Boston Celtics rumors have the team signing another big man in free agency. The Celtics are looking to add more depth for the 2017-18 NBA season and may have found a good piece to come off the bench. Aron Baynes has reached an agreement on a one-year deal worth $4.3 million with the Celtics. Baynes will play center off the bench next season, giving the team more size to work with next season.
Baynes had come up in a number of NBA rumors this offseason but mostly attached to teams that could only offer him a league minimum contract. The Celtics offered him a mid-level exception, which is something that teams exceeding the salary cap can exercise with free agents.
It also shows that the team isn’t too concerned about getting close to that luxury tax threshold for the upcoming NBA season.
What has Aron Baynes done during his NBA career?
After playing for Washington State University, Aron Baynes signed as a free agent with the San Antonio Spurs. Baynes played three seasons with the Spurs, spending some time with the Austin Spurs of the D-League during that tenure. When he became a free agent, Baynes signed a multi-year deal with the Detroit Pistons. Now he will move on to his third team in the league for the 2017-18 NBA season.
While these Boston Celtics rumors won’t be considered front page news, Aron Baynes has good size and defensive abilities. He has appeared in 295 games over his five-year NBA career, averaging 5.2 points and 4.1 rebounds per game.
Most of those games he came off the bench, though Baynes did start 24 games between the Spurs and the Pistons. This should be considered an insurance policy that the Celtics are taking out, as he provides depth but won’t be required to put up “star” numbers.
Are the Boston Celtics done making moves?
This has already been a really busy offseason for the Boston Celtics.
The team missed out on signing power forward Blake Griffin from the Los Angeles Clippers, couldn’t convince the Chicago Bulls to trade them Jimmy Butler, and lost out to the Oklahoma City Thunder in the competition for Paul George of the Indiana Pacers. The Celtics did finally agree to terms on a contract with Gordon Hayward, though those negotiations did come with a few bumps along the way.
The Celtics also just traded Avery Bradley to the Detroit Pistons in a cost-saving move, which could possibly hurt the team on the defensive end of the court. With a really deep roster still intact, though, the Celtics are expected to do well and easily make the NBA Playoffs again. Al Horford, Isaiah Thomas, and rookie Jayson Tatum should certainly make this a very exciting team to watch. Will the Aron Baynes signing bring an end to the Boston Celtics rumors of adding more players this offseason?
