On Sunday afternoon, the Boston Celtics squared off against the Denver Nuggets. They took down Nikola Jokic by utilizing a very intriguing game plan where they took away Denver’s cuts and transition game. But the most interesting part of the day came a little while after the final buzzer sounded—the Celtics waived rookie Anton Watson.
Watson had been on a two-way contract with the Celtics but spent the entire season up in Portland with the Maine Celtics in the G League. However, Boston decided to cut ties with Watson, and a few hours later, they brought in Miles Norris, who they signed to a two-year, two-way contract.
But the New York Knicks quickly swooped in on Watson.
The Knicks signed Anton Watson after the Celtics waived him
Shams Charania of ESPN reported that the Knicks claimed Watson off waivers, bringing him on board on a two-way contract. And now, the door has been opened for a classic case of “Celtics fans get mad at the inevitable.”
The Celtics have one of the most talented rosters in basketball. It’s always been that way. And because of that, they’ve had to cut ties with some solid players over the years because there simply wasn’t enough playing time to go around.
Guys like Aaron Nesmith and Dalano Banton have been traded by the Celtics, either in larger deals or salary-dumps, because there wasn’t enough court time for them in Boston.
Since then, both have gone on to become quality rotation players—Nesmith with the Indiana Pacers and Banton with the Portland Trail Blazers.
Neither was ever going to crack the Celtics’ rotation with Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Derrick White leading the way, but they found opportunities in another situation.
That’s what could happen with Watson and the Knicks.
New York’s center rotation is extremely depleted, to the point where they converted rookie big man Ariel Hukporti’s two-way contract to a standard deal and were giving him some solid minutes.
Mitchell Robinson was out for most of the year, the Knicks traded Jericho Sims, and Precious Achiuwa has played half of his minutes at the power forward spot this year.
Robinson is back, but that leaves the Knicks with him, Achiuwa, and Karl-Anthony Towns as their big man rotation—that’s not much, especially considering the potential injury concerns involved.
That leaves the door open for Watson to get some minutes throughout the final stretch of the regular season. And if he plays well, the same Celtics fans who were upset at Boston parting ways with Nesmith and Banton would get annoyed.
But the same truth remains—Watson was never going to play in Boston. It’s all a matter of opportunity.