Undrafted rookie forward Sam Hauser will be manning one of the Celtics‘ two-way deals this season, per Darren Hartwell of NBC Sports Boston. The original plan appeared to be that sharpshooter Garrison Matthews would be joining Hauser. However, according to The Athletic’s Jared Weiss, Matthews spurned the Celtics’ two-way offer in hopes of receiving a standard deal elsewhere.
With an empty two-way slot, the Cs were forced to go back to the drawing board and scope the free agency market. On Monday, October 18th, they ultimately found their man, settling on shooting guard Brodric Thomas. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski has reported that the 24-year-old Truman product has agreed to a two-way contract with the Celtics.
The second-year pro spent time with both the Houston Rockets and Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2020-21 NBA season. In 32 overall games, Thomas averaged 3.9 points on 36.1% shooting and 1.7 rebounds in 12.5 minutes per contest. After joining the Cavs on February 24th, the 6-foot-5-inch, 185-pound Illinois native saw his usage more than double compared to his brief stint in Houston (four games). Over 28 games (one start) with Cleveland, Thomas averaged 4.1 points in 13.4 minutes per game.
Thomas will theoretically add some backcourt depth behind the likes of Marcus Smart, Payton Pritchard and the recently acquired duo of Dennis Schroder and Josh Richardson. Being on a two-way deal, he will also join Hauser in splitting time between Boston and the team’s G League affiliates, the Maine Celtics.
The Celtics still have one remaining standard roster spot heading into Wednesday’s season-opener following their decision to waive forward Jabari Parker.
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Tacko Fall Settles in Cleveland
After a solid preseason showing, former Celtics fan favorite Tacko Fall has secured himself a new NBA home. The Cavaliers announced on Saturday, October 16th that they converted the 7-foot-6-inch big man’s contract to a two-way deal for the upcoming 2021-22 season, via the team’s official website:
Fall (7-6, 310) appeared in three preseason games after being signed to the Cavs training camp roster on Sept 27, 2021. Fall played in 18 games in 2020-21 for the Boston Celtics, averaging 2.6 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.1 blocked shots in 7.6 minutes and has also appeared in two career playoff games with the Celtics. In 2019-20, Fall appeared in 29 games (11 starts) in the NBA G-League for the Maine Celtics, averaging 12.9 points, 11.3 rebounds and 3.1 blocks in 23 minutes. He went undrafted in 2019 after playing four seasons at University of Central Florida (2015-2019).
In three preseason games with the Cavs, Fall racked up an average of 5.0 points, 2.7 rebounds and 0.7 blocks over 11.8 minutes per contest.
Fall Facing Familiar Challenges With the Cavs
From a statistical standpoint, the UCF product enjoyed his most prolific campaign to date in 2020-21. Appearing in 12 more games and nearly doubling his minutes average from his rookie season, Fall put up career-highs in rebounds (2.7) and blocks (1.1). Still, he struggled to crack Boston’s frontcourt rotation.
Now in Cleveland, he’ll face a similar challenge, sharing a frontcourt with the likes of Jarrett Allen, Kevin Love and newcomers Evan Mobley (No. 2 overall pick) and Lauri Markkannen. As for the latter, there have been rumblings that Markkannen could moonlight at the 3-spot with the Cavaliers (via Cleveland.com). With that said, expect Fall to do most of his damage with the G-League Cleveland Charge this season.
Celtics fans will get one potential opportunity to welcome back their beloved big man with open arms, as Boston will host the Cavs for a December 22nd showdown in TD Garden. The two teams will face off two more times throughout the season, on November 13th and November 15th, both of which will take place in Cleveland.
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