That Celts had an open offer too Thomas Bryant To fill the backup center spot in the rotation, team sources say The Athletic’s Jared Weiss, but Bryant opted for a one-year, minimum-pay contract with the Lakers for a chance to become the starting center. Other teams interested in Bryant’s services included the Raptors, Bucks and Jazz, according to Yahoo Sports’ Chris Haynes, who reported that Bryant is signing with Los Angeles.
Weiss writes that Bryant took a wait-and-see approach, like that Kevin Durant The situation could develop if another opportunity arose, but he decided to accept the Lakers’ offer before it went away. As Weiss says, with Bryant off the board and the free agent center’s options either aging or relatively unproven, which player is Celtic’s president of basketball operations remains to be seen Brad Stevens maybe find to fill the backup role.
Here are a few more notes from Weiss about Boston’s plans for the rest of the roster:
- The Celtics are still considering opportunities to take advantage of the $17,142,857 traded player exemption (created by the Evan Fournier Sign-and-trade to New York last summer) expiring on July 18, our tracker shows. However, Weiss reports that the team is unlikely to use it on a high-paying player due to luxury tax concerns. According to The Athletic’s Danny Leroux, with 12 players on the default list, Boston is $20.2 million over the tax limit, which translates to a $45.8 million tax bill. If the team took advantage of the $17.1 million trade exemption, that bill would nearly triple, according to The Athletic.
- The backup center spot will be important next season as the Celtics plan to limit Al HorfordWeiss’s minutes into the regular season, including sitting out “most” back-to-backs, team sources say. Horford turned 36 last month and appeared in 92 games last season (regular season and postseason combined). So it’s certainly a logical step for a team to make sure he’s as fit as he could be in the 2021-22 playoffs again next season.
- JD DavisonDrafted 53rd by the Celtics a few weeks ago, Will sign a two-way deal with Boston, but sources tell Weiss that Davison will be given the opportunity to earn a Standard roster spot in the coming months earn. Brodrik Thomaswho was on a two-way contract with the Celtics last season and is currently a restricted free agent, Weiss says will also get a shot at one of the final squad spots.