NEW Celtics Trade Rumors HEATING UP On LaMelo Ball, Nic Claxton & Daniel Gafford

NEW Celtics Trade Rumors HEATING UP On LaMelo Ball, Nic Claxton & Daniel Gafford

[Music] You guys seem to like to hear about him. So, we’re going to talk about some trade rumors here at Boston Celtics today. We got the latest on LaMelo Ball. This has came in right before we started scripting the show because we were just going to talk about Nick Claxton and Daniel Gaffford potentially being Boston Celtics, but we’ll break down trade ideas for all three of these guys and the latest rumors on them here as NBA trade rumors are starting to heat up. What we know about your boss, Celtics, you’re watching Celtics today by chat sports. I am your host, Tyler Smith, is that the seas are going to explore trade possibilities, the market for Anthony Simons, the guy that they brought in for the Drew Holiday trade on a 27.6 million expiring contract. That is the big chip on this Celtics roster that they will be able to at least market and shop this trade season to help shed some money and get closer and closer to that luxury tax line as they are repeaters and will face tax penalties once the season gets wrapped up. So, expect Simons to be included in any trade ideas that we’ll present on today’s show. And that’s why you subscribe to the channel, man. If the sellers go out there and make a move, if they go out there and acquire any of these players, we’re probably going to go live on the channel. But, you know, we’re bringing you a video first breaking it all down. That’s why you subscribe and help us get to our next milestone of 54.5,000 subs. Just need 66 more diehard green teamers. Go down below and hit that subscribe button. And when you do, you get free Celtics content every single day. All right, so this LaMelo Ball stuff, crazy. Didn’t did not expect to be talking about LaMelo at all on today’s show, but we are. Kelly Eco of Yahoo Sports dropped a bombshell story saying amidst a 4 and 11 start for Charlotte, Hornet star guard LaMelo Ball has grown increasingly frustrated with the organization and is open to a trade. This is insane. I mean, a guy who was looked at as a franchise player drafted back in 2020 for the Hornets hasn’t really created a winning culture there so far. And now he’s averaging career low numbers and requesting a trade. Kind of interesting here. And I wouldn’t call it a straightup hard request, more of a soft trade request here by LaMelo Ball. But I don’t know how much ground he’s got to stand on to be quite honest with you guys. Averaging career low in points, field goal percentage, three-point percentage as well. He is making his teammates better. He is averaging nearly 10 assists per game. That’s a careerhigh number uh for LaMelo. But I mean, just throughout his entire career, what has he been? an inefficient shot chucker who puts up a ton of box score stats and doesn’t win a whole heck of a lot of basketball games. However, this season with the Hornets, he is I guess making a winning impact. The Hornets on the floor are 17.3 points better per 100 possessions with LaMelo out there offensively. So, yeah, of course they don’t want to get rid of the guy, but with him being super frustrated, it might just be a matter of time uh with his days being numbered in Charlotte. So, what does a trade look like to the Boston Celtics for LaMelo? Well, obviously you would have to include Anthony Simons here. And then for to to match the rest of LaMelo’s $37 million that he makes this season, you would have to include Sam Hower, which with his $10 million contract, as well as Xavier Tilman with his near minimum deal at around $2.5 million. And obviously with AML being a young player here, still a lot left to offer in his NBA career and a lot more room left to improve. You would have to include some draft capital as well. So two first round picks would be going in Charlotte’s way if this deal were to get done. What do you guys think? Should the Celtics trade for LaMelo Ball? I mean, just knowing what you know about LaMelo, knowing about the overall culture that he brings to a basketball team, whether that’s for better or for worse, should the Celtics go out there and trade for him? T for trade, P for pass. Comment down below what you guys think. Do I think so? No, not really. To be honest with you guys, I just don’t think LaMelo Ball is a winner at this point in his career. Yeah, he’s only 24 years old, but he’s five years in the league at this point. Like, we kind of know what LaMelo Ball is. a good player on bad basketball teams and I just don’t want to bring that to Boston at this point. So, we’re going to talk about some other players who I think could contribute to Boston here as winning players. Now, with the Dallas Mavericks, we’ve heard and made a video on it yesterday actually about them being kind of open to a fire sale here, selling everything on their roster outside of Cooper Flag. The reports coming out that they’re open to make sh making changes, specifically trading Anthony Davis. But if they’re going to trade Anthony Davis, that probably means that they’re open to trading the rest of the players on the roster, not number 32. Daniel Gaffford, I think, is one of those guys who could be traded. Rival execs around the league. There’s reports coming out that people believe Gaffford is the most realistic trade candidate for these Dallas Mavericks, at least for what contenders could go out there and acquire from this roster. And it makes sense, right? They have big men down low, especially Anthony Davis, who’s going to be hard to move in this league, and Derrick Lively, who they probably want to keep a little bit more longterm than Daniel Gaffford here. Although Gaffford is on a four-year uh deal right now with the Mavs, entering a three-year extension next season. And look, man, I I love Daniel Gaffford. I would love to bring him to Boston. You know what he’s giving you night in and night out. Going to be basically 10 points, close to 10 rebounds, and a block or two every single time he steps on the floor. a great lob threat, a great screen setter, just an overall strong physical presence down the low block. I I love Daniel Gaffford. He’s not going to try to be something that he’s not either. He’s not a three-point shooter or floor spacer by any means, but absolutely a physically imposing presence near the basket. Next, we’re going to get into a Daniel Gaffford trade idea. What’s it going to take for him to come to Boston? And then we’ll get to talking about Nick Claxton. What about him and does he project better as a fit in Beantown? We’ll talk about that just in a moment. First though, I got to tell you guys about our sponsor on today’s video as this episode is brought to you by Prize Picks. You and I make decisions every single day, but on prize picks, being right can get you paid. So, get started with the number one daily fantasy sports app in America with $50 instantly in lineups after you play your first $5 and download Prize Picks today. Like I said, it’s the best daily fantasy sports app because of the features that they offer. But before I tell you about the features, I’ll tell you how it works. All you guys got to do is pick two to six players and just pick more or less on their projected stats. Whether it’s basketball, baseball season when that comes around, hockeyy’s going in full swing, football season still at its peak right now. You can mix and match all these different sports. And like I said, the features are unmatched. Yes, they have stacks. So if you want to take multiple stat projections from the same player, like Derek White points, Derek White assists, Derek White rebounds, put them all in the same lineup separately, you can do so only on prize picks. It’s also becoming a social event as well, where you can follow other creators, follow your friends, follow celebrities, and even copy their picks into your own using the brand new feed tab. My picks for tonight’s football action. I got AJ Panessa more than 0.25 25 sacks. James Cook more than 75 and a half rushing yards. And Woody Marks more than 74 and a half rushing plus receiving yards. You could sell my picks or fade them. Just do it at prize picks. And remember, new users can get $50 instantly in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup. You just got to use our promo code CLNS. So download the app today. Use that code CLNS to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup. Prize picks. It’s good to be right. All righty. We got a Daniel Gaffford trade idea and it is a doozy. We were going with a three-teamer here because it is just so damn difficult to make trades in this NBA, especially when you’re dealing with apron teams like the Celtics and the Mavs. The Seas will get Daniel Gaffford in this deal along with creating a $27 million trade exception for Anthony Simons who goes to Dallas in this deal along with Haywood Highmith currently on the Brooklyn Nets. Now, the Nets uh they just participate in this deal because they’re a financial facilitator here. They have a ton of open money. They can absorb extra in back in a deal. So, they bring on Klay Thompson. I wonder if this trade were to go down, would they just buy his contract out? Uh Dwight Powell as well. And then Yamader, the rights to him, who’s he’s never been in the NBA yet, drafted way back when by the Celtics. They’d also get three second round picks and some cash. Let’s just break this trade down. Why did the Celtics go out there and make this deal? Well, they solidify their center position. That’s just kind of the gist of it. It’s nothing too complicated. Like they get a guy named Daniel Gaffford who isn’t a player who gets injured. Um, he is a guy who’s going to be your starting center next to Tatum, next to Brown, uh, next to Derek White for the next half decade on a less than $20 million a year contract. So, that’s just the gist of it. They get a good player in Daniel Gaffford. Now, the it takes three to tango in this scenario. So, why do the other two teams do it? Well, Dallas, they’re shifting towards Cooper Flag. They’re shifting towards a rebuild. They want to get rid of as much money as they possibly can. So, how do they do that? They acquire Anthony Simons and Haywood Highmith here, two guys on one-year deals, and they get off of that money after this summer. can start really just trying to formulate what they want this roster to look like around Cooper Flag. You get out of Daniel Gaffford and then they probably end up making more trades after this as well. Why does Brooklyn do it? Well, they’re just doing it for fun to be quite honest with you. Plus, they get three second round picks out of it. Like Brooklyn needs every extra dart they can get. We just saw him have three first round picks in this past draft and didn’t do anything with it. I’m pretty sure they actually had four first round picks and and they were all pretty bad. So, you need to give Brooklyn as much ammo as they possibly can to kind of just build some semblance of a legitimate basketball team here. So, they’ll participate, bring out some expensive deals that’ll expire here over the next few and they’ll get some second round picks out of it. Would you guys make this trade? Let me know in the comments section right now. A for accept, D for decline if you would bring Daniel Gaffford to Boston essentially just for Anthony Simons. I mean, maybe a couple second round picks. A for accept, D for decline. We’ll keep it with the Brooklyn Nets here as Nick Claxton could be on the trade block as well. I think if we just ranked all three of these guys in a vacuum as far as my number where I would have them my trade targets list, Nick Claxton would be near the top of any list to be quite honest with you. Athletic, switchable, shot blocking rim protector down low that I think he’s getting better and better every single year. He’s averaging a careerhigh in points per game this year in uh nearly 15. He’s a elite rebounder as well. We got assists up there. But just know that this guy is averaging nearly a double double every single night. He’s also protecting the rim at a super high rate. Uh nearly two blocks every single time he’s out there on the floor. Like the fit for Nick Claxton would just be awesome to be quite honest. And a trade to Brooklyn would be pretty easy honestly if you if you just boiled it down to this. Like you could just do Anthony Simons in a couple of picks for Nick Claxton. But what do we know about the Celtics and their trade pursuits this year and especially in terms of moving Anthony Simons? They don’t want to bring on long-term money, which Nick Claxton is. And they also want to shed some money and get closer to that luxury tax line because they’re going to get hit with repeater penalties after the season is up. Trade straight up for Nick Claxton wouldn’t do that. Claxton only makes uh about $25 million, but that would only create about $2 million in space for Boston. They would still hit the penalties at the end of the year. So, how about we get a third team involved again on this trade and bring in Nick Claxton and Andre Jackson uh Jr. of the Milwaukee Bucks. Yes, the Bucks are getting involved in this one. And the Nets are assembling maybe the most unethical group of hoopers of all time. They get in Anthony Simons. They get Kyle Kosma and then they have Cam Thomas and Michael Porter Jr. there as well. What a roster that would look like in Brooklyn. But they would also get some picks for this deal as well for sending away Nick Claxton bringing on these bad deals. They would get a Milwaukee Bucks swap in 2032 and they get a 2031 pick from the Celtics, a top five protected first. Why does Boston do this one? The Bucks get, by the way, get Sam Hower in this deal. So maybe some Celtics fans have some hiccups with that. But the C’s get a more switchable defender than Daniel Gaffford is more athletic player and a younger guy at that. And Nick Claxton a little bit more expensive, but I think he’s a better fit overall. and they’re shedding a little bit more money than they would in the Gaffford deal if they were to make this thing happen with Brooklyn. Now, why does Brooklyn go out there and get the deal done? Well, they’re in a position where they just need to rebuild fully and get as many picks as they possibly can. We said it before, like go get as many firsts as you possibly can. They get another first from Milwaukee here that’s probably going to be uh in a better spot with probably Giannis being out of town by then. They get the first round pick from Boston this deal. Like it makes total sense for Brooklyn to go out there and make this happen. Nick Clax is not going to win them a championship anytime soon. Why does the Bucks do this? Well, they want to keep Giannis in town as long as possible. So, I think you get off the horrific Kyle Koosma deal and just addition by subtraction by getting him off the roster and you surround Giannis with more shooting here. I think Sam Hower is worth the first round pick from Milwaukee if they’re getting rid of Kyle Koozma in the deal. So, I think everybody wins in this scenario. With that said though, given what you have to send away to acquire each one of these two players in Gaffford and Nick Claxton, what would you guys want to trade for? Who would you trade for here? DG for Daniel Gaffford, NC for Nick Claxton, given what you have to give up because you have to give up Sam Hower in order and a first in order to get up Nick Claxton. Who would you guys trade for? Comment down below what you guys think. Is that will do it for today’s edition of Celtics Today by Chat Sports. Give me a follow over on Twitter, Tyler J. Smith. Two H’s because the name’s common, but I am not. And make sure you are subscribed to the channel as well, youtube.com/selix TV for the latest and greatest on your seas all season long. We’ll see you guys in the next video. And as always, let’s go SE’s. [Music]

Boston Celtics trade rumors are back at the forefront of this edition of Celtics Today by Chat Sports. Visit https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/CLNS and use code CLNS and get $50 in lineups when you play your first $5 lineup! With NBA trade rumors circulating on LaMelo Ball after his soft trade request, could the Celtics front office make a call to the Hornets? The Celtics depth chart in the frontcourt is more unproven than their backcourt, however, so we look at two Celtics trade targets to shore up the center position in Daniel Gafford and Nic Claxton. Celtics Today host Tyler Smith breaks down all the latest Celtics rumors and news on a Celtics trade going down on today’s Boston Celtics YouTube video.

SUBSCRIBE to Boston Celtics Today for ALL of your Celtics news: http://www.youtube.com/celticstv?sub_confirmation=1

LaMelo Ball 2025-26 stats:
– PTS: 21.6
– REB: 6.9
– AST: 9.6
– FG%: 38.5

Boston Celtics potential trade targets:
– LaMelo Ball
– Nic Claxton
– Daniel Gafford

The Celtics may have 18 rings…but we have A LOT more Boston Celtics YouTube videos to check out:
– Boston Celtics Making HUGE TRADE With Dallas Mavericks After New Reports? Celtics Rumors: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlzqubxU-2U
– Celtics Receive A BUNCH OF MAJOR NEWS On Jordan Walsh, Anfernee Simons & More – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBgDCh38PYs
– BLOCKBUSTER Celtics Trade Rumors via NBA Insiders On Lauri Markkanen, Anthony Davis & More – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSiriOmoMKQ

Treat the comments section like TD Garden and get LOUD in the comments:
– Should the Celtics trade for LaMelo Ball? Type ‘T’ for Trade, ‘P’ for Pass
– Would you make this trade? Type ‘A’ for Accept, ‘D’ for Decline
– PICK ONE TO TRADE FOR! Daniel Gafford Type ‘DG’, Nic Claxton Type ‘NC’

REAL ONES! Chat Sports has you covered for your NBA news, CFB highlights you could ever want just like Barstool Sports, New Heights Podcast, Pat McAfee and other NFL podcasts:
– https://www.twitter.com/chatsports
– https://www.instagram.com/chatsports

Nic Claxton 2025-26 stats:
– PTS: 14.6
– REB: 7.3
– AST: 3.9
– FG%: 57.6

Share this our Celtics show and tag our host Smitty on X (@TylerJSmith) for a shoutout!

Want Jayson Tatum to come back 100% healthy? Smash the LIKE button 👍

Our host Smitty is always talking Celtics hoops on X (Twitter)! Hit him up at https://x.com/TylerJSmithh

Get the all your NBA news and rumors ALL SEASON LONG by subscribing to @chatsports on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/chatsportstv?sub_confirmation=1

YouTube has this cool feature that tells you when Celtics Today posts if you turn on NOTIS 🔔

#Celtics #CelticsRumors #CelticsNews #CSPP2025 #ad #CSB