Celtics to Fill Last Roster Spot With Summer League Standout: Report

Getty Charlie Brown Jr. #16 of the Philadelphia 76ers shoots against Brodric Thomas #97 of the Boston Celtics.

The Boston Celtics have officially signed Justin Jackson and Denzel Valentine to their training camp roster, as reported by Brian Robb of MassLive on September 15. That brings their training camp roster to 19 players, one short of the limit for training camp. Robb also added in his report who the Celtics plan to use the last training camp roster spot on.

“A league source tells MassLive that former two-way player Brodric Thomas is expected to be signed ahead of camp as well.”

Thomas spent time with the Houston Rockets and Cleveland Cavaliers before signing with the Celtics on a two-way contract for the 2021-22 season.

Thomas went on to split time between playing for the Celtics and their G-League affiliate, the Maine Celtics. Thomas would play 12 games for the Celtics during the regular season, where, in five minutes a game, he averaged 1.8 points, 0.9 assists, and 0.8 rebounds while shooting 44.4 percent from the field and 22.2 percent from three.

Because Thomas was on a two-way contract, he was not permitted to play in the NBA playoffs.

Thomas’ Performance in the 2022 Summer League

Thomas went on to play for the Celtics during the 2022 Las Vegas Summer League. In the four games that he played, Thomas averaged 13.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 2.5 assists a game while shooting 51.6 percent from the field and 53.3 percent from three, according to NBA.com.

This included a standout performance against the Golden State Warriors, where Thomas put up 18 points, five rebounds, and two assists.

Thomas had another standout performance against the Milwaukee Bucks, where he put up 14 points, eight rebounds, and four assists.

Teammates who were on the Celtics’ summer league roster will be joining Thomas on their training camp roster, including Jackson, Mfiondu Kabengele, Sam Hauser, and JD Davison. Other notable players were Matt Ryan, who ended the season with the Celtics on a two-way contract, and Juhann Begarin, who has decided to stay overseas for the 2022-23 season.

New Additions ‘Reduce the Odds’ of Carmelo Signing

After confirming that the Jackson and Valentine signings were official, Robb also said that those two being brought in means that the odds are lower that the Celtics will bring in Carmelo Anthony to training camp.

“The signings once again reduce the odds that Boston will bring in a veteran like Carmelo Anthony into training camp, as MassLive reported last week,” Robb said.

With Thomas reportedly going to fill in their last roster spot, Carmelo Anthony has been ruled out by extension for the time being, though that doesn’t mean he may not be an option down the line.

In that same report confirming that the Celtics were not expected to have interest in Anthony on September 6, Robb added that while he may not join their training camp roster, that doesn’t necessarily mean the Celtics won’t look into Anthony at some point during the season.

“I could see the Celtics making that call later in the year if they need some scoring punch off the bench, but the logical first step seems to be giving the young guys more of an opportunity. That includes Sam Hauser as well as a number of big men in the running for roster spots.”