Released Lakers forward ‘one of the better options’ for Boston Celtics’ two-way contract
The Boston Celtics have at least one open roster spot after a busy free agency period — assuming they don’t release or trade away an end-of-the-bench option like Luke Kornet or Sam Hauser before the season — and could look to fill it with either a veteran hand, a younger player who fell between the cracks, or they could promote one of their existing two-way contract holders to the pro team full-time.
If the Celtics explore that last option and lock up either recent two-way signing Jay Scrubb or 2022 second-round draft pick JD Davison to a standard NBA pact, Inside The Celtics’ Bobby Krivitsky believes recently-released Los Angeles Lakers forward Cole Swider would be “one of the better options” available.
“If the New England native’s open to returning to the region to play, at least part-time, for a fellow Rhode Islander in Joe Mazzulla, (Swider’s) one of the better options for the Celtics to fill their last two-way roster spot,” Krivitsky wrote.
Lakers analyst believes the Hornets, not the Boston Celtics, are the best Cole Swider landing spot
According to Lake Show Life editor Jason Reed, it’s not the Boston Celtics that make the most sense for the former Jim Boheim-coached combo forward at Syracuse; but rather the Charlotte Hornets.
“The Charlotte Hornets are not the most glamorous team in the league but at this point Swider is going to take whatever he can get,” Reed prefaced before saying, “There is an actual need for the Hornets that Swider can fill and they are the type of team that would take a chance on a young player.”
Boston is certainly not a team that is taking chances on young players these days, with Payton Pritchard unable to crack the playoff rotation and Grant Williams having steadily lost his role over the last year before his free agency departure to the Dallas Mavericks. With Kristaps Porzingis, Al Horford, Jayson Tatum and perhaps even Oshae Brissett needing minutes at the 4, Swider makes little sense as a Celtics addition unless he wants to spend a great deal of his time in Maine playing in the G-League.