The Boston Celtics need some help in their frontcourt rotation after an early postseason exit at the hands of the Philadelphia 76ers. With it looking unlikely for vet big man Nikola Vucevic to return for a major role with the team if at all, the first round postseason defeat showed that while Neemias Queta and Luka Garza can be an important part of Boston’s frontcourt of the future, they are also not ready to run it.
Thankfully for the Celtics, the same moves that likely hurt their playoff efficacy also has given them some tools to add a player to the roster apart from simply making the dollar-for-dollar or less deals being a second apron ball club limited them to last offseason. So let’s take a look at the field of options with at least a small chance of being pried from their current contexts based on where their 2026-27 salary falls among those tools, with a combined grade on their fit in terms of play style, contract length and size, and age curve for Boston of great, good, acceptable, and poor.
We won’t speculate on the cost in trades for an exercise this expansive, but it should give you the framework with which to construct such hypothetical deals.
Anfernee Simons Traded Player Exception (TPE) – 27.7 million
Can be used to trade deadline – cannot be aggregated, can be used to take in several players
Draymond Green (GSW) – $27.6m
Fit – acceptable; bad fit in terms of age, but style fits, short deal,
Myles Turner (MIL) – $26.5m
Fit – poor; long deal, questionable production vs. cost
Nic Claxton (BKY) – $23.1m
Fit – good; age, contract length a plus, play style not seamless
PJ Washington (DAL) – $19.8m
Fit – great; age, play style, contract length all very good fit – size a minor concern
Jakob Poeltl (TOR) – $19.5m
Fit – poor – age okay, but contract length terrible, health a question mark, style not ideal
Wendell Carter Jr. (ORL) – $18.1m
Fit – good; play style, age, contract length all good matches
Daniel Gafford (DAL) – $17.2m
Fit – good; age, style, contract length solid fits
Santi Aldama (MEM) – $17m
Fit – great; age, style, great matches, contract a bit short though
Non Taxpayer Mid-level Exception – $15m
Can be used to sign one or more players to deals up to, in total, $15m, not exceeding four years in length.
Obi Toppin (IND) – $15m
Fit – good, solid play style, value, plays above height
Bobby Portis (MIL) – $14.5m
Fit – good – solid play style, value, a little small
Jonathan Isaac (ORL) – $14.5m
Fit – acceptable; solid play style, but health, contract size/length a concern
Grant Williams (CHA) – $14.2m
Fit – acceptable to poor; play style can be helpful, but size, accepting role concerns
Jonas Valanciunas (DEN) – $10m
Fit – acceptable; play style solid, but age, production concerns
Jalen Smith (CHI) – $9.4m
Fit – good; play style, age a match; production a question for value
Brook Lopez (LAC) – $9.1m
Fit: acceptable; play style good, but age, production serious concerns
Georges Niang TPE ($8.2m)
Can be used by 8/6/26 – cannot be aggregated, can be used to take in several players
Day’Ron Sharpe (BKY) – $6.2m
Fit – good, solid if duplicative play style, good age/value
Al Horford (GSW) – $5.9m
Fit – good to acceptable; near-ideal style fit, but availability/age concerns
Jrue Holiday TPE (4.7m)
Can be used by 7/7/26 – cannot be aggregated, can be used to take in several players
Yves Missi (NOP) – $3.5m
Fit – good; solid style, great age; production still raw/question mark
This article originally appeared on Celtics Wire: 20 Celtics big man targets (and the tools to get them) graded