It appears the Boston Celtics have filled in their last roster spot. Shams Charania of The Athletic reported that the Celtics have signed forward Juwan Morgan out of their Maine G League Affiliate to a multiyear deal. Morgan had played for the Utah Jazz the previous two seasons before having brief stints both with Boston and the Toronto Raptors this season.
The Boston Celtics are signing forward Juwan Morgan to a multiyear deal out of their NBA G League Maine affiliate, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium. Morgan played two NBA games this season for the Celtics and Raptors. He fills Boston’s open roster spot prior to playoffs.
Before signing the multi-year deal with the Celtics, Morgan had previously been signed to a 10-day contract with the team on March 28th, where he appeared in one game against the Washington Wizards in that time. He will also be eligible to play in the postseason no matter who the Celtics face, whether it be the Philadelphia 76ers, Brooklyn Nets, or Miami Heat.
Always Proving Himself in the NBA
Since starting his pursuit of an NBA career, Morgan has always played with a chip on his shoulder. Morgan went undrafted in the 2019 NBA Draft, but that didn’t deter him from trying to make it into the league. That very summer, the Jazz brought him into their summer league roster. Morgan left a good enough impression to earn a training camp invite. Morgan was then signed to a two-way contract where he split time between playing for the Jazz and their G League affiliate, the Salt Lake City Stars, during the 2019-2020 season.
In the 21 games Morgan played for the Jazz that season, he averaged 1.7 points, 1.4 rebounds, and 0.3 assists in 6.4 minutes a game. The Jazz re-signed Morgan the following offseason, where he would play 29 games. In those 29 games, Morgan averaged 1.2 points, one rebound, and 0.3 assists in 5.1 minutes a game.
After the Jazz did not bring him back for a third stint, the Celtics brought him in to play for their G League affiliate, the Maine Red Claws, where he averaged 12.6 points, seven rebounds, and 2.3 assists in 13 games. Those numbers left a good enough impression for the Raptors to sign Morgan to a 10-day contract.
Soon after that expired, Morgan was brought back by the Red Claws before the Celtics too brought him in on a 10-day contract. That of course led to Boston signing him to a multi-year deal.
While Morgan hasn’t necessarily been a mainstay in an NBA rotation thus far, he’s clearly left a good enough impression that multiple teams have been willing to keep him around for multiple years.
Not Boston’s First Promoted G-Leaguer
Believe it or not, Juwan Morgan is not the first player from the G-League that the Celtics have brought on to their main roster this season. He is actually the fifth G-Leaguer that the Celtics have promoted to the NBA full-time on their roster in 2022.
Because the Celtics traded away five players while trading for only two at the NBA Trade Deadline, they had quite a few roster spots to fill afterward. Usually, teams would rather look to see who would be available on the buyout market to fill out their roster after the trade deadline, but Boston evidently thought otherwise.
First, they signed Sam Hauser to a two-year deal not too long after Hauser had originally been signed to a two-way contract at the beginning of the season. That same day, they also brought in Luke Kornet, who had been on the team last season, for the rest of the current season. They then signed former lottery pick Nik Stauskas to a multi-year deal after Stauskas dropped 100 points in two G-league games combined. Ten days later, they signed Malik Fitts to a multi-year before ultimately doing the same with Morgan a couple of weeks after that.
All these signs point to the Celtics clearly trusting their development system over anything else when it comes to mid-season free-agent additions.
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Celtics Sign Ex-Jazz, Raptors Forward to Multiyear Deal: Report