The Celtics have had one of the busiest offseasons of any team ahead of the start of free agency, having already agreed to trade Jrue Holiday to the Trail Blazers and Kristaps Porzingis to the Hawks, and they might not be done.
With Boston still working to move off salary and create extra cap flexibility in the wake of Jayson Tatum‘s Achilles tear, Anfernee Simons, Georges Niang, and Sam Hauser have all been mentioned as trade candidates. There has also been speculation about whether Jaylen Brown or Derrick White could be moved, though Celtics vice president of basketball operations Mike Zarren made it clear in recent days that the team has not come close to trading either player.
According to Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Substack link), one rival team was told the Celtics would have insisted on a “Mikal Bridges-type” package to trade White.
The Knicks’ deal for Bridges last season included five first-round picks (four unprotected), a pick swap, and a second-round pick. The Magic’s recent trade for Desmond Bane required a similar package, with Orlando sending out four unprotected picks and one pick swap along with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Cole Anthony for salary-matching purposes.
White averaged a career-high 16.4 points and 4.5 rebounds per game this past season for the Celtics, along with 4.8 assists and 1.1 blocks. He also shot 38.4% from three on a career-best 9.1 attempts per contest. The 30-year-old guard is in the first year of a four-year, $118MM contract that includes a player option in the 2028/29 season.
Here’s more on the Celtics:
- Free agent center Al Horford is weighing his options and is unlikely to come to a decision right away when free agency opens tomorrow, reports Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe (via Twitter). The Celtics have been looking into flipping newly-acquired Simons and Niang in the hopes of retaining one or both of Horford or Luke Kornet, though Horford is expected to have several suitors, including, potentially, the Knicks.
- Speaking of Kornet, the veteran center proved himself a valuable rotation big man this season, averaging 6.0 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 1.0 block in just 18.6 minutes per game this season. Brian Robb of MassLive broke down the teams who might be in the mix for Kornet this summer. His list includes the Spurs and Clippers, who are expected to consider pursuing the big man, as well as the Warriors, Bucks, and Hornets, the latter of whom are in dire need of frontcourt depth after trading Jusuf Nurkic for Collin Sexton. Robb adds that there is a mutual fondness between Kornet and the team, which holds his Bird rights, but re-signing him without any additional cost-cutting moves would push the Celtics back into the second apron, which they are hoping to avoid.
- In case you missed it, the Celtics reportedly sought prospects who might be willing to accept 80% of the rookie scale contract at No. 28 in the 2025 draft. The player they selected, Hugo Gonzalez, didn’t agree ahead of time to those terms, however.
KP to the Hawks, not the Wizards.
White and Brown aren’t going anywhere. I’ve seen reports Tatum is getting traded. Where to even start with that.
IMO
Warriors are not allowed to use $14.1 million MLE to sign Kornet unless they Dump Moody’s salary
who said they were after him?
Kornet is staying in Boston. Was on the scrap heap before Stevens gave him a contract.
Kornet is twice the player Looney is, yes please for GSW.
Just checked Kornet’s stats – he has 4 assists per 1 turnover over the last 2 years. That’s very good :) One of the best ratios in the league.
All of his per-minute and per-possession stats are excellent, actually. The question is how scalable his production could be in a bigger role.
The only thing is he fouls a bit too much, but perhaps that’s because he has the green light to do it and use his foul allotment actively in the minutes he has.
Peter- sold. How much do you pay Kornet?
I don’t know if that’s a useful exercise. I’ve got a feeling he’ll take a contract in Boston at slightly below what others will be offering him.
And that will be the answer – he’s worth somewhat more than what he will sign for with Boston :)
That’s a lot of koolaid for a team that’s won 1 Chip in the last 17 yrs :—)
This entire article is just a rehash of other articles.
Kornet is a good fit for Warriors imo. 28-30 mins is good for him. He’s a heady player. 3 yr deal would do it 15-20 mill total.
Horford come to Knicks for minimum. Can take Achiuwas place maybe 5 mill a yr.
White is a good player but not a star player, nor will he ever be, so he is already overpaid… no way BOS gets a bunch of draft picks for him, first round ones anyway, right?