The NBA offseason is nearly upon us. We’re two weeks from the NBA draft and free agency opens just a few days later. That means the rumor mill is spinning a little faster these days. Here’s a round up of some of the bigger rumors out there and how they might impact the Boston Celtics.
Ben Simmons
“The 76ers have opened up trade conversations surrounding Simmons and have engaged with teams, sources told The Athletic. Those sources also say that teams that have engaged with the 76ers about Simmons have been met with a high price threshold for the three-time All-Star.
‘(The 76ers) want an All-Star-caliber player in return,’ one source with knowledge of the ongoing talks said.”
This could be the beginning of the “The Sixers were willing to make a move but the price was just too high” reasoning for keeping Simmons, at least to start next season.
Simmons’ performance against the Atlanta Hawks was one thing, but both Joel Embiid and Doc Rivers throwing Simmons under the bus after the game made it hard to believe that relationship could continue.
Still, Simmons dedicating himself to his craft and finally showing some level of improvement in his game could be enough for the Sixers to feel better about their young star duo. If Embiid can see Simmons’ improvements, then there may not be a need to split them up.
So this could go one of two ways: Either the Sixers get an All-Star-level guy in return for Simmons who fits better, or they make Simmons fit better.
A best-case scenario for Boston is Philly finding no trades this summer, bringing Simmons back, and Simmons still having the same struggles. That would depress his value to a point where the return knocks Philly below Boston in the East.
However, if the Sixers can get the All-Star-caliber guy they want in return for Simmons, that could make the Sixers much more dangerous and throw another obstacle in Boston’s way.
Dejounte Murray/Derrick White
“While it seems unlikely the Spurs would move their pick, keep an eye on them being active with the trade machine around the draft. The Spurs have to figure out where they want to be as a franchise and what their plan is moving forward. They’re kind of stuck in the middle right now. Murray and Derrick White could both be gettable, according to league sources.”
The Spurs are looking for an upgrade if White or Murray are moved, so I’m not sure the Celtics are going to be in the mix for either of these guys.
That’s going to be disappointing for people who see Murray as a potential starting point guard for the Celtics or pairing White with Marcus Smart to make up one of the most fearsome defensive backcourts in the league.
Even if your argument is to move Smart in a deal like this, it’s not something that would move the needle for the Spurs. Why would San Antonio move Smart for White when White is an extremely good defender already under contract for basically what Smart makes but for four more seasons instead of one?
The rumor seems to hint that San Antonio is willing to give up one or both of them for an upgrade. That is either a package for a superstar, or in a package with the 12th pick to move up in the draft.
Collin Sexton
“Teams around the league are well aware of Sexton’s contract situation, which will hurt his value in trade talks. One source believed the Cavs should’ve traded Sexton last summer, knowing this was coming and didn’t believe the Cavs will get a pick in the top half of the draft for him because of the contract. The Cavs may not find a match and still bring Sexton back for next season, but it won’t be for a lack of trying.”
Trading for Sexton is challenging. One the one hand, he’s very good, and he’s still just 22 years old. We can talk about the flaws in his game, but he’s young enough, and competitive enough, to work and get better. He has a lot of value, so this isn’t just a salary dump.
He’s also going into the final year of his rookie deal. The entire reason for the Cavs moving him is not wanting to pay him the kind of contract he’s asking for.
Where does this leave Boston? Can they get into the Sexton mix?
Being on a rookie deal, he’s well within the salary matching range for the Celtics. Hell, he would fit into the Kemba Walker trade exception so matching isn’t even an issue for Boston. The real issue is giving Cleveland the assets they want in return, which would likely be multiple draft picks.
Adding Sexton to Boston’s mix of established players could help pull some distribution out of the young point guard. Maybe some of the brashness that has rubbed teammates the wrong way will be tempered by a different environment where he wouldn’t try to be the alpha dog.
That could make Boston an explosive offensive team, which would make their draft picks worth less, if not worthless, to Cleveland. The young talent Boston can offer in return probably isn’t quite as appealing to Cleveland either, at least not at the moment.
Can Boston get in on Sexton now? I’m guessing not, but I’m not ruling something out during the season. If the Cavs situation moves closer to untenable and Boston’s role players show enough improvement to have value in a trade, I wouldn’t be surprised to hear some rumblings of Boston’s interest in buying low on Sexton.
Still, I think other teams will have better offers and, at his age, the upside is too appealing. Personally, this image of Sexton sullenly watching the final minutes of the regular season from the tunnel after a questionable ejection told me a lot about the fire inside him. I’d rather sand down the rough edges of a competitor like that than try to pull fire out of someone.
Dennis Schroeder/Kyle Kuzma
“League sources expect Chicago and New York to emerge as Schroder suitors, and both could be conducted via sign-and-trade—although Knicks certainly have the cap space to sign him outright. New York will likely have north of $50 million to spend this summer. Meanwhile, Los Angeles continues to gauge rival teams' interest in Kyle Kuzma, sources told B/R, although Schroder does carry a higher trade value around the NBA.”
The Lakers are looking to flip one useful player with trade value into one or two pieces to better support LeBron James and Anthony Davis. Schroeder is out because that would have to be a sign-and-trade and Boston’s not going to hard cap themselves for him.
I don’t think there’s interest in Kuzma either, and frankly, I don’t know what his value is around the league. Boston could offer Tristan Thompson as a backup to Davis and to reunite Thompson with James and throw Carsen Edwards in to match salaries to get Kuzma. That’s not a great offer, and I’m only throwing that out there as a token offer to see just how badly the Lakers want to get off his salary. I’m also banking on LeBron getting a known entity in Thompson to make this appealing to the Lakers.
Kuz makes $13 million a year for the next two seasons and then has a $13 million player option after that. I’ll roll the dice on Kuzma finding a lost groove if the Lakers want to dump him.
