As NBA free agency opens in full, the Celtics still haven’t put a new name on the board. That could change quickly, though, because Boston has the kind of flexibility that matters this time of year: the full mid-level exception worth $15.1 million and the bi-annual exception worth $5.5 million.
Brad Stevens made it clear last Tuesday what the front office wants to add after the Celtics used the 27th pick in last week’s NBA Draft on Houston big man Chris Cenac Jr.
“I do think [we’d like] size and maybe add one more person with speed on the perimeter,” Stevens shared last Tuesday at the Auerbach Center.
That gives the early free-agent board a pretty clean outline. Boston needs frontcourt help, wants more pace on the wing, and has a few realistic names worth watching.
Kevon Looney is one of them. The veteran center wouldn’t bring fireworks, but he would bring stability, rebounding, and a body Boston can trust behind Neemias Queta. With Nikola Vucevic’s departure considered a given, the Celtics need another option in the middle, and The Steinline’s Marc Stein and Jake Fischer reported that Looney is on Boston’s list of center targets.
At 6-foot-9, Looney isn’t the kind of signing that grabs headlines. He does, however, give a team exactly what it asks for when it’s trying to survive the grind: defense, boards, and experience. He spent his first nine NBA seasons with the Golden State Warriors, was part of their championship core, and even started 80 games during their 2021-22 title run.
Last season with the New Orleans Pelicans, injuries limited him to 20 games. Even so, he still pulled down nearly six rebounds per game off the bench. He’d likely come at or near the minimum, which would let Boston preserve its larger spending power for other needs.
Brandon Williams is a different kind of target entirely. The Dallas Mavericks guard fits the speed Stevens mentioned, and he’s coming off the best year of his four-season career. Williams started 15 games for Dallas and put up 13.0 points, 3.9 assists, and 2.4 rebounds in 22.2 minutes per game.
The shot from deep still isn’t there - he hit just 23.2% of his threes in the 2025-26 season - but Williams can put pressure on the rim. He averaged 3.7 rim attempts per game, which ranked in the 88th percentile, according to Databallr. The other side of the ball remains the question mark, since the advanced metrics aren’t especially kind to his defense.
And then there’s the reunion possibility. Anfernee Simons should need no introduction to Celtics fans after playing 49 games in Boston last season before being moved to the Chicago Bulls for Vucevic in February. He arrived as part of a second-apron move involving Jrue Holiday and the Portland Trail Blazers, and he made the most of his short stay.
Simons looked comfortable as a catch-and-shoot threat and had stretches where he carried the offense, including a 39-point game against the Miami Heat. According to Stein and Fischer, Boston is still interested, along with the Bulls and Warriors.
A return has been on the table before, too. When Simons returned to TD Garden as a Bull, he didn’t hide his interest.
“For sure, obviously, we gotta finish our season [in Chicago] first and then see what happens there,” Simons explained when asked if he’d consider coming back to Boston, via CLNS Media.
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For Celtics fans, the appeal is obvious and the price tag is the part that can make you wince. Duren has been linked to a few different suitors as frustration builds in Detroit, and any real pursuit would require careful salary balancing and a willingness to part with serious talent, all while the Pistons still hold the power to keep him. The idea is intriguing enough to follow, but for now it remains one of those playoff-caliber name watches that could go nowhere fast if Detroit decides to simply shut the whole thing down. [Read more 🡒]