As Celtics Fill Out Roster, Lakers Make Intriguing Option Available
The Celtics have one full-time and one two-way roster spot open. They're $3.4 million under the second apron, per Spotrac.
Boston could create more space by waiving a player on a non-guaranteed contract. Justin Champagnie, Luke Kornet, and Dalano Banton's deals won't convert to fully guaranteed until Jan 10.
If Kornet's on the team on opening night, as expected, he's secured slightly north of $1 million of his $2.4 million pact with the Celtics. Banton locks in a little over $1 million of a partially guaranteed deal for a bit over $2 million.
Intriguing options remain available in free agency, including Austin Rivers, who, according to the Globe's Gary Washburn, Boston's expressed interest in bringing on board.
Another name now on the market is Cole Swider. The Lakers waived the six-foot-nine sharpshooter to open a two-way roster spot for forward Alex Fudge.
Swider, a Providence, Rhode Island native, played his first three collegiate campaigns for Villanova, then transferred to Syracuse for his senior season. He drilled an average of 38.1 percent of his four attempts from beyond the arc in his NCAA career. He hoisted six threes per game with the Orange and knocked them down at a 41.1 percent clip.
Swider appeared in seven tilts with the purple and gold as a rookie last season, averaging 5.9 minutes per contest and making 37.5 percent of his 1.1 shots from three-point range.
In five Summer League matchups, he generated 15.2 points per game, buried 42.5 percent of his eight long-range attempts, and grabbed 5.6 rebounds per contest.
If the New England native's open to returning to the region to play, at least part-time, for a fellow Rhode Islander in Joe Mazzulla, he's one of the better options for the Celtics to fill their last two-way roster spot.
Further Reading
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Marcus Smart Reflects on His Time with Celtics: 'I Left Everything I Had'