Shocking reason the Boston Celtics signed G-Leaguer before postseason

The Boston Celtics signed Justin Champagnie on April 7 ahead of the team’s bid to defend their Eastern Conference crown in a transaction that was seemingly done to add back-end depth before the postseason.

Apparently, there was another reason why the Cs signed the G-Leauger. As Heavy’s Adam Taylor relayed via Sean Deveney from an unnamed executive, Champagnie is a potential hedge should impending restricted free agent Grant Williams bolt in free agency this offseason.

“Champagnie has a lot of potential as a defensive wing,” the executive said. “It is a bit of a message to Grant Williams, like, ‘Hey, we will be OK if you leave.’ And they could legitimately look at him as a player they want to bring along.”

Grant Williams on future with Boston Celtics: ‘Hopefully, we got the ring on my hand’

On April 10 during an interview with Sam Yip of HoopsHype, Williams denied engaging in any conversations about his free agency and instead shifted the focus to the upcoming Boston Celtics playoff run.

“Nah, you got to focus on today, brother,” Williams told Yip before saying, “You can’t focus on tomorrow, can only focus on what’s in front of you. For me, it’s always been about playing to the best ability that I can and winning as many titles as I can while I’m here. So after that, whatever happens, this free agency cycle, that’ll be determined this summer after, hopefully, we got the ring in my hand. So that’s the main priority. No. 1 is focused on getting this ring first.”

The biggest question when it comes to Williams’ free agency is whether or not a team is willing to make the Celtics pay a premium to keep one of their primary bench contributors since 2019. If a team is willing to risk doing so, Boston could turn around and let teams know that Champagnie on a minimum deal will do just fine instead.