Getty PJ Dozier #35 of the Denver Nuggets puts up a shot.
Former Boston Celtics wing PJ Dozier has his next team lined up for the 2022-23 season. With training camp only weeks away, Dozier has agreed to join the Minnesota Timberwolves, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
Free agent PJ Dozier is signing a deal with the Minnesota Timberwolves, sources tell ESPN. Dozier is coming back from a December 2021 ACL injury. Dozier played with Denver under new Wolves president Tim Connelly.
The Timberwolves are coming off their first playoff birth since 2018 and traded every draft asset they had for the foreseeable future for All-Star center Rudy Gobert. The Timberwolves also extended Taurean Prince and signed Kyle Anderson during the offseason. The moves they’ve made demonstrate that they have every intention of going on a lengthy playoff run.
Dozier is the third player who previously played with the Denver Nuggets to sign with the Timberwolves, as they also added Bryn Forbes and Austin Rivers this offseason. Minnesota’s President of Basketball of Operations Tim Connelly previously had that same position with the Nuggets, so that may explain why the team has been targeting former Nuggets.
Dozier’s Two Tenures With the Celtics
Dozier has had two tenures with the Celtics as a player. He first joined the team on a two-way contract during the 2018-19 season following his rookie year with the Oklahoma City Thunder. While spending the majority of that season with their G-League affiliate, back when they were called the Maine Red Claws, Dozier played six games for the Celtics.
In the six games he played for the Celtics, Dozier averaged 3.2 points and 2.8 rebounds while shooting 38.1 percent from the field and 25 percent from three.
Dozier then spent the following seasons with the Nuggets, where he helped them make the Western Conference Finals in 2020. After he tore his ACL last season, the Celtics re-acquired Dozier and Bol Bol, both of whom were already out for the season, in a three-way deal with the Nuggets and the San Antonio Spurs. The Celtics then went on to trade Dozier and Bol to the Orlando Magic at the trade deadline.
Dozier also has ties to Celtics legends, as he is Reggie Lewis’ second cousin.
Dennis Schroder Signs With Lakers
Dozier is not the only former Celtic to sign with a Western Conference team, as Dennis Schroder, who played for the Celtics during the 2021-22 season, is headed back to the Los Angeles Lakers.
Free agent guard Dennis Schroder plans to sign a deal with the Los Angeles Lakers, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium. Schroder is set to return to LA.
Schroder played 49 games for the Celtics, where he averaged 14.4 points, 4.2 assists, and 3.3 rebounds while shooting 44 percent from the field and 34.9 percent from three, before being traded to the Houston Rockets.
It might be hard to label the Lakers as a contender since they missed not just the playoffs but the play-in as well last season, but nonetheless, it appears Schroder is more than thrilled to come back to play for the Lakers a second time.
Schroder played for the Lakers the year before he played for the Celtics, where he averaged 15.4 points, 5.8 assists, and 3.5 rebounds while shooting 43.7 percent from the field and 33.5 percent from three. However, Schroder is perhaps best remembered during his Laker days for reportedly passing up on a four-year extension that would have paid him up to $84 million.
Now Schroder will be playing for them again, but will only be paid $2.64 million to do so.