7 Best undrafted talents to play for the Boston Celtics
By Tyler Watts
5. Aron Baynes
Baynes is another undrafted big man that carved out a long career in the NBA. The New Zealand native was not selected in 2009 and spent four years playing in Europe before signing with the Spurs in 2013 where he was a role player on their 2014 championship team. Baynes played three seasons in San Antonio under Gregg Popovich and two years in Detroit before joining the Celtics in the 2017 offseason.
Baynes was Boston’s primary starting center in 2018 as they reached the conference finals. The Celtics were up 2-0 and 3-2 on the Miami Heat before losing the final two games to LeBron James and company. Kyrie Irving was Boston’s leading scorer and the young duo of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown nearly helped the Celtics pull the upset.
Aron Baynes spent two seasons with the Celtics before being traded to the Suns in 2019. He played two more years in the NBA before suffering a horrific accident at the 2021 Olympics that left him unable to walk for weeks. Thankfully, he is back playing basketball in Australia and an NBA return cannot be ruled out for the 36-year-old big man.
Aron Baynes had a strong career, but he is not the best-undrafted journeyman role player to play for the Boston Celtics.