JUNE 12TH: Anthony has indeed opted in, according to the RealGM transactions log.
APRIL 17TH: Joel Anthony intends to exercise his $3.8MM player option to return to the Celtics next season, a source tells Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com. The news comes as no surprise, though Haynes hears Anthony “isn’t too thrilled” playing for a rebuilding team in Boston after having spent the past few years on a championship squad in Miami. Still, the guaranteed salary is simply too much for the 31-year-old center to pass up, the source tells Haynes.
The seventh-year veteran saw a career-low 5.6 minutes per game this season, though he logged somewhat more frequent playing time after arriving in Boston in a January trade. Anthony was an integral part of the Heat’s championship team in 2011/12, starting 51 games and averaging a career-high 21.1 MPG, but he came off the bench for most of the playoffs, and he increasingly became an afterthought from then on.
The C’s have slightly more than $44.7MM in commitments for next season, so Anthony’s option will bring that number past $48.5MM. The figure doesn’t include the cap hold for Boston’s own first-round pick, as well as the Nets’ pick the Celtics are receiving via previous trades. Those selections should add close to $5MM to Boston’s books for 2014/15.