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Boston Celtics: Disabled player exception clears runway to sign former No. 3 pick

By Andrew Hughes

The Boston Celtics, by way of being granted a disabled player exception by the league, have had the runway cleared to sign a former No. 3 pick Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
The Boston Celtics, by way of being granted a disabled player exception by the league, have had the runway cleared to sign a former No. 3 pick Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Boston Celtics may have gotten a major assist from the league in the form of a $3.29 million granted disabled player exception for Danilo Gallinari following an ACL tear in FIBA competition over the summer.

The Houdini’s use of “may” in that opening sentence stems from Boston Celtics President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens’ reluctance to use many of the traded player exceptions he has created — including the Evan Fournier TPE that expired in July — in the year and a half he’s been running the Cs.

Luckily for Stevens, this exception is not one that requires another team in the mix to make use of. Boston’s DPE, which is one-half of Gallinari’s salary, must be used by March, but can be used on a free agent. And there’s a tailor-made free agent currently on the market…

The runway is cleared for the Boston Celtics to sign Derrick Favors

Derrick Favors has seen less floor-time the past two seasons since last being a starter for the New Orleans Pelicans in 2019-20, but he has been a per-36 minute double-digit rebounder those campaigns. And to give that context, he was backing up big-minutes Rudy Gobert in 2020-21 before serving as more of a locker room presence than being part of the plan in Oklahoma City last season. He was traded to the Rockets with Ty Jerome, Theo Maledon, and forward Moe Harkless for David Nwaba, Sterling Brown, Trey Burke and Marquese Chriss. He’d undoubtedly still have value to the Cs in their current state — even if Blake Griffin proved he could be a capable fill-in center against the New York Knicks on November 5.

Relying on veteran’s minimum big men doesn’t seem to be a viable strategy long-term — or at least until Robert Williams III returns from arthroscopic knee surgery — and given that Favors’ last salary was over $10 million and his lack of signing a deal since he was waived in October, the former No. 3 pick is in a higher class of center than Noah Vonleh and Luke Kornet.

Bring him on down, Brad. Boston is waiting on a big like Favors to match up more favorably with teams like the Cleveland Cavaliers and Milwaukee Bucks should Robert Williams have injury woes in a hypothetical postseason matchup.

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