Anton Watson signs with Celtics rival after Boston waived him
The rookie forward has found a new home with the Knicks.
Rookie forward Anton Watson has found a new home with a Celtics rival.
The Knicks claimed the 24-year-old off of waivers, signing him to a two-way contract, according to ESPN. The move came a day after the Celtics waived Watson on Monday.
Watson never played in an NBA regular-season game during his brief stint with the Celtics. He averaged 12 points and 5.5 rebounds while shooting 30.8 percent from 3-point range in 16 games with the Maine Celtics.
According to Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe, the Celtics were disappointed in Watson’s development and had decided that he wasn’t likely to make long term contributions.
The Celtics went into the season believing that they could develop Watson into a versatile defender who could guard multiple positions and become a legitimate 3-point threat.
Celtics president of basketball operations said last summer that he wanted to see Watson “let it fly” in Maine. Making less than a third of his 3-point attempts likely did not help matters.
Watson, who spent five seasons at Gonzaga and is second behind John Stockton on the school’s all-time steals list, is older than both Jordan Walsh and JD Davison, but Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla felt comfortable playing both of them over Watson in spots during this season.
Not long after they waived Watson, the Celtics signed Miles Norris to a two-way contract. The 6-foot-7, 220-pound wing has been a reliable threat from the 3-point line, shooting 39 percent from beyond the arc in his two seasons in the G-League.
Norris averaged 17.1 points for the Memphis Hustle this season and shot 86 percent from the free-throw line. He is also averaging five rebounds and 1.5 assists against 1.1 turnovers.
“His length, his athleticism, and he showed a decent ability to shoot the basketball,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said, listing a few of the qualities that the Celtics liked about Norris. “He played with Payton [Pritchard] one year at Oregon so we kind of already knew about him. There’s things that play into that, and also the ceiling where we can help him grow.”
The Knicks’ G-League affiliate, the Westchester Knicks, are 15-11 in G-League play. they are third in points scored, second in rebounding, and 24th in opponents points allowed per game.
Westchester will host Maine on March 26th at the Westchester County Center in White Plains, N.Y.
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