2025 NBA Offseason Thread

The Spurs have Fox and Castle as ball carriers before we consider who they draft and CP3 possibly being extended.

LaMelo has only played 105 games over last 3 seasons so his durability would be a huge issue for me especially with Wemby coming back from an injury. Wemby will have to be managed as he is such an exceptional talent and his long thin build could make him possibly more injury prone over a hopefully long career.

Spurs getting Melo makes no sense. Do you think it’s smoke screen?

I thought the Spurs made their big trade move for Fox. They have Barnes with a load of experience too and Wemby will be a magnet for ring chasers. They are likely adding Harper plus the 14th pick will give them some nice options.

They have to sort out what they do with Sochan as he is eligible for an extension this summer. But they have no rush over that as they will control his rights.

Will Bucks or Celtics get any injury exemption to the salaries for Dame and Tatum I wonder?

One out there idea I had after reading about how much luxury tax Boston will pay next season and ESPN saying what the saving would be if various players get traded. What if they traded Brown to Nets for a load of picks – Boston tank next season and get another high pick, save a load in luxury tax and rebuild around Tatum when he returns.

I don’t see Brad Stevens pulling the cord on that deal but Ainge might have just made that move during his time at Boston.

Celtics probably get the 1st pick next year somehow.

The Celtics will still be top 6 in the East. Jaylen Brown and Derrick White are going to be there, and are really good. I think they would love to get off of Jrue Holiday’s money, but that seems highly unlikely. It is too much money for too long for a guard going into year 17. They cannot take on aggregated contracts to move Porzingis for non-guaranteed contracts, so unless they want to ship off a bunch of picks to one of the few teams with cap space will have to hope whatever illness he has had this season will be past him next fall. They aren’t a 60 win team without Tatum, but still a good one. Who can they move given the restrictions? The only guys they can realistically move are Payton Pritchard and Sam Hauser. Would Boston trade Pritchard, #28, and #32 to Orlando for Gary Harris (whose option they would decline thus saving $$$) and optimistically #16 but possibly #25? Would Orlando go for it? They need someone who can make a shot, but seem to like Cole Anthony, KCP, and Anthony Black missing them. Suggs has had one good shooting season in four. 2025-26 is going to be a “gap year” for Boston in the sense that they cannot win the title sans Tatum when they are also losing Horford. It is not a tank year. It is a transition, and opportunity for Baylor Scheierman, Jordan Walsh, and Neemias Queta to get a chance to play and solidify their career.

The thing with Orlando is that they have already extended Franz Wagner and Jalen Suggs. Paolo is eligible for an extension this summer, and will likely be in the ballpark of the max. Even if the money for Holiday can be managed next year, it will be challenging once they have $130+ million tied into Wendell Carter, Goga Bitadze, Wagner, Suggs, and Paolo for 2026-27. I think Orlando would much rather have Pritchard at $7.7M and $8.3 million than Holiday at $32.4, $34.8, and $37.2 million. With the luxury tax implications, I think Boston would swallow hard and deal him in what will be a very one-sided basketball trade.

Pat Riley’s ears just pricked up!

I don’t think the Heat have the assets to land him but Riley will still have a go.