Potential Big Man Targets With The TPE
There's lots of ways the Celtics could take this
Last week, we spent some time looking at potential free agent targets for the Boston Celtics. We worked through each position: guards, wings, bigs.
Today, we’re going to be looking at potential big man targets with the TPE.
However, before we dive in, let’s recap some key information.
Celtics Anfernee Simons TPE = $27.6 million. This is the TPE we will be focusing on throughout this mini-series. It’s also worth noting that teams cannot aggregate salaries on top of a TPE.
So, for example, if Boston had a $20 million TPE and wanted a player who earns $25 million next season, they could not strike a deal involving the TPE and a player for salary matching. Any incoming player’s contract must fit inside the TPE in order for the trade to be legal.
That said, the Celtics could send guys out to reduce the amount of the TPE being used. Going back to the $20 million TPE example, the Celtics could send out Hauser’s $10.8 million salary and then use $9.2 million of the TPE to facilitate the trade.
Now that we’ve covered that, let’s dive in.
Naz Reid
2026-27 salary: $23.2 million. Contract details: five years, $125 million, final year is a player option. Three guaranteed years remaining.
For the past three years, Naz Reid has been a perennial Sixth Man of the Year candidate, winning the award in 2024, finishing in the top-5 in 2025 and top-4 this past season. He’s earned the opportunity to step into a starting role outside of the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Reid feels like the ideal fit for the retooling Celtics. He’s 26, so he fits perfectly with the timeline. He’s athletic, can run the floor, defend the rim, deter shots, set screens, operate above the rim and most importantly, can knock down threes on decent volume.
There’s a lot to like about the idea of Reid in Boston. He solves a ton of issues with the big man rotation. Reid isn’t a truly switchable five, but you can have him play up-to-touch, operating at the level of the screen, ready to hedge, show and recover, or contain the ball-handler. He’s smart, knows when to tag, when to rotate and when to stay home. And, he can play a standard drop coverage with solid mobility.
Unfortunately, it’s hard to see how Boston could pry him out of Minnesota. The Timberwolves aren’t going to hand over the best bench big in the NBA for no reason. Worse still, the Celtics don’t have what the Timberwolves need this summer.
According to Chris Hine, who covers the Timberwolves for The Minnesota Star Tribune, Chris Finch’s team is in need of a genuine point guard.
“The way this season played out felt like it underscored the need for the Wolves to find a permanent solution at point guard alongside Edwards for multiple reasons,” Hine explained. “Specifically, the Wolves might have to find someone with a more traditional point guard mentality to get everyone involved, like Conley does…A more traditional point guard would free up Edwards to work off ball and shoot more threes, one of his superpowers.”
Boston doesn’t have a genuine point guard to offer up. In fact, they need to find one of their own this summer.
So, unless the Celtics can find a way of facilitating a deal that sends a guard to Minnesota, with Reid heading to Boston, and the TPE playing a role in making everything work, we’re unlikely to see the 2024 Sixth Man of the Year strutting his stuff for the Celtics next season.
Myles Turner
2026-27 salary: $26.5 million. Contract details: four years, $108.8 million, final year is a player option. Two guaranteed years remaining.
If you’re a Celtics fan, it’s borderline impossible to avoid the speculation regarding a trade for Giannis Antetokounmpo. I’ve also seen some trade ideas that would involve bringing in Myles Turner via the TPE as a secondary part of a deal that brings Giannis to Boston.
However, Turner to Boston isn’t mutually exclusive to Giannis landing in Boston. You can get Turner without adding Giannis.
For that reason, I have Turner on my list of TPE targets. In fact, if or when Giannis is moved, I think he becomes the next domino to fall for the Milwaukee Bucks. Brad Stevens could swoop in to take him off Milwaukee’s hands, potentially gifting them a sizeable TPE of their own to use closer to the trade deadline, or even next summer.
Turner would bring size, shot blocking, rim deterrence and perimeter spacing to the Celtics starting five. He fits with how Mazzulla likes his team to play. The downside is that Turner isn’t a highly effective interior scorer, which, for his size, can be frustrating.
Nevertheless, if the goal is to generate more rim attempts, having a floor-spacing five should open up the floor enough for Boston’s slashers, drivers and cutters. You don’t need a hulking big man taking up some interior space. Furthermore, you can also space vertically with Turner on the roll when he does venture into the restricted area.
Turner could be a strong addition to Boston’s rotation next season. He would slide Neemias Queta down to a bench role and ensure the entire big man rotation is stronger heading into the new campaign.
I wouldn’t be against a move for Turner, depending on what the Bucks were asking for in return. You’ve got to think they’d be willing to move him with little resistance, especially if Giannis is already out of the picture. The hope is that they don’t demand someone like Hugo Gonzalez or Baylor Scheierman as a makeweight in the deal.
Daniel Gafford
2026-27 salary: $17.2 million. Contract details: three years, $54.3 million; there is no player option. All three years are fully guaranteed.
Daniel Gafford has been floated in trade rumors for about a year now, if not longer. He’s entering into the first year of a three-year contract extension, so he’s cost-controlled. At 27-years-old, Gafford fits the younger timeline the Celtics are building to.
Unlike Reid and Turner, Gafford doesn’t offer any perimeter scoring. He’s a rim-runner in every sense of the word. If Stevens wants more rim pressure, dunks and interior play, Gafford could be the guy to help bring that vision to life.
Gafford would be a dream pairing with Jayson Tatum, who likes to throw the rock anywhere in the vicinity of the rim, so a lob threat big man can finish off the play. The two of them together, working on slip screen actions, would be some pretty basketball to watch.
Another plus of adding Gafford is his interior defense. He’s highly impactful in terms of rim protection, rim deterrence, navigating screens and operating as a helper. Mazzulla could use him as a drop defender, weakside helper, or container when guarding PnR’s.
If the Celtics could find a way to add Gafford, they’d be adding a solid interior scorer and defender. However, they’d need to work with him on his screening, which is a key part of Mazzulla’s system, and arguably one of the weakest parts of his game. Still, we saw Neemy improve as a screener last season, so it’s not outside the realm of possibility that Gafford would too.
I’m not sure what the Mavericks would be looking for in a Gafford trade, or whether the Celtics would have the pieces to make a deal enticing. Yet, armed with their TPE I wouldn’t be upset if it emerged Stevens had at least picked up the phone.
Nic Claxton
2026-27 salary: $23.3 million. Contract details: four years, $97 million; there is no player option. Two years remaining.
If Gafford isn’t your cup of tea, but you are interested in a rim-runner, then maybe Nic Claxton is someone you would prefer. He’s another above-the-rim player who can offer interior scoring and rim protection. Notably, Claxton is also coming off his best season for creation, averaging 3.7 dimes per night.
Depending on how the Nets decide to continue with their current rebuilding efforts, Claxton may be seen as a potential trade chip to bring back additional assets and younger players. He’s already 27, which arguably puts him outside of Brooklyn’s current timeline.
The bigger question is, who, or what, would the Celtics need to give up in order to entice the Nets to the negotiating table? At first glance, it doesn’t seem like the Celtics have much that Brooklyn would want outside of picks and maybe Gonzalez.
I wouldn’t trade Hugo.
Claxton would be a solid addition. He’d instantly be the starting big on the roster and would fill a similar role to what Robert Williams did when healthy. Therefore, it’s fair to assume that Tatum would love to play with him, and Jaylen Brown would find ways of maximizing the vertical spacing Claxton would bring.
It would be interesting to see how Mazzulla used him on defense, though. Because while Claxton is a solid shot blocker, opposing teams rarely look concerned with attacking the paint when he’s anchoring the restricted area. That lack of rim deterrence would certainly lead to some interesting questions Mazzulla would need to answer.
Wendell Carter Jr.
2026-27 salary: $18.1 million. Contract details: three years, $58.6 million; there is a team option for the final year.
Wendell Carter brings something different to the other names on this list. He’s a high-quality interior defender. In fact, I’d argue that his best asset.
Carter will get you points. He averaged 11.9 per game in his career. He’ll get you rebounds, too. Yet, it’s the work he does in locking down the interior that would have the biggest impact for the Celtics.
I’m still a stout believer that Boston’s identity remains that of a hard-nosed defensive team, three-point volume be damned. Adding a lockdown interior presence wouldn’t be the worst idea in the world. However, against some of the top-tier talents in the league, WCJ would be just as susceptible, and that’s where his limited offensive game would become an issue.
I’m not one for setting the bar at the level of being able to shut down Wembanyama or SGA. It’s ridiculous to judge players on their ability to contain or dominate the top 1% of the league. However, if you’re getting scored on consistently, there has to be something else you’re bringing on the offensive side of the floor.
WCJ is a consistent threat around the rim. If the Celtics found ways to unlock him on the low block, then his two-way impact is clearly viable. Don’t let his long mid-range work fool you, though; those shooting numbers are on small sample sizes - less than one shot per game.
Overall, if the Celtics value interior defense and a reliable inside scoring presence WCJ could make some sense. If they’re looking for above-the-rim play or floor spacing, they’ll need to look elsewhere.
Oh, and like pretty much every name on this list, I’m not sure Orlando would be willing to do business, or what the Celtics would have to part with to get a deal over the line. Still, WCJ is an intriguing option that might need some deeper thought.
Side Note
Onyeka Okongwu remains my dream target. He’s also a potential TPE trade target. However, I’ve left him off this list because i view him as unattainable — even more so than Naz Reid, who I think is a super long shot.
Ranking this list
1 - Naz Reid (although, i must stress, incredibly unlikely)
2- Daniel Gafford
3 - Myles Turner
4 - WCJ
5 - Nic Claxton