Ex-Celtics First-Round Pick Waived Before Start Of NBA Season

Romeo Langford is in search of his next NBA opportunity.

The Jazz announced they waived Longford on Tuesday, eight days before their 2023-24 regular-season opener. The 23-year-old signed with Utah on Aug. 30 and played in one preseason game with the team before he was released.

Langford entered the NBA as a 2019 first-round pick by the Celtics, who used the 14th overall selection on the Indiana product. The 6-foot-5 guard played two-plus seasons in Boston before he was traded to San Antonio in February 2022. The Celtics sent Langford, Josh Richardson and what proved to be the 25th overall pick in the ’22 draft to the Spurs in exchange for Derrick White, who now is one of Boston’s most important players.

An Indiana native, Langford played 43 games last season for a San Antonio team that ended up with the No. 1 overall pick in this year’s draft. Shortly after he was released by the Spurs, Langford found a new home in Utah, where the front office is led by Danny Ainge. Langford was among Ainge’s final draft picks as the Celtics’ president of basketball operations before he was replaced by Brad Stevens.

It remains to be seen where Langford’s basketball journey will take him next, but living up to previous expectations doesn’t appear to be in the cards.