​After signing Tobias Harris to a two-year, $31 million contract, the San Antonio Spurs are widely expected to remain quiet this offseason. The team kept their core intact by re-signing Julian Champagnie and Harrison Barnes and by adding Jayden Quaintance and Tarris Reed in the first round. Yet as long as players such as Keldon Johnson and De’Aaron Fox remain on the roster, the Spurs will inevitably attract trade chatter. Fox is a proven All-Star, while Johnson serves as a high-energy, rebounding wing who can lift any bench with his intensity and versatility.
With Johnson entering the final year of his contract at a modest $17.5 million before free agency, the Spurs are likely to draw interest from teams seeking affordable, impactful depth. One club that has prioritized financial flexibility is Boston. Following their deal to send Jaylen Brown to the Philadelphia 76ers, the Celtics have signaled a clear intention to target players on team-friendly contracts as they aim to avoid the luxury tax and preserve cap space for future moves.
On the floor, Boston wants to bolster Jayson Tatum’s supporting cast with players who can defend, rebound, and play off the ball. Johnson appears to fit that profile. Yet there is a notable caveat. Polymarket, a prediction market often viewed as a speculative platform rather than a reliable news outlet, has raised eyebrows about potential developments. Heavy Sports’ Sean Deveney, while acknowledging the platform’s speculative nature, suggested Boston could pursue a relatively young piece if certain gaps at the four position persist.
Deveney pointed out that the Celtics are “thin at power forward,” with Jayson Tatum and Sam Hauser expected to log most of the minutes at that spot, a situation that could compel Boston to explore an upgrade. In that scenario, Johnson from San Antonio, Herbert Jones from the Pelicans, or Lu Dort from the Thunder could become attractive options to complement Tatum’s playmaking and scoring. According to the chatter, Boston would need to match Johnson’s roughly $18 million salary to pull off a deal, which would require including or exchanging assets such as Sam Hauser or, alternatively, Spurs management parting with a player like Derrick White—an exchange that would likely demand draft picks and other considerations.
Despite those rumors, a Johnson-Keldon trade remains speculative, and the Spurs would likely resist a blockbuster move while their cap situation remains tied to De’Aaron Fox. Until San Antonio demonstrates a willingness to part with Fox or to entertain a deal that would bring back a combination of meaningful young talent and meaningful future draft capital, a Danilo Gallinari-level blockbuster swap seems unlikely to materialize. For Spurs fans, the more plausible path remains patience: see how Quaintance and Reed develop, keep Johnson as a productive two-way contributor, and monitor whether Boston, or any other contender, steps forward with a compelling package that aligns with San Antonio’s long-term rebuild timeline. In the meantime, the rumor mill will churn, but meaningful, news-driven moves will hinge on the Spurs’ broader strategy and the willingness of other teams to meet their asking price.