearing #20. I think that points to him sticking.

Simons hasn't received a number yet

[Hal14]

The more I think about it, the more I feel like we're building towards a 2 year window to try and win another title.

We're building around 3 guys right now:

Tatum (age 27)
Brown (age 28)
White (age 31)

We're punting this season. 26-27 and 27-28 are gonna be pretty much the last years of D-white's prime..and probably the last 2 years where he could be considered a top 3 player on a championship team.

What am I getting at?

Mainly 2 things:

1) We've got all these young guys we are developing and we're giving them a chance to see what they can do. Walsh, Baylor, Minott, Hugo, Amari, Shulga, etc. But I don't think it's a very long leash for these guys. I know JD was here on a 2-way for 3 years but that is the exception - not the rule. For the most part, Brad likes to cycle lots of different guys in and out of those end of bench spots on the roster, and 2-way spots..bring a guy in, have a look at him, see if he can crack the rotation (and be the next Hauser/Pritchard/Kornet) and if not, then quickly move on and give someone else a try.

2) I've mentioned that I think we could find our starting big of the future in the 2026 draft, especially since if we lose a lot of games this season we'll get a better draft pick..possibly in the lottery.

I'm re-thinking that now.

I'm now thinking that if we draft a big in the 2026 draft, chances are they are not going to be ready to start at center for an NBA championship team as a rookie. Unless we get lucky in the lottery and are able to get Boozer (that's the dream but obviously low probability of actually happening)

Let's see what Queta and Garza can do this season and see if maybe there's a chance that 1 of them could be our starting big when we're back in title contention in 26-27. But more likely, our starting center the next time we compete for a title is not yet on the roster..chances are it's someone we will acquire at some point via trade/free agency who's currently age 25+..

[klemen44]

No way chicago trades white, he is on amazing 12million contract, 2 years remaining.

For sure they want to trade payrick williams who they signed fod ridiculous contract lasy year.

Chicago FO has been msybe the worst since carnishovas took over, just terrible.

[Parliament10]

We continue to see more and more of these fringe NBA guys head overseas:

Read on Twitter

At this point, if you're a vet who's been in the league a few years, you better be a guy who is damn good and a clear cut rotation player on a good team.

Otherwise, NBA teams would rather fill those end of bench spots with guys who are younger which means a) they have more upside and can develop them, mold them into a player who could fit their system and reach a higher ceiling and b) they can pay them less $ because the more years experience a guy has in the league, they more $ they make on a minimum deal.

NBA expansion will help this.

But you also can't fault a player for going overseas where they can play 20+ mins in ever single game, rather than bouncing around from team to team in the NBA, getting traded/waived randomly without any notice and getting DNP's..

It's unfortunate that the G League is so behind. They need to pick up the play, talent level, and sponsoring/advertising.

[Hal14]

One thing I think that is notable about Simons and Niang:

Niang is announced to be wearing #20. I think that points to him sticking.

Simons hasn't received a number yet

Where was it announced?

I just scanned the Celtics official team twitter account and don't see anything there about it.

This article says that while Simons will likely eventually get traded, Brad is in no hurry to do so and Simons (and Niang) are both likely to begin the season with the Celtics:

https://heavy.com/sports/nba/boston-celtics/nba-exec-celtics-anfernee-simons-situation/

Maybe someone is just assuming Niang will be 20 since that was his number with the Hawks and we have that number available, with JD waived. But Simons was no. 1 in Portland and that number is retired for us so it's less clear what number he will be.

Neither of them needs a number until training camp which is over 2 months away, so I wouldn't read into it.

[Hal14]

We continue to see more and more of these fringe NBA guys head overseas:

Read on Twitter

At this point, if you're a vet who's been in the league a few years, you better be a guy who is damn good and a clear cut rotation player on a good team.

Otherwise, NBA teams would rather fill those end of bench spots with guys who are younger which means a) they have more upside and can develop them, mold them into a player who could fit their system and reach a higher ceiling and b) they can pay them less $ because the more years experience a guy has in the league, they more $ they make on a minimum deal.

NBA expansion will help this.

But you also can't fault a player for going overseas where they can play 20+ mins in ever single game, rather than bouncing around from team to team in the NBA, getting traded/waived randomly without any notice and getting DNP's..

It's unfortunate that the G League is so behind. They need to pick up the play, talent level, and sponsoring/advertising.

Well part of the reason why the G league is behind is that it's not a true minor league. A true minor league would mean that *all* of the best pro basketball players in the world who aren't on an NBA roster would play in the g league. But that's far from the case..The top 100 players in the world who aren't on a 15 man NBA roster, a large % of those guys are playing overseas, rather than the G league.

Other sports like hockey, football and baseball don't have such heavy competition from overseas pro leagues..

But I think that's part of the reason why we are now hearing more rumors about the NBA looking to partner with overseas teams/leagues, put on some events, maybe do some expansion and stuff over there.

LeBron is looking into stuff on a global level too now:

Read on Twitter

[darrendaye]

The more I think about it, the more I feel like we're building towards a 2 year window to try and win another title.

We're building around 3 guys right now:

Tatum (age 27)
Brown (age 28)
White (age 31)

We're punting this season. 26-27 and 27-28 are gonna be pretty much the last years of D-white's prime..and probably the last 2 years where he could be considered a top 3 player on a championship team.

What am I getting at?

Mainly 2 things:

1) We've got all these young guys we are developing and we're giving them a chance to see what they can do. Walsh, Baylor, Minott, Hugo, Amari, Shulga, etc. But I don't think it's a very long leash for these guys. I know JD was here on a 2-way for 3 years but that is the exception - not the rule. For the most part, Brad likes to cycle lots of different guys in and out of those end of bench spots on the roster, and 2-way spots..bring a guy in, have a look at him, see if he can crack the rotation (and be the next Hauser/Pritchard/Kornet) and if not, then quickly move on and give someone else a try.

2) I've mentioned that I think we could find our starting big of the future in the 2026 draft, especially since if we lose a lot of games this season we'll get a better draft pick..possibly in the lottery.

I'm re-thinking that now.

I'm now thinking that if we draft a big in the 2026 draft, chances are they are not going to be ready to start at center for an NBA championship team as a rookie. Unless we get lucky in the lottery and are able to get Boozer (that's the dream but obviously low probability of actually happening)

Let's see what Queta and Garza can do this season and see if maybe there's a chance that 1 of them could be our starting big when we're back in title contention in 26-27. But more likely, our starting center the next time we compete for a title is not yet on the roster..chances are it's someone we will acquire at some point via trade/free agency who's currently age 25+..

Until proven otherwise, I'm going with Horford re-signing in summer of 26 and reacquiring Porzingis via sign and trade using a salary slot player (because can't use his TPE) acquired by this year's trade deadline.