The Boston Celtics waged a strong training camp competition for roster spots. In the end, those spots went to Noah Vonleh and Justin Jackson. Those two beat out players like Bruno Caboclo, Jake Layman, Luka Samanic and Brodric Thomas.
Vonleh is a seven-year NBA veteran. Boston will be Vonleh’s eighth team. He’s also played for the Charlotte Hornets, Portland Trail Blazers, Chicago Bulls, New York Knicks, Minnesota Timberwolves, Denver Nuggets and Brooklyn Nets.
Last season, Vonleh averaged 14.4 points, 9.2 rebounds, 1.8 steals and 1.3 blocks per game in China. In four preseason games with the Celtics, Vonleh averaged 7.3 points and 7.3 rebounds per game.
Jackson is a five-year NBA veteran. Jackson has previously played with the Sacramento Kings, Dallas Mavericks, Oklahoma City Thunder, Milwaukee Bucks, Phoenix Suns, and had a stint with the Celtics last season.
Jackson also saw action in four preseason games with Boston. He averaged 6.5 points per game.
Both Vonleh and Jackson were signed to non-guaranteed training camp contracts. Those deals now convert to standard non-guaranteed contracts. That means that Boston will incur a per day cap/tax hit for each player for as long as they are on the roster.
The contracts for both Vonleh and Jackson will become fully guaranteed if they are not waived by January 7.
In keeping Vonleh and Jackson, the Celtics will waive their final three training camp players: Layman, Eric Demers and Marial Shayok. Those three are expected to join Samanic with the Maine Celtics for the G League season. Reginald Kissoonlal and A.J. Reeves, who were part of the sign-and-waive process this preseason, are also expected to play for Maine. It’s unknown at this time if Caboclo and Thomas will join Boston’s G League affiliate or not.
The Celtics roster now stands in regular season compliance with 15 players on standard contracts and two players signed to Two-Way contracts between Boston and Maine.
