Celtics reportedly agree to deal with G/F Lamar Stevens ahead of training camp
Celtics
Stevens played the first three seasons of his career with the Cavaliers, where he earned a defensive-oriented reputation.
The Celtics are adding another depth piece to the roster in the lead-up to training camp.
Veteran Lamar Stevens has agreed to a deal with Boston, The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported Friday. The guard/forward played the first three seasons of his NBA career with the Cavaliers before getting traded to the Spurs, who waived him shortly after a trade in July.
The 26-year-old earned a solid amount of playing time with an upstart Cavaliers team during his three seasons in Cleveland despite going undrafted in 2020. He played in 125 games over the last two seasons, starting in 38 of them, recording 25 starts last season.
Stevens was a low-volume shooter during his time in Cleveland. The 6-foot-6 wing scored 5.3 points per game, averaging 4.5 shots in 16 minutes per game. He shot 46.7 percent from the field, 28.1 percent from deep, and 71 percent from the stripe during those three seasons as well.
While Stevens certainly didn’t have much scoring prowess, he carved out a role for himself defensively. The Cavaliers’ rise to have the league’s top defensive rating last season was credited to Stevens’s insertion into the starting lineup in November.
“Just bringing that physicality,” Cavaliers star point guard Darius Garland said of Stevens’s role in the starting lineup last December, via The Athletic. “His toughness on the floor, and just bringing his energy, that dog energy, that dog impact. And we really need it from that three-man. I mean, he’s switching one through five basically, guarding the best player on the other team and just bringing a lot of energy that we really need.”
However, Stevens fell back to the bench and, eventually, out of the rotation during the Cavaliers’ first-round playoff loss to the Knicks. Cleveland moved him in a three-team sign-and-trade to acquire Max Strus as the team looked for more scoring and shooting at the wing this offseason.
Stevens’s deal is partially guaranteed, meaning he’ll likely battle for a roster spot during training camp, MassLive’s Brian Robb reported. With Stevens’s signing, the Celtics’ roster is at full capacity, with 15 plus three two-way players. However, they can sign two more players to training camp deals.
If Stevens makes the roster, he’ll likely battle Sam Hauser, Oshae Brissett, Svi Mykhailiuk, Dalano Banton, and Jordan Walsh for minutes.
The Celtics will open up training camp on Oct. 3.
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