Celtics Signing NBA, NCAA Champion to Contract: Report

Justin Jackson

Getty Justin Jackson #44 of the Dallas Mavericks.

On September 12, Bobby Manning of CLNS Media reported that Massachusetts Jake Layman would be signing a training camp deal with the Boston Celtics. In that report, Manning also confirmed that the Celtics would be signing NBA and NCAA champion Justin Jackson.

“The source also confirmed that Summer League standout Justin Jackson and Maine Celtics guard from this past season Denzel Valentine will join the team this preseason, as had been previously reported.”

Jackson, who won an NBA Championship with the Milwaukee Bucks in 2021 and an NCAA Championship with the University of North Carolina in 2017, played briefly for the Celtics last season. Jackson signed a 10-day contract via hardship exemption on December 18. Jackson played only one game, where he put up two points in two minutes of action.

Jackson also played six games with the Phoenix Suns last season, where he averaged 2.2 points, 1.2 rebounds, and 0.3 assists in 5.8 minutes a game.


Justin Jackson’s 2022 Summer League Numbers

Jackson played for the Celtics during the 2022 Las Vegas Summer League. In the three games Jackson played for them, he averaged 16.7 points, 3.7 rebounds, and three assists in 30.4 minutes a game, according to NBA.com. Jackson also shot 43.2 percent from the field and 32.1 percent from three.

This included a standout performance against the Golden State Warriors, where Jackson scored 24 points on nine-of-14 shooting from the field, which included hitting five three-pointers.

On August 3, Jay King of The Athletic said that Jackson was viewed as a “strong candidate” to join their training camp roster.

“As of Tuesday, the Celtics mostly were expected to fill out the rest of the training camp roster with young veterans willing to vie for those spots. Recent additions Noah Vonleh and Bruno Caboclo will be in that group, while last year’s two-way player Brodric Thomas and former Kings draft pick Justin Jackson are viewed as strong candidates to join them, league sources told The Athletic.”

Nothing had been confirmed until Manning reported that Jackson was joining the team on September 12.

Jackson was originally drafted 15th overall by the Portland Trail Blazers in the 2017 NBA Draft, but his rights were traded to the Sacramento Kings that same night. Jackson was traded to the Dallas Mavericks mid-way through his second year in the NBA in 2019. The next year, he was then traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder. After the Thunder waived him in 2021, Jackson’s had brief stints with the Bucks, Celtics, and Suns.


The Celtics’ Training Camp Roster

As of September 13, the Celtics have Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Marcus Smart, Robert Williams III, Al Horford, Malcolm Brogdon, Danilo Gallinari, Derrick White, Grant Williams, Payton Pritchard, and Sam Hauser all on fully guaranteed contracts on their 2022-23 roster.

Luke Kornet is on a partially guaranteed contract, which will become guaranteed for $1,066,639 if he makes the opening night roster, then will be fully guaranteed at $2,133,278 for the season, according to Spotrac.

Mfiondu Kabengele and JD Davison are both signed on with the Celtics on two-way contracts.

Jackson, Layman, Valentine, Noah Vonleh, and Bruno Caboclo are all on training camp deals, which will put the Celtics training camp roster at 19. The Celtics have one open spot for their training camp.

Training camp starts on September 24.

Read More
,