Celtics waive R.J. Hunter; James Young wins final roster spot
The Celtics elected to keep the 21-year-old Young over Hunter before Monday's roster trimdown deadline
The Boston Celtics have waived R.J. Hunter, a source told ESPN’s Jeff Goodman on Monday. The move finalizes the Celtics’ 15-man roster heading into the regular season opener on Wednesday, with third-year swingman James Young earning the team’s final roster spot. Danny Ainge was reportedly shopping around Hunter and Young as recently as Friday for a second-round pick, in hopes the team would receive some sort of return for one of the former first-round picks ahead of Monday’s roster cutdown deadline. The Celtics entered training camp with 16 guaranteed contracts for only 15 roster spots. “We’re continuing to evaluate and look for opportunities out there if there are any deals to be had, which we’ve been looking for for a few months,” Ainge said on Friday. “So we knew that this situation would present itself, or was the most likely scenario to happen when camp started. So both [Hunter and Young] have played very well [this preseason], and have made the decision very difficult.”Ultimately, no trade market materialized for either player, leading to the Celtics electing to keep the younger player with better shooting numbers [Young] over Hunter. Hunter was drafted No. 28 overall in the 2015 NBA Draft by the Celtics with a pick acquired from the LA Clippers in compensation for letting Doc Rivers out of his coaching contract. The 23-year-old played in 36 games his rookie season, averaging 2.7 points and 1.0 rebounds per game. He shot just 36.7 percent from the field and 30 percent from 3-point range during one year in Boston.
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