Boston Celtics: How Shane Larkin will make the final roster

The Boston Celtics signed guard Shane Larkin to a guaranteed deal this summer.  But will he be on the roster opening night?

The Shane Larkin signing is the most confusing one the Boston Celtics have made as of late.  It puts them at 16 guaranteed contracts, which is one over the NBA limit of 15.

Now, I’d usually say Larkin is just a camp signing and that he’d be cut.

However, the Celtics gave this guy a guaranteed contract.

Why?

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Honestly, I don’t really know.  Even if they do cut him, they owe him money.  That’s not usually the way Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge conducts business.  All I can think of is that he’d be insurance for Isaiah Thomas. But who’s  the odd man out on this roster now?  It still could be Larkin, who spent last season overseas.

We know it won’t be Ante Zizic or Semi Ojeleye, but what about Abdel Nader?  He was G League rookie of the year, but if he can’t make it work defensively in training camp, you could see him flipped for a pick.

Larkin is 24 years old, and the last NBA team he played for was the Brooklyn Nets.  He averaged six points and three assists per game.  Larkin is actually only two inches taller than Isaiah Thomas at 5’11, so the move isn’t even about bringing height to a small Celtics backcourt.

It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out, and if Larkin really does end up beating one of the younger guys for a spot on this team.

Brad Stevens narrowed positions on his team to ball handler, big, and wing.  Shane Larkin could just be another ball handler if this team feels like its bench doesn’t have someone like that.  This could also depend on how far along Jaylen Brown is, especially with his ball control.

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If the team is comfortable with where Brown is then Larkin becomes an afterthought.

Only a few more weeks until training camp opens and we get to see what these guys are all about.