Celtics Make 2 Roster Moves + MAJOR Damian Lillard Free Agency UPDATE

Celtics Make 2 Roster Moves + MAJOR Damian Lillard Free Agency UPDATE

[Music] As the Boston Celtics offseason turns along, we have not yet heard the fate of Al Horford, but we can all assume that he is on his way out of Boston. So then we got to shift into some new topics this summer. On today’s show, we’re going to cover a new Damen Lillard free agency update. As we know, the Celtics were on the list of teams to register some interest with Dame, and there might be some mutual interest there as well. Also, the Celtics made some two roster moves before summer league to round out their roster to head into Vegas next week. So, we’re going to go over those signings and potentially a guy who can make the seas roster come the regular season. But before we get into all of it, go down below and hit that thumbs up icon, like today’s video. If you miss Boston Celtics basketball just as much as I do, cuz I’m an absolute diehard, go down below and hit that thumbs up icon and like today’s video. All right, let’s get into it. Damen Lillard, is he coming to the Celtics? And could it be soon? Well, the soon thing we’ll get into later, but as far as where Damen Lillard is in his free agency, obviously we know he was waved and stretched by the Milwaukee Bucks 5 years, $22.5 million each season. So, it’s going to be, you know, a hefty price tag that the Milwaukee Bucks are paying to have Damen Lillard off of their basketball team. Now, he can for the first time in his career pick where he wants to play basketball and it can be at a discount as he is facing that torn Achilles tendon. And could it be in Boston is we are franchise player as well is facing that same injury. Uh the athletic reported this originally when Lillard hit the open market. So not surprisingly league sources say Lillard received calls from several contending teams quickly after the news of his Bucks ending broke. League sources say the Golden State Warriors, Boston Celtics, and Los Angeles Lakers are known to be among the many teams that would have interest in doing a deal sooner rather than later. And then remember Adam Adam Himllesbeck kind of reported this and Himlsbeck’s one of the most tapped in reporters in Celtics media so he would not report this if it was a non-story. He said league sources said that the Celtics are among a group of teams that have shown early interest in signing the ninetime all-star. A league source also made it clear that Lillard could have interest in Boston too citing his respect for the organization and his long friendship with Jason Tatum. like this is all moving a little bit fast here, but not so fast as Chris Haynes then reported. This said, free agent Damen Lillard is open to signing with a team this off seasonason under the right terms and conditions and to continue rehabbing in Portland, which is where he wants to be with his family and his children and all that stuff. He is receiving ample interest, but is in no rush to make a decision. So, we’re going to wait. We’re going to have to wait and see as the offseason goes on what Damen Lillard will want to end up doing for 2526 or how long he will want to be with a organization for that season. Teams are going to be trying to send out a two-year contract offer for him to, you know, pay, you know, play on a pretty cheap deal coming off of that really, you know, unfortunate injury. And, uh, who knows what that deal will end up being, but I think there’s a good reason and a couple good reasons that it should be with the Boston Celtics. the case I’m making for Boston and this is all from DNE’s perspective right like obviously the seas like would have no problem signing Damen Lo to a you know veteran minimum contract for two seasons but from Dne’s perspective why would it make sense for him to go to Boston um he will he’s making all the money from the Milwaukee Bucks so it doesn’t really matter where he gets this deal from uh it’s all going to be around the same dollar amounts if it ends up getting into a bidding war well then you can count the Boston Celtics out of anything like that the C’s also lost their starting point guard that just won a championship with them and you know Dame’s probably going to want to play a good bit and still be a featured player in an offense. So yeah, we have Peyton Pritchard still running that six-man role, but Dame could come in and start right away if he is able to come back at a pretty high level from this injury. Plus, like like Himlsbeck reported, Dame has respect for the Celtics. Like it’s a winning organization and he’s a friend of Jason Tatums. They played on team USA together. They’ve been a part of All-Star weekend together. just two guys who are just gamers and and hoopers at the end of the day and they respect the heck out of each other and this is a championship winning core like I said winning organization but this group has won a title already and look you add the Chris Sorzingis you add the Drew Holidayiday but the core at the end of the day was Jason Tatum Jaylen Brown and Derek White and those three remain in Boston you add Damen Lillard uh add on top of that as a cheap addition and you’re looking at one of the best teams in the entire NBA back when Damen Lillard was originally supposed to get traded from the Portland Trailblazers in 2023. Mark J. Spears came out and said this. You know, Boston was never actually too much of a big-time player, but there was rumblings about the possibility of him teaming up with JT. He said, “I know that Boston I know Jason Tatum has called him to try to get in his ear, but his focus definitely on Miami. Obviously, we know that didn’t end up going down. Miami is now probably going to be at least have some level of interest in Lillard as he’s hitting free agency here.” And uh we’ll see if he ends up signing there. I I I don’t know if the Miami Heat are going to be all that competitive in the next two seasons. So Lillard’s, you know, opinion on joining down there is probably changed. Jimmy Butler’s not there anymore either. I could see him wanting to go to Golden State now, though. Who knows if uh he’ll he’ll end up, you know, wanted to go back into his home hometown area down in Oakland or he’ll want to prioritize probably the best chance that he has at winning in playing with the Seas. And I’m not saying like he’s going to be this monster contributor, but it’s absolutely worth the flyer. We’re talking about a first a first ballot hall of fame player type, you know, type of guy here, at least skill level. The accolades and the hate that Dame has always gotten, especially early on in his career. Uh it’s just so undeserved, but he is still putting up awesome numbers last year in Milwaukee, man. Like 25 points a night, seven dimes on 38% from three. Like you don’t find many guys in this league that can do that with the extended range, the limitless range that Lillard, you know, you know, kind of has. Like people have really been kind of disrespecting him over the past couple of months. I feel like like we’re talking about a generational three-point shooter. Not not one of the best shooters in the league. Like no, no, no. An all-time generational outside shooter in Damen Lillard. Does he have the athletic burst anymore? Probably not. Is Is he at the peak of his powers defensively? Even if he ever was, you know, kind of really if he ever was good on that end, absolutely not. Dame’s a cone on defense. And after an Achilles injury, I can’t imagine it’s much better either. But if if we’re talking about the veteran minimum contracts here, like there’s just no reason the Celtics should not at least get involved because you got to think about it. They’re they’re a team with money tied up. They lose Drew Holidayiday because of those, you know, their finances. They could bring in a Hall of Fame player for vet minimum type of money for him to rehab and and get, you know, come off of a Achilles injury. Well, you at least got to take the chance when you think about these two-year windows that teams have to operate under now. And then you get Chris Manx saying this as far as Dame’s timeline and what he’s feeling is this free agency cycle or I guess his first ever free agency cycle. He said when I’ve talked to people around Lillard, I think he wants to rehab in Portland or do a lot of it in Portland. He spent the last couple of years away from his family, away from his kids, living in Milwaukee. I talked to him about this in the past and others have as well like how difficult that was for him. I feel like he likes to spend the bulk of next year around them and I wouldn’t expect him to be looking for a deal right now. He’s got plenty of money coming his way from Milwaukee. He’s got all the resources in the world potentially at his fingertips. I think there’s going to be a decision he makes months from now rather than days and weeks from now. And I think this all kind of lines up with Chris Haynes most latest report. Um so I I don’t I don’t expect Lillard to, you know, sign in the next week or even the next month. Like he’s not going to like there’s no reason for him to like rush to sign before training camp. Like he’s going to be out there on the basketball court. he’s not going to be and he’s going to be doing most of the rehab next year in Portland. Remember Hanes’s report also said that under the right terms and conditions this contract. So like it probably is having something to do with not even being with the team for the majority of the season then rejoining them as it gets closer and closer to the postseason run or if the Selies make the postseason uh and into the next off season when he gets ramped up back into basketball action. So this all kind of lines up and checks out. I could see him joining a team during the season, whether it be in the late fall or, you know, early 2026 or something like that. But, I mean, this is this is a move where you’re focused on 26 27 and who who knows potentially beyond if you’re Boston and who knows how flexible they’ll be in 2027, but you bring him in and like you’re looking at one of the best uh potential starting fives in the entire NBA. You have a TVD on the center spot there. Um, and and you know, who knows, does Mari Williams evolve? So they make a move next year when they’re a little bit more flexible. You have Dame on a better minimum deal. He’s making $3 million a season. Like that would be unbelievable if you’re the Boston Celtics still having Jason Tatum coming off that injury hopefully at 100% and Derek White and Jaylen Brown complimenting all these guys as well. What do you guys think? Would you sign Damen Lillard to a 2-year deal? Yes or no? Let me know in the comments section what you guys think if this is a smart move for the seas or not. or would you rather make remain completely completely flexible as the seeds are already very very tied up with their uh financials as as it stands right now? Yes or no? Let me know in the comments. All righty. This is kind of where I I was going with that. Um it it depends on what moves Brad makes in the coming months, right? As the offseason goes on, as we get into next season, if Lillard remains unsigned, then we kind of have to look at what Boston does to manipulate the cap a little bit more and shed some more salary off of their books. If there is a deal to be made for Damen Lillard, then Brad Stevens will probably go after Damen Lillard, but he won’t the team financially and face more repeater tax penalties and put themselves in a disadvantageous position in a year where they’re not going to contend for the championship. And being in those positions in in any given year can hurt you down the line as far as your ability to construct your roster. So, he’s not going to the team financially just in order to bring Dame for a one-year flyer. But if the deal is there and he sheds some more cap and make some trades this off season or into next, I think it would be a very very smart move to go out and acquire Damen Lillard. We’ll talk more in a second about the Celtics roster moves, but get hooked up with this awesome Celtics title T from 2024 when they were lifting the Larry O’Brien. It’s less than half off right now. That’s so awesome. Get at this link right here, chatforce.com/champsale. It’s got all the caricatures of all the the people who were rocking and rolling with us when the confetti was falling down in TD Garden. It’s in the comments section. It’s in the description of today’s video as well. Get it at this link right here. Chessports.com/champ sale. All right. Jay King reported this a few days late last week. Jaylen Bridges, a former Baylor Bear, has been added to the Celtic summer league roster big wing. He said, “And he will be going to camp with the team in the fall with a chance to make the roster.” So, the Celtics making a legit offseason UDF kind of signing here. He’s going to be in year two of his career. on a two-way last year with the Phoenix Suns and to be honest with you didn’t do all too much w with Phoenix and I’m not going to lie like if you weren’t able to get more than an eightgame opportunity with how bad the Suns were last year I don’t know how good exactly he may be but he played eight games you know like couple minutes a night like a point like yeah he there’s not much on Jaylen Jaylen Bridges here he’s a big long wing can you know kind of get out in transition defend near the rim and stuff like that played majority of his the year in the G-League starting over there with the Valley Suns or whatever they’re called in Phoenix. He averaged 14 points a game, six rebounds. You know, he shot 38% from three on seven attempts, which is something of note. Uh if he’s going to be launching at a high volume here, we’ll see what he can do for Boston summer league roster. This will be a camp body who’s contending with, you know, a Josh May not and a couple of these wings off the bench. Ugo Gonzalez, who’s going to be a rookie here, you know, 67, 68, Baylor Shyman, Sam Hower, you know, kind of type of uh frames here to just compete in the uh in the Celtics training camp and summer league. Just keep bringing these bodies in, keep bringing these big wings in and eventually one is going to stand out among the rest and we’re going to be looking at a pretty solid rotational piece in the gap year next season. Celtics also added another player to their summer league roster and that came in the form of Louisiana Tech legend Kenneth Loft Loftton Jr. Um he was a dog man in college. This guy around the rim uh getting out in transition. I know he’s like kind of doing it in slow motion but just a big body uh elite passing vision and precision. He was a dominant on the glass especially the offensive glass as well and around the rim. Like he was super efficient in college. really really fun player to watch and hasn’t really had the biggest opportunity in his NBA career so far, but has flashed um certain times when he’s had those opportunities. Played four games with the Utah Jazz uh two seasons ago, and he ended up averaging like 10 points a night or 13 points a night or something like that. And during those four games, uh overall, his seasons haven’t been very long. He’s played 24 games three years ago and then 21 games two seasons ago. Uh it’s it’s tough for a player like that who’s not really athletic whatsoever. uh doesn’t really have a blazing NBA speed to get an elongated chance in a rotation, but we’ll see what he can do in summer league. I think he would absolutely dominate and fill up the stat sheet over there. Now, the Sully summer league roster is as follows. Uh they do have Baylor Shyman coming back in this thing. Jordan Walsh, Miles Norris, couple guys who were on last year’s and maybe even the year before. In Miles Norris’s case, um Celtic summer league roster. Ugo Gonzalez, Amari Williams, and Max Schulga, the three drafted players in 2025 by Boston. Aaron Scott out of St. St. John’s, the undrafted rookie. Played his a lot of his basketball over at North Texas. Ben Greg, the big out of Gonzaga, stretch big there. Zack Hicks out of Penn State. We’ll be seeing him a good bit. Hayden Gray, Kenneth Loftton Jr., and Jaylen Bridges there. Bridges brought in on a training camp deal. So, I’m excited to see these players play. Uh, just some offseason hoops. Man, it’s always fun to see guys wear Celtics jerseys in July. Uh, I can’t wait for summer league. But who are you guys most excited to watch when the C’s get back on the basketball court? Let me know down in the comments section who your guy is for the Celtics summer league this off seasonason. And make sure you are subscribed to the channel. That will do it for today’s edition of Celtics today by Chat Sports. Lock us in for constant Celtics offseason content all summer long. We’ll see you guys in the next one. And as always, let’s go S’s. [Music]

Boston Celtics News Today comes after the Celtics signed two players in NBA Free Agency to round out the Celtics roster for 2025 NBA Summer League. The Celtics Summer League roster will be one of the more experienced and underrated squads when play begins in Las Vegas next week. The latest Boston Celtics rumors we discuss on today’s show include the Damian Lillard free agency rumors floating around with the Celtics as a team of interest after Celtics insider Adam Himmelsbach reported a mutual level of interest between Lillard and the Celtics front office. Celtics Today host Tyler Smith breaks down all the latest Celtics rumors and news on day 6 of 2025 NBA Free Agency on today’s Boston Celtics YouTube video!

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NBA Insider Chris Mannix On Damian Lillard Free Agency:
“When I’ve talked to people around Lillard, I think he wants to rehab in Portland, or do a lot of it in Portland. He spent the last couple of years away from his family, away from his kids, living in Milwaukee. I talked to him about this in the past, others have as well, like, how difficult that was for him. I think he’d like to spend the bulk of next year around them, and I wouldn’t expect him to be looking for a deal right now. He’s got plenty of money coming his way from Milwaukee. He’s got all the resources in the world potentially at his fingertips out there. I think there’s gonna be a decision he makes months from now rather than days and weeks from now.”

Boston Celtics Free Agency: Reasons for Celtics signing Damian Lillard
– Lillard making $22.5 MM/YR from MIL
– C’s lose PG due to financial constraints
– Dame has respect for C’s, friend of Tatum
– Championship-winning core

Celtics Today host Smitty is always dropping the latest Celtics news on X: https://x.com/SmittyAtCS

Tired of watching and want to read? We got Boston Celtics news articles from spots like ESPN, Barstool Sports, Bleacher Report, the Volume & more: https://www.chatsports.com/Boston-Celtics

Jay King On Celtics summer league roster: “Jalen Bridges has been added to the Celtics summer league roster, I’ve been told, and will be going to camp with the team in the fall with a chance to make the roster. He played for Phoenix on a two-way contract as a rookie.”

Don’t let YouTube’s algorithm mess up and start recommending you Lakers videos by checking out these Boston Celtics YouTube videos:
-🚨Celtics Get a DOUBLE DOSE OF MAJOR NEWS On Damian Lillard & Al Horford: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUr8w9dnoI4
– Boston Celtics SIGNING Damian Lillard In NBA Free Agency? Celtics Rumors ARE HOT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64_joEb8TUE
– NEW Boston Celtics Rumors: TRADE Anfernee Simons For Nikola Vucevic? SIGN Free Agent Center?: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcaDhO6QlM4

Celtics Today is a give and take show! We give you these questions and you give your takes in the comments below:
– Would you sign Damian Lillard to a 2-year contract? Yes or No
– Who are you most excited to watch in the summer league?

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