Free agent forward Noah Vonleh has agreed to a one-year deal with the Celtics, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski tweets.
It’s apparently a training camp deal, as Wojnarowski adds that Vonleh will go to camp with the hopes of making the roster.
The 2014 lottery pick has bounced around the league. Vonleh began his career with Charlotte, then moved on to Portland, Chicago, New York, Minnesota and Denver. In his most recent NBA season, he saw action in four games with the Nets in 2020/21.
He has averaged 4.9 PPG and 5.1 RPG in 16.8 MPG, spanning 339 career games.
Vonleh played in China with the Shanghai Sharks during the 2021/22 season. The 26-year-old averaged 14.3 PPG and 9.1 RPG with Shanghai. The Guangdong Southern Tigers were reportedly interested in signing him, but he’ll take his chances first with Boston.
Loading up on those 2014 draft prospects I see.
Do these “training camp 1 year deals” count towards a team’s offseason 20 man roster, like Exhibit 10 contracts?
yeah they’re either an Exhibit-10 or an Exhibit-9. Exhibit 9 is like a minimum, so like what Patrick Patterson and Dennis Smith Jr. got last year from the Blazers, whereas an Exhibit-10 is for the team to convert a player onto a two-way before the regular season starts.
This actually a good move
Agreed, hopefully coming back home can tap into his potential.
I actually thought Vonleh was pretty decent in his last bout with the Knicks, never fully understood why he couldn’t find a spot in the League.
As far as backup bigs go I think it makes sense to give him a shot
Cool. I said it in the article a couple of days ago, but I was surprised reports had him going back overseas. He was 1 of the last remaining options that can play the 5, defend pick and roll, and shoot. I’ve been saying he should have more opportunities for several years though, among others, so we’ll see. They already have a few pieces there though, so not sure he’ll stick there, but maybe 1 of the several teams that could use someone at that spot will swoop in on him once he gets cut, unless he maybe makes it over someone like Kabengele, but I would think he has an uphill battle there
Kebengale is on a 2-way so he is a Celtic.
He must believe in himself. Boston has 2 open slots go for it Noah!!
Experienced in the NBA. Seems big & strong enough to defend opposing powerful centers. Roster’s ready now! Let’s get going!
Go Celtics!
In 2018-19, Vonleh was the Knicks’ best player that was there the entire year anyway. Of course, they were 17-65 and entirely hapless. Still, Vonleh was a very good (natural) rebounder, and flashed a 3 pt shot for most of the season, until falling apart at the end of the year with the rest of the bunch. He was better as a 2nd big. Not a rim protector.