After the March 1 buyout deadline, the Boston Celtics have some clarity on potential late-season additions in terms of who might be available.
While it’s a common misunderstanding to believe that teams can no longer add playoff-eligible players after the first of March, it’s really only a limit on playoff eligibility.
Anyone who was not on an NBA team on March 2nd can join and play for a team with a roster slot open and money to pay them, though finding a player who can actually help a team get better is always a challenge for this sort of move.
And that’s exactly the situation the Celtics find themselves in, with a dearth of impact players worth cutting a rostered player making it somewhat unlikely Boston will test the waters with a late-season addition.
The Celtics only need to look to their own history to see why team president Danny Ainge is reticent to blow up existing relationships, even if there are some names out there from the team and NBA’s past who have been productive players in previous seasons.
So, who have Boston signed after the February trade deadline in years past? Let’s take a look at all the signings the Celtics have made since the last season they won a title (2007-08), and how each worked out.
2008 – Banner 17 is won with a little help from late-season additions
The best-case scenario, this outcome still seems to color many fans expectations of what the team might be able to do by adding players after the trade deadline.
It’s important to remember Boston had the hot new superteam with some of the league’s top players, which has a certain gravity for the best available players. It’s also worth noting that the two candidates who joined the team were still rotation-level players, even if retired or very nearly so.
Boston added big man P.J Brown after being talked out of retirement by Ray Allen and Paul Pierce, and everyone remembers the shot in Game 7 that sent the Celtics past the Cleveland Cavaliers.
What they mostly do not recall is that Brown averaged just 2.2 points and 3.8 boards for Boston in the remainder of the regular season, and just 2.9 points and 2.4 boards per game in the playoffs.
The Celtics also added guard Sam Cassell, who was still playing, and at a fairly high level, too.
Cassell has arguably been the most productive player added in a late-season signing for Boston in recent memory, logging 7.6 points and 2.1 assists per game during the regular season and 4.5 points and 1.2 assists per game in the playoffs.
2009 – Falling short of Banner 18
Guard Stephon Marbury was Boston’s big late-season add this season, but did not provide the help hoped for by the front office and fans eager to repeat in the second season of the “Big Three” era of Pierce, Allen and Kevin Garnett.
Marbury logged just 3.8 points and 3.3 assists with the Celtics in the regular season, and 3.7 points and 1.8 assists per game in the postseason.
The marriage was always awkward, and when Boston offered the New Yorker a deal below what Marbury believed he was still worth at the end of the season, the Georgia Tech product took his talents to China.
Big man Mikki Moore was another late-season addition who added 4.8 points and 4.4 rebounds off the bench for the Celtics in the remainder of the regular season — but just 1.5 points and as many boards in Boston’s postseason.
2010 – Another close miss at winning Banner 18
If we just counted the regular season, Michael Finley would be one of the better late-season adds nabbed by the Celtics as they tried for another title with the Big Three in 2009-10, with the wing logging 5.2 points, 1.6 rebounds and 1.1 assists in the regular season.
But when the postseason rolled around, Finley saw his minutes dry up, recording only 0.8 points and 0.6 rebounds per game over an average of six minutes of playing time.
Oliver Lafayette, a shooting guard trying to make his way into the NBA after going undrafted out of Houston, also signed a rest-of-season contract, and played just one game for the Celtics.
2011 – Still a little magic left with the Big Three, but not enough
Boston signed a number of late-season contracts as they tried to capitalize on what was left of the aging championship core’s window, including guard Carlos Arroyo, who was hoped to be a key reserve player.
Arroyo didn’t work out very well, though, putting up just 2.4 points and 1.7 assists per game in the regular season and did not play at all during the team’s postseason.
Big man Troy Murphy was signed as well, and while he had a better run than Arroyo, only contributed 2.6 points and 2.2 boards per contest over the stretch run, and a mere rebound per game — and nothing else — in the playoffs.
Sasha Pavlovic managed to provide some quality some wing depth in the regular season with 2.6 points and 1.4 boards per game during the regular season, but was a virtual non-factor in the postseason.
Chris Johnson — not to be confused with an eponymous player who would join the Celtics the season after next — was also signed for a 10-day contract, but didn’t last beyond it, playing just four games for Boston.
2012 – The Big Three start to show some cracks
As Kevin Garnett continued to age, the team tried their best to bring on some frontcourt depth to ease the veteran’s path to the postseason, where he’d be needed most.
To that end, the Celtics brought on Ryan Hollins to help spell Garnett, and Hollins responded with 2.8 points and 1.7 boards per contest — not exactly what Boston had been hoping for.
The UCLA product remained marginally productive in the postseason, scoring 1.5 points and 1.6 boards in the playoffs, but had the typical impact most such late-season additions tend to have ultimately — not much.
2013 – One last try for the Big Three
Boston dug deep to improve the supporting cast for a star core on virtual life-support as a championship-oriented roster.
They signed a pair of overseas players who’d been playing in the Chinese Basketball association (CBA) to bolster their bench, including fan favorite big man Shavlik Randolph.
Randolph signed a pair of 10-day contracts, and parlayed them into a multi-year deal with 4.2 points and 4.4 boards per contest in the regular season — but just 3 rebounds per game in the postseason.
Center Jarvis Varnado had made a reputation for himself as an NCAA shotblocker, but lasted only two weeks with Boston in the middle of the season.
Forward Terrence Williams fared slightly better, recording 4.6 points, 1.8 rebounds and 1.6 assists per contest in the regular season, but just 1 point, 2 boards and 1.2 assists per game in the playoffs.
Forward and center D.J. White also joined the Celtics from the CBA, and added 2.4 points and 1.1 boards per game during the regular season, but did not play in the postseason, and would ultimately exit the team as salary ballast in the deal that brought the Big Three era to a close.
2014 – A new era begins
With the arrival of new head coach Brad Stevens and a rebuild now that team president Danny Ainge had sent the Big Three to Brooklyn for draft picks, the Celtics sought to use late-season buyouts to try and strike gold.
They did not.
But they did get the other Chris Johnson — this one a Dayton product, the other five years older and from LSU — who added 6.3 points and 2.4 rebounds per game on a pretty bad team.
Chris Babb was something of a fan favorite added in a similar vein, but only logged 1.6 points and 1.2 rebounds in his 14-game Celtics tenure.
2016 – Looking for found money
The Celtics took 2015 off when it came to late-season signings as they were well into a rebuild and hadn’t gotten much from their earliest dabblings in this stage.
But in 2015, they turned to the G League, and signed forward Coty Clarke — a Summer League standout — to a pair of 10-day contracts that ultimately led nowhere.
Boston also signed forward John Holland to a multi-year deal, but only played a single minute of game time for the team before being waived over the summer.
2018 – Back to the postseason in earnest
2017 was another season without a post-trade deadline signing.
But, in the following season, the Celtics added center Greg Monroe, who wasn’t much help in the postseason due to the game passing his skillset — and slow feet — by, but recorded a helpful 10.1 points and 6.3 boards per game in the regular season.
The former Detroit Piston was almost unplayable in the playoffs however, logging 4.8 points and 3.2 rebounds in the postseason. Even though Moose’s numbers would be mostly empty ones, he’s still among one of the best recent late-season additions in Celtics history.
The team signed CBA standout point guard Jonathan Gibson to a rest-of-season deal as well, and the New Mexico State product added 8.5 points and an assist per game for the Celtics over the team’s final four games, but did not appear in the playoffs.
Boston also kicked the tires on Xavier Silas, who they signed out of the G League on a 10-day contract at the end of March. It did not work out, and Boston would not re-sign Silas at the end of his 10-day deal.
2019 – A Moose is loose in Massachusetts — again
The Celtics would give old friend Greg Monroe another shot at making the roster as a late-season signing, but fared even worse the second time around, not making it past a pair of 10-day contracts.
Boston would also ink Jonathan Gibson for a second shot as well, but he did not play in any games for the Celtics that season.
Summary – don’t get too excited about buyouts, folks
While there can be some excitement — and even some genuine help — from late-season additions, it’s wise to temper expectations for them in even the best-case scenarios.
Almost none of them have a significant impact to speak of in the regular season or the playoffs, they rarely last longer than the end of the playoff run, and there’s usually a reason why they are bought out or not in the NBA in the first place.
This season is likely no exception, but there are still a few faces out there worth looking into if depth and health continue to be a problem for Boston.
It’s important to keep in mind that there are almost never silver-bullet-type players out there to change the fortunes of a playoff team.
And with the Celtics already populating their deep rotation with players around the same level as the options currently available on the buyout and overseas player market, the best move in the long run is simply to dance with the ones who brought them that far.
