Boston Celtics set to host two free-agent wings for workouts
The Boston Celtics appear to be seeking more depth at forward, based on a pair of new free-agent workouts.
According to NBA insider Shams Charania, the Celtics are hosting forwards T.J. Warren and Lamar Stevens for workouts. Charania noted that the C’s have multiple open spots on their roster, so they could feasibly sign both.
Warren, 29, split his time between the Phoenix Suns and Brooklyn Nets in the 2022-23 season. He averaged 7.5 points per game in a bench role.
It’s been a rough few years for Warren on the health front. He suffered a stress fracture in his foot late in 2020 that forced him to miss most of the 2020-21 season, then all of 2021-22. Between his last game with the Indiana Pacers and debut with the Nets, Warren missed almost two calendar years of action.
Before Warren’s recent injury woes, he had established himself as a legitimate wing scoring option with the Pacers. From 2016-20, Warren averaged 17.9 points per game over four seasons, while shooting 50.9 percent from the field.
The C’s have long been searching for answers as far as wing scoring off the bench behind Jayson Tatum. They signed veteran sharpshooter Danilo Gallinari last offseason, but a torn ACL kept him out for the entire 2022-23 season and he ended up part of the trade that brought Kristaps Porzingis to Boston.
If Warren can finally put his foot issues behind him and regain something close to his Indiana form, he’d have a chance to be that bench wing scorer that Brad Stevens has been digging for in recent years.
Stevens, meanwhile, is more of a defensive specialist. In 62 games (25 starts) with the Cleveland Cavaliers last season, he posted a defensive rating of 111, which ranked 10th in the NBA among small forwards (via Basketball-Reference.com).
Since the Celtics still have more than one spot to fill on the roster, it wouldn’t be surprising if they ended up signing both Warren and Stevens. Warren, in particular, would be intriguing, based on his scoring pedigree.
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