BOSTON — Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens said prior to Boston facing the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday night that he wanted to acquire a wing — potentially from the buyout market — to fill an open roster spot.
Well, it didn’t take Stevens long to do just that.
According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, veteran forward Torrey Craig agreed to a deal with the Celtics. The news of the move broke about two hours after Stevens revealed the type of acquisition he wanted to make.
Craig was waived by the Chicago Bulls earlier this week as part of the trade that sent Zach Lavine to the Sacramento Kings. Craig, 34, appeared in just nine games for the Bulls this season as he battled injuries and was on the outside of Billy Donovan’s regular rotation.
Craig comes to the Celtics with plenty of experience as he has spent eight seasons in the NBA, suiting up for the Denver Nuggets, Milwaukee Bucks, Phoenix Suns, Indiana Pacers and Bulls.
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His career numbers don’t jump off the page as he’s averaged 6.0 points and 4.0 rebounds. But Craig worked himself into a viable 3-point shooter in past seasons. Craig shot a combined 39.5% from beyond the arc over the last two-plus seasons, including hitting 42.9% of his treys in limited playing time with the Bulls this season.
It’s likely that Craig won’t get much of a shot with the Celtics. But he’ll be an end-of-the-bench option head coach Joe Mazzulla can to turn to and providence insurance if Sam Hauser struggles with his shot.
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The Celtics had only 13 players on their roster following the trade of Jaden Springer to the Houston Rockets. Boston needed to add one player in two weeks time to meet the league minimum of 14 rostered players and Stevens obviously wasted no time in doing that.
Boston next plays Saturday in New York against the Knicks, and that could possibly be when Craig makes his Celtics debut.
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Featured image via Kamil Krzaczynski/Imagn Images
