3 Celtics Who Will Be Cut Before Training Camp
By Jovan Alford
The newly-minted NBA champion Boston Celtics will prepare to defend their title in a couple of months when the 2024-25 NBA regular season begins.
The Celtics didn’t make many changes to their roster this offseason as they decided to run it back with the same core that helped them defeat the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals. The only notable addition was the selection of rookie Baylor Scheierman in the first round of the 2024 NBA Draft.
Heading into training camp, the defending NBA champions have 19 players on their roster. However, there are only 15 players on an NBA team’s active roster, which does not include two-way players.
That means a few of these players will not be with the big league club when the regular season tips off in October. Below, we’ll discuss those potential cut candidates as Boston looks to make another run for an NBA title.
1. Ron Harper Jr.
Harper Jr. signed an Exhibit 10 contract with the Celtics in July, which means he’ll likely get cut before or during training camp and assigned to Boston’s NBA G League affiliate. Harper joined the Celtics’ summer league team in Las Vegas, where he averaged 6.7 points per game on 40 percent shooting from the field.
The 24-year-old forward recently spent time with the Toronto Raptors, who waived him in December last year following a shoulder injury.
The former Rutgers standout went undrafted following the 2022 NBA Draft, but latched on with the Raptors, inking a two-way contract.
Harper didn’t see much time with the Raptors in 2022-23 (six games) as most of his rookie season was spent in the G League with Raptors905. With Raptors905, the young forward averaged 16.7 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 4.0 assists in 31.6 minutes per game.
Harper also shot 50.1 percent from the field and 36.6 percent from three-point range on 5.7 attempts per game.
Based on his performance as a rookie in the G League, Toronto signed Harper Jr. to another two-way deal last summer. However, Harper only played six games with 905 last season.
With the Celtics having a ton of talent at the wing, there’s no room for Harper, who will continue to refine his skills in the G League.