Getty Juwan Morgan #16 of the Utah Jazz dunks over Paul Millsap #4 of the Denver Nuggets.
The Boston Celtics have agreed to a non-guaranteed training camp deal with power forward Juwan Morgan, per Michael Scotto of Hoops Hype.
Morgan, 24, spent the first two years of his NBA career with the Utah Jazz. The 6-foot-7-inch Indiana product has appeared in 50 career regular-season games, totaling 281 minutes and averaging 1.4 points and 1.1 rebounds. He has nine games of postseason experience, including drawing the start in two games of Utah’s seven-game first-round series loss to the Denver Nuggets in 2020.
Morgan has flashed defensively at times throughout his NBA tenure thanks to his hard-nosed play. He also offers a bit of position flexibility, as he operated as a small-ball center from time to time with the Jazz.
With training camp set to open in approximately three weeks, Morgan will look to compete for a back-end roster spot with Boston — or more likely, a two-way contract. With both Tremont Waters and Tacko Fall moving on this offseason, the C’s have a vacant two-way slot alongside forward Sam Hauser.
The Celtics currently have the permitted 15 players under contract, as well as Jabari Parker’s non-guaranteed deal. With Morgan’s addition, as well as Hauser’s presence, Boston is set to enter camp with 17 players rostered.
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Fall Says Goodbye to Boston
With Brad Stevens taking the reigns as the Celtics’ new president of basketball operations, Boston’s frontcourt has undergone quite the makeover this summer. One of the casualties in that remake was beloved big man Tacko Fall, whose 7-foot-5-inch presence was no longer a necessity on the roster.
In hopes of carving out a larger role elsewhere, the Senegalese center recently took his talents to Cleveland, inking a one-year, non-guaranteed deal with the Cavaliers.
Fall took to Twitter to say goodbye to the NBA franchise that took a chance on him as an undrafted free agent out of UCF two years ago, as well as the fanbase that showed him unwavering support and love over that span.
“Words cannot express how much I have enjoyed playing in Boston these last 2 years, it was both a blessing and an honor,” tweeted Fall. “I’ll forever be grateful for all the love and support I have received in my time here.”
Fall appeared in 26 games over his Celtics tenure, averaging 2.7 points and 2.6 rebounds. He’ll now look to fight for minutes in Cleveland’s deep frontcourt consisting of Jarrett Allen, Kevin Love, top-five pick Evan Mobley and the recently acquired Lauri Markkanen.
Waters Finds New Home
The former point guard has agreed to a deal with the reigning NBA Champion Milwaukee Bucks, according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania.
During his two seasons in Beantown, Waters averaged 9.6 minutes over 37 regular-season games. In 2020-21, he saw a slight uptick in offensive production, netting career-high in points (3.8), field goal percentage (40.5%), 3-point percentage (39.5%) and assists (2.4). The Athletic’s Jared Weiss reported back in July that Waters had been training away from the Celtics’ facility and was “looking for more of an opportunity to break into a rotation elsewhere in the NBA this upcoming season.”
Charania notes that Waters will compete for a roster spot during training camp, highlighting the fact that Milwaukee has open guaranteed slots as well as two-way vacancies. The 23-year-old spent time with the Houston Rockets during this year’s Summer League.
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