Celtics sign Marcus Georges-Hunt

http://www.celticsblog.com/2016/8/20/12568550/boston-celtics-sign-marcus-georges-hunt



Celtics sign Marcus Georges-Hunt


By Keith P Smith


on Aug 20, 2016, 4:24p 13




Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images
Boston has signed 19 out a possible 20 camp roster spots.



The Boston Celtics have signed Marcus Georges-Hunt to a contract for the 2016-17 season. At this time contract terms are unknown, but it is highly likely that Georges-Hunt received a 1-year partially guaranteed or non-guaranteed contract. Essentially, the Celtics are bringing Georges-Hunt to camp, will waive him before the season starts and then will assign him to the Maine Red Claws of the NBA Development League. NBA teams who have a D-League affiliate have the right of first refusal to roster players in the D-League who attended training camp with the NBA club.

Who is Marcus Georges-Hunt? He’s a 6’5’’ shooting guard/small forward out of Georgia Tech. He was a 4-year starter for the Yellow Jackets and averaged 16.7 PPG, 3.3 APG and 3.4 RPG as a senior. He’s a potential 3&D player in the NBA, but he needs work on the “3” part and is inconsistent on the “D” part. Georges-Hunt is not likely to see very many minutes in the preseason given the Celtics’ log-jam of players at the wing spot. Ultimately, he’s a practice body for the long camp practices, and the Celtics will have the first shot at getting him to Maine. Once Georges-Hunt is waived by Boston, any NBA team will have the opportunity to sign him, as D-League players (minus those assigned by the NBA club) are free agents and eligible to sign with any NBA team.

More importantly, what does this mean for the Celtics roster and Abdel Nader specifically? The Celtics roster now stands at 19 players, one shy of the offseason maximum of 20. The 20th spot is likely to go to a big man. The Celtics aren’t going to want to push veterans Al Horford and Amir Johnson very much in camp or the preseason, and Kelly Olynyk is returning from off-season shoulder surgery. Another big would give Brad Stevens flexibility in spotting those three around Jonas Jerebko, Tyler Zeller, Jordan Mickey, Ben Bentil and a camp big.

As for Abdel Nader, the signing of Georges-Hunt is further sign that the Celtics have no plans to bring Nader to camp this fall. With the roster already at 16 guaranteed contracts, the Celtics don’t have space for Nader. With his strong play this summer, Boston does not want to bring him to camp, waive him and lose their rights to him in the future. Nader, on the other hand, would like to come to camp, fight for a roster spot and gain his NBA freedom if the Celtics do waive him. In the end, Nader will probably have to agree to go to the D-League or play overseas while Boston retains his Draft rights, and the team may look to bring him to the NBA for the 2017-18 season.



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