Training Camp Roster Kuts & Keepers

Craig Breslow -- earlier reported as the "clear frontrunner" to lead Boston's front office -- was offered the job and is expected to accept, according to The Boston Globe's Alex Speier.

Breslow was the only candidate known to have a second-round interview.

Widely considered "the smartest man in baseball," Breslow is highly regarded among his MLB peers. However, he has little to no experience with regular general manger duties such as negotiating trades and signing free agents.

By Jack Simone@JackSimoneNBA

The regular season is here, and the Boston Celtics roster is set.

After an offseason full of tinkering, the Celtics have solidified the team they are going to roll with heading into the year, as the deadline to submit their roster to the NBA was Monday evening.

Boston waived Wenyen Gabriel and DJ Steward, who were both on training camp contracts, and cut Jay Scrubb, who tore his ACL while on a two-way deal. They signed Nathan Knight to a two-way deal to replace Scrubb.

Lamar Stevens, who was on an Exhibit 9 deal like Gabriel, was not waived, meaning his contract has been converted to a standard non-guaranteed deal. He joins Luke Kornet, Svi Mykhailiuk, and Dalano Banton as the Celtics on non-guaranteed contracts. All four players’ deals will become fully guaranteed on January 10.

Per Keith Smith of Spotrac, Mykhailiuk and Banton have contract triggers for Tuesday that will see their deals become partially guaranteed for a bit over $1 million.

Knight, JD Davison, and Neemias Queta are Boston’s two-way players this season. Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe reported that despite a strong preseason, the Celtics decided not to convert Queta’s two-way deal into a standard contract in the near future.

Now, the Celtics will move into the season with 14 players on the roster, leaving them some flexibility to make moves if they so choose.

This does leave them susceptible to “Under 15 Games.” Any games a team plays with fewer than 15 players on the roster will have restrictions on how many two-way players can be active for the contest.

As far as the rest of the roster, Derrick White’s extension deadline has officially passed, meaning the Celtics will have to wait until next summer to begin negotiating again. At that point, White and the team will be able to come to an agreement up until the start of 2025 free agency.

The rest of the roster remains in place, with Payton Pritchard agreeing on a four-year, $30 million extension with the Celtics earlier in training camp.

Here’s a full list of the Celtics 2023-24 roster, including numbers, salaries (this season), and positions (Italics = Non-guaranteed):

Jrue Holiday - #4 - $36,861,707
Kristaps Porzingis - #8 - $36,016,200
Jayson Tatum - #0 - $32,600,060
Jaylen Brown - #7 - $31,830,357
Derrick White - #9 - $18,357,143
Al Horford - #42 - $10,000,000
Payton Pritchard - #11 - $4,037,278
Luke Kornet - #40 - $2,413,304
Oshae Brissett - #12 - $2,165,000
Svi Mykhailiuk - #50 - $2,019,706
Lamar Stevens - #77 - $2,019,706
Dalano Banton - #45 - $2,019,706
Sam Hauser - #30 - $1,927,896
Jordan Walsh - #27 - $1,119,563

The Grizzlies will add veteran center Bismack Biyombo, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic.

Memphis will be able to transfer Ja Morant to the suspended list after he serves five games of his 25-game suspension, and Charania suggests the signing will occur once that happens. The Grizzlies are off to an 0-3 start with upcoming games Monday against Dallas and Wednesday at Utah.

The 31-year-old Biyombo will provide an interior presence for a team playing without starting center Steven Adams, who will undergo knee surgery and miss the entire season. The Grizzlies are also missing backup center Brandon Clarke, who is still recovering from a torn Achilles he suffered in March, and have been starting Xavier Tillman in the middle.

Biyombo is a free agent after spending the past two years in Phoenix. He got into 61 games last season, making 14 starts and averaging 4.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.3 blocks in 14.3 minutes per night. He shot 57.8% from the field, but he brings a limited shooting range and hasn’t made a three-pointer in his career.

The Lakers reportedly considered signing Biyombo this summer, but opted for Christian Wood instead.

The Grizzlies have a full roster, so they can’t add Biyombo without cutting someone else until Morant is officially on the suspended list. They still have their entire $12.4MM non-taxpayer mid-level exception remaining plus the $4.516MM room exception if they want to offer Biyombo more than the veteran’s minimum salary, though it seems unlikely that will be necessary.