Getty Svi Mykhailiuk
The Boston Celtics have offered a contract to five-year NBA veteran Svi Mykhailiuk, as the Greek Publication Sports DNA reported on August 2. MassLive’s Brian Robb gave more insight into the possibility of adding Mykhailiuk to the team.
“Mykhailiuk would be a solid option for deep bench depth given his track record, but I doubt the team would fully guarantee that contract until he makes the team,” Robb wrote on August 4.
At the moment, the Celtics have two open full-time roster spots. Mykhailiuk is coming off a season in which he averaged 6.9 points while shooting 44.5% from the field and 42.4% from three in 32 games combined with the New York Knicks and Charlotte Hornets.
Robb added that he’s not a big fan of any free agent available at the moment.
“There really aren’t many vets out there I would jump on immediately with even the higher profile guys left being flawed players ([Christian] Wood, [Kelly] Oubre, etc.).”
If the Celtics were to add Mykhailiuk on a partially or non-guaranteed contract, he would join Dalano Banton and Luke Kornet among the Celtics on the roster with contracts that are not fully guaranteed at the moment.
Blake Griffin Return Not Out of The Question
On August 3, CLNS Media’s Bobby Manning reported that Blake Griffin could potentially return to the Celtics for the 2023-24 season.
“I’ve heard the door remains open for his return despite the distance from family and his home on the west coast. Given that he mulled his options until October last year, it’s worth assuming he’ll follow a similarly deliberative process this summer.”
Manning added that the Celtics could potentially pay Griffin less than what they were paying to Justin Champagnie, who they waived on August 2.
“His veteran status allows the team to sign him for a second-year salary on the cap sheet — $2 million this year — actually less than (Justin) Champagnie would’ve made. Any other veteran with over 10 years of NBA experience would qualify for the same cap discount.”
Griffin may not be in his prime anymore, but he gave quality minutes to the Celtics during the 2022-23 season, starting in 16 of the 41 games he played for the team.
that time when Blake Griffin hustled a lot and even flew a little bit against the Raptors back in December:
Luke Kornet Named as Celtics’ Offseason’s ‘Biggest Loser’
Bleacher Report’s Zach Buckley explained why Luke Kornet is among the biggest losers of the Celtics’ offseason following the moves they made.
“After shattering his previous career-high with 69 appearances this past season, Kornet’s outlook took a turn for the worse,” Buckley wrote. “His $2.4 million salary for next season is non-guaranteed, and the Celtics may not want to shoulder that expense for someone who would be their fourth-best center.”
Buckley added that there may be use in Kornet knowing the red flags that come with their bigs on the roster, but he could still be expendable nonetheless.
“It’s still possible Kornet sticks around, as Boston’s other bigs have concerns in terms of injuries (Porziņģis, Robert Williams III) and aging (37-year-old Al Horford),” Buckley continued. “Even then, though, the Celtics could decide Kornet’s roster spot would be better served by adding depth somewhere it doesn’t have three starting-caliber players already.”
Kornet’s contract is currently non-guaranteed at $2.4 million, and it will be fully guaranteed on January 10, 2024, if he is not waived by then.