Who will land the 15th and final spot on the Boston Celtics’ roster to open the 2019-20 NBA season?
The competition seemingly is down to Javonte Green and Max Strus, with each bringing something different to the table. The Celtics thus will have a difficult decision to make before their regular-season opener against the Philadelphia 76ers next Wednesday.
Danny Ainge was asked about the roster battle Thursday during an appearance on 98.5 The Sports Hub’s “Toucher and Rich,” and while he wouldn’t disclose which player has the leg up, the Celtics president of basketball operations spoke glowingly of both Green and Strus.
“I don’t know. This is a busy time of the year, and we’re evaluating these guys every day, and we’re evaluating the entire league and what’s going on around the league and what players might make other rosters and so forth,” Ainge said. “But we like Max, we like his shooting ability, his toughness, his smarts. And we like Javonte and Javonte’s energy and just athleticism. He gets to so many balls and he makes a lot happen. He’s an Energizer bunny when he does come into the game, and we’re excited about both of those guys’ careers.
“Right now, it’s going to come down to a decision between those two, but who knows between now and the deadline what sort of deals can be made, and those are things that we still don’t know and those are conversations that go on every day. I’m excited about both of them and both of their futures.”
Green, who stands at 6-foot-5, played overseas after going undrafted out of Radford in 2015. He’s been impressive since joining the Celtics, first in summer league and then in the preseason. The 26-year-old swingman averaged 9.3 points, 4 rebounds and 1 assist in 14 minutes per game across four preseason contests.
Strus, 23, signed a two-way deal with the Celtics after going undrafted out of DePaul in June. The 6-foot-6 guard/forward averaged 5 points, 2 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 14.8 minutes in four preseason games.
The Celtics then converted Strus to a standard NBA contract this past weekend, allowing them to fill the vacancy by turning Tacko Fall’s Exhibit 10 contract into a two-way deal. One might interpret this as the Celtics guaranteeing Strus some extra financial security should he be cut, but we’ll have to wait and see.
