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Kevin Love not on Boston Celtics radar but Cs could pursue G-League wing

By Andrew Hughes

Recently bought out Cavaliers big man Kevin Love is not on the Boston Celtics radar, but a G-Leaguer who can fill a different role could be (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
Recently bought out Cavaliers big man Kevin Love is not on the Boston Celtics radar, but a G-Leaguer who can fill a different role could be (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images) /
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MassLive’s Brian Robb doesn’t see the Boston Celtics filling their final roster spot with another big man following the Mike Muscala deal at the 2023 NBA trade deadline — meaning Kevin Love is off the table after recently being bought out by the Cavaliers.

With that said, there could be a signing made elsewhere on the roster to bring the Cs to 15 players plus their two-way deals. Robb floated out an intriguing possibility that bring wing depth in the event Sam Hauser’s shooting stroke disappears or the countless injuries to the team’s depth chart linger.

The MassLive reporter believes the Celtics could pursue a top G-Leaguer instead of Love, which would give the team until the end of the season to find the perfect match in a break-in-case-of-emergency situation:

"“I just can’t see Kevin Love happening after the Muscala deal. The fact that he was pulled out of the rotation for a Cavs playoff team speaks volumes. Muscala has been the better player this season and while Love has the more proven track record, he’s probably looking himself at this stage of his career. With Muscala and Blake Griffin already in place, the over-30 bench big quota is now filled in Boston.”“At this point, all of the bigger names are guards or bigs and the Celtics don’t really need either at this point. It wouldn’t shock me for the team to simply go after the best wing in the G-League at this point or just bring aboard a veteran who could be useful in a mentor role/won’t be pushing for playing time that’s not available.”"

3 G-League wings the Boston Celtics can pursue

Robb opened the door for an unproven commodity to step in and provide the regular rotation a breather down the stretch of the regular season — and, in an emergency situation, play spot minutes in the postseason.

So who could fill that role for Boston? The highest profile wing potentially available is Jay Scrubb, who was waived by the Clippers last summer and is now lighting up the G-League for the Magic’s affiliate in Lakeland. Scrubb is contributing across the board, but his 3-point efficiency is somewhat lackluster at 32.5%.

A more efficient, if less exciting, option with more mileage as a journeyman is Justin Anderson, who played in 16 games in 2021-22 between the Pacers and Cavaliers. Anderson is scoring and rebounding at a similar rate to Scrubb, but is converting treys at a higher clip and averaging 3.7 more assists per game this G-League season.

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