The Celtics trimmed their roster to the league limit by waiving Yante Maten and Max Strus, the team announced in a tweet. Boston also confirmed the release of Kaiser Gates, which appeared on NBA.com’s official transactions log last night.
The moves mean Javonte Green appears to have earned a roster spot to begin the season. The 26-year-old swingman had been playing overseas since going undrafted in 2015.
Green was reportedly battling for the final spot with Strus, who had his contract converted from a two-way deal this week and received a guarantee of nearly half the $898,310 minimum salary for a rookie this season.
Because his guarantee exceeds $50K, Strus is ineligible to join Boston’s G League team on a two-way deal or as an affiliate player.
Maten, who signed with the Celtics just before camp opened, was on a two-way contract with the Heat for most of last season. He appeared in only two NBA games, but earned second team All-G League honors at Sioux Falls.
The Javonte Green era starts now…
What was the point of signing Strus like last weekend to a guaranteed contract if they were just going to waive him today? That seems like a really odd move unless something else happened…?
They had to open up a two-way slot for Tacko Fall, so Strus was the odd man out. The partial guarantee they gave him essentially made up for the fact that he wouldn’t be getting paid that two-way salary (+ 45 NBA days) anymore.
Waiving Strus was one of the tough choices the Celtics have to make these days. He is an awesome 3-point shooter but
Javonte Green has more potential.