Offseason primer part 1: Free Agency

Getting a jump on our offseason coverage!

If you’re in or around Boston today, chances are you will be heading to the championship parade. If you are, stay safe and enjoy the day! However, if you’re like me and are too far away to turn up and get involved, I hope you find a way to stream the festivities and enjoy the moment.

Because, after today, the attention turns toward next season. The championship has been secured and celebrated. Now, the goal shifts toward retaining the title of being the best team in the NBA. It’s one thing to win it when being a member of the chasing pack. It’s another to retain when you’ve gone from being the hunter to the hunted.

I know the Boston Celtics closed out the season with their win over the Dallas Mavericks on Monday, but to be honest, I view today as the official start of the off-season. I couldn’t move past Banner 18 until it had been celebrated.

Now that will be out of the way, let’s start setting the scene for the offseason.

2024 NBA Off-Season Key Dates

Here are some important dates to put into your calendar:

• Wednesday, June 26 - Night one of the NBA Draft

• Thursday, June 27 - Night two of the NBA Draft

• June 30 - Teams can begin negotiating with free agents around the league from 6 p.m. Eastern

• July 6 - Teams can sign free agents to contracts

• July 10 - USA Basketball showcase in Las Vegas

• July 12-22 - Summer League (Vegas)

• July 15 & 17 - USA Basketball showcase in Abu Dhabi

• July 20 & 22 - USA Basketball showcase in London (it’s looking like I’ll be present to cover these games in person, with media access)

• July 26 - Aug 1 - Olympics

Even when the season is over, there’s always something happening to keep our attention on basketball and the NBA as a whole. This summer is packed with basketball from around the world. There’s a lot to keep us entertained until early August.

Early Moves

The season officially ended on Monday. Teams around the league have already started to make some moves.

🏀 The Detroit Pistons fired Monty Williams (Click here for the full story from ESPN)

🏀 The Los Angeles Lakers hired JJ Redick (Click here for the full story from ESPN)

🏀 The Chicago Bulls traded Alex Caruso to the Oklahoma City Thunder for Josh Giddey (Click here for the full story from ESPN)

🏀 Pascal Siakam agreed to re-sign with the Indiana Pacers (Click here for the full story from ESPN)

Rumors to monitor

🏀 Brandon Ingram’s tenure with the New Orleans Pelicans looks to be over. Christian Clark of NOLA.com has a good piece explaining Ingram’s current situation.

🏀 OG Anunoby isn’t guaranteed to return to the New York Knicks this summer. He is expected to test his market in free agency and could use that interest to drive the Knicks closer to his maximum contract value. New York is expected to meet any contractual demands to keep him with the franchise. You can find some reporting from SNY’s Ian Begley here.

🏀 Donovan Mitchell’s future with the Cleveland Cavaliers is far from clear. He’s consistently avoided verbally committing to the franchise. The Cavs may have to trade him this summer if he doesn’t sign an extension or risk losing him for nothing next season, where he could opt out of his player option.

I keep coming back to this piece from

Marc Stein

in January, which perfectly details the situation between Mitchell and the Cavaliers. Of course, a run to the Eastern Conference semifinals and the firing of J.B. Bickerstaff has likely changed the landscape. Still, Mitchell continues to play it coy.

The latest on Donovan Mitchell and the Cavaliers' true trade deadline intentions

🏀 Sam Cassell is reportedly a target for JJ Redick’s coaching staff in Los Angeles. Shortly after firing Darvin Ham, Cassell was named on a shortlist of head coaching targets. He could draw interest from a team like the Detroit Pistons, too.

🏀 LeBron James is rumored to be opting out of his current contract with the Los Angeles Lakers, per Dan Woike. He is expected to re-sign with the franchise.

Celtics’ impending free agents

Boston has 7 players who could potentially hit the free agency market this summer. Of course, not all of them are potential unrestricted free agents. Here’s how things currently look.

• Svi Mykhailiuk - Entering Unrestricted FA

• Oshae Brissett - Player option worth $2.5 million

• Luke Kornet - Entering Unrestricted FA (Boston owns his bird rights)

• Sam Hauser - Team option worth $2.1 million (Deadline is June 29)

• Xavier Tillman - Entering Unrestricted FA (Boston owns his bird rights)

• Neemias Queta - Team option worth $2.2 million (Deadline is June 29)

• JD Davison - Restricted free agent / two-way

All contractual data is via Spotrac.com - shoutout to my good friend

Keith Smith

for all his exceptional work covering the NBA Cap at the league, team, and player level.

Thoughts on impending free agents

Svi Mykhailiuk

Before the 2023-24 season began, Svi Mykhailiuk received significant interest from some of Europe’s heavy hitters. Matteo Andreani of BasketInside.com reported that Olympiacos extended an offer to the sharpshooting wing. Olimpia Milano was also rumored to have made a contract offer. Real Madrid were rumored to have interest, too.

Svi ultimately opted to remain in the NBA and signed with the Celtics. He made 41 appearances during the regular season, averaging 10.1 minutes per game. He came off the bench on 8 occasions in the playoffs.

After earning himself an NBA championship as a deep role player on Joe Mazzulla’s roster, Svi may be more inclined to head back to Europe for a bigger role and, potentially, a bigger payday. He has struggled to nail down a spot in the league, having represented 7 teams in 5 years.

If Boston offers him the chance to stay on a minimum contract, he may choose to stay. However, the money and role available in Europe might be a major draw for a player who can bow out of the league as a champion.

Oshae Brissett

I’ll admit, when the Celtics originally acquired Brissett, I didn’t expect much from him. He’s an energy guy who can play strong defense and make hustle plays. His struggles around the rim left me skeptical.

I was wrong.

Brissett was a reliable bench piece for the Celtics. He changed the flow of games, provided a major energy boost, and even made sense playing the five when the Celtics went small and looked to up the tempo. He provided value as a deeper rotation piece and was reliable when tasked with stepping into a bigger role during the season.

A few teams around the NBA might be willing to give Brissett a little more money. However, he would be unlikely to have the chance of competing for a second championship. As such, I would expect him to opt into his player option and look to run it back with the Celtics next season before looking for a bigger payday next summer.

Luke Kornet

For me, this is the biggest decision the Celtics have to make in terms of their impending free agents. Kornet was an important part of Mazzulla’s rotation throughout the season. He proved he could thrive in a five-out system without needing to shoot from deep.

His screening, passing and rebounding were all essential to the bench rotation’s contributions. Kornet also proved he can be elite at containing ball-handlers as they navigate pick-and-rolls. Of course, his size also allowed him to be a disruptive presence when protecting the rim.

A key point to note with Kornet is that Boston holds his bird rights. As such, they can exceed the value of a minimum contract to keep him around. The issue is, the Celtics have multiple bigs hitting free agency this summer. So, they will likely need to make a tough call on who stays and who goes.

Xavier Tillman

Tillman didn’t make the type of impact many of us had hoped for after joining at the Feb. 8 trade deadline. However, he did emerge as an important rotation piece once Kristaps Porzinigs suffered an injury in the NBA Finals.

In terms of playing style and skill set, Tillman is easily viewed as the long-term successor to Al Horford. However, it’s unclear whether Tillman would be willing to spend another season as a deep backup as he waits for his opportunity to succeed the veteran big man.

Brad Stevens and Mazzulla may have a difficult decision to make. I can’t see a world where you keep Kornet and Tillman beyond this summer. This certainly feels like an “either-or” kind of choice.

Similar to Kornet, Boston owns Tillman’s bird rights. He brings more versatility to the rotation due to his switchability on the perimeter and the physicality he can provide on both sides of the floor. Tillman has also proven himself capable of defending elite bigs in the NBA.

Maybe the Celtics will bring both Kornet and Tillman back for next season. If not, this will be one of the tougher decisions of the offseason.

Sam Hauser

We don’t need many words here. Hauser is clearly one of the best movement shooters in the NBA. He’s a reliable defender and has begun to add a mid-range game to his skillset so he can attack close-outs off the dribble.

I find it hard to imagine the Celtics don’t pick up their team option to keep Hauser in the rotation for next season.

Neemias Queta

Queta impressed when given the opportunity this season. He has a high motor, rebounds well and drastically improved as a screener as the season went on. However, he is still prone to fouling and is at the back of the rotation. Stevens converted his two-way contract to provide depth heading into the playoffs.

If Queta is willing to continue being a deep role player while developing behind the scenes, the Celtics may pick up his team option to ensure they have some size, physicality and potential on the end of their bench.

It’s also worth noting that Queta could help replace the size Boston would lose if they opted to keep Tillman over Kornet.

JD Davison

With the amount of talent in Boston’s backcourt, I don’t see Davison getting a deal this summer. Yes, he’s impressed in the G-League, but he hasn’t made the most of his (limited) opportunities at the NBA level.

Unless Davison has some admirers within the coaching staff and front office, he will likely enter the free agency market — hopefully, he can land with a rebuilding team and get the playing time and opportunity he needs to continue developing.

Potential free agent targets

The Celtics are a second-apron team. Under the new CBA, that comes with significant punishments.

Here’s the full list:

• Teams will no longer be able to use the taxpayer mid-level exception.

• If a team remains in the second apron three out of five seasons, their first-round pick will automatically move to the end of the round, beginning next season.

• First-round picks seven years out — a valuable asset for capped-out contenders — cannot be traded beginning next season.

• Salaries cannot be aggregated or combined to trade for a single player making more money.

• Teams can’t use trade exceptions created from a prior year.

• Teams can no longer use cash in trades.

With no taxpayer MLE at their disposal, the Celtics can only offer a minimum deal to potential free agents. ESPN’s Bobby Marks recently did a deep dive on every team’s potential targets; here are some of the notable names he mentioned for the Celtics.

• Robert Covington

• Dario Saric

• Josh Richardson

• Cedi Osman

• Yuta Watanabe

• Cam Reddish

• Keita Bates-Diop

• Drew Eubanks

• Sandro Mamukelashvili

• Bol Bol

Being the reigning champions should give the Celtics considerable leverage when discussing contracts with veterans who could potentially sign a one-year minimum to chase a ring.

We will have plenty of time to deep-dive some of the more logical targets, especially once we know how many open roster spots the Celtics will have to work with. For now, though, you can check out the hyperlink to Marks’ article to see a bigger list of candidates — feel free to leave a comment with some of your own.

Coming next

Over the coming days, we’ll start looking at the NBA Draft. The Celtics have the 30th and 55th picks (courtesy of the Dallas Mavericks).

I haven’t done much draft work this season — I mean, it’s not like the Celtics had an early start to the summer, is it? *wink wink*

So, I will be drafting in some draft experts where possible and trying to share as much information as possible regarding potential candidates. Feel free to send me some names and to give your thoughts and opinions on what areas you want to see Stevens try to strengthen out of the draft.

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Catch everyone tomorrow! Stay safe!