According to Shams Charania of ESPN, the Dallas Mavericks have waived Olivier-Maxence Prosper, and he could be an intriguing player for the Boston Celtics to take a chance on. Prosper is still only 23 years old, and ahead of the 2023 NBA Draft, the Celtics were interested enough to bring him in for a pre-draft workout: “Great organization, great history. I had a really good time there,” Prosper told Sean Deveney of Heavy.com.
Since the Mavs took Prosper in the first round of the draft, he’s been an end-of-the-bench guy. However, during his rookie season (2023-24), he appeared in 25 games with the Mavs’ G League affiliate, the Texas Legends, playing 32.9 minutes per contest.
In those games, the 6-foot-7 forward averaged 18.3 points, 7.7 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and 1.0 steals while shooting 49.8% from the field and 41.6% from deep on 5.5 three-point attempts.
Why would Olivier Maxence-Prosper make sense for Celtics?
Whether or not the Celtics decide to take a chance on Prosper depends on a bunch of different factors, most of which boil down to their financial situations and season goals.
Jayson Tatum is likely going to miss all of next season, meaning Boston’s “championship or bust” mentality may shift. Instead, while they will still look to remain competitive, there will undoubtedly be an extra emphasis on development.
That’s where Prosper could come into play. At just 23 years old, he still has plenty of room to grow, and it may have been a mistake on Dallas’ part not to get him in the G League more during his sophomore season. He only appeared in 52 games last season, playing 11.2 minutes per contest.
Boston still has one roster spot open, but considering how much of an emphasis they have put on saving money this summer, they could choose to leave that open. Plus, all three of their two-way spots are filled right now, so that doesn’t seem to be an option.
Should the Celtics eventually trade Anfernee Simons or someone else on the roster, perhaps an opening could be made for Prosper to join the team.
As it stands, the Celtics’ forward depth is taken up by the likes of Sam Hauser, Chris Boucher, and Jordan Walsh. Jaylen Brown could play up a position, but adding some more size at the three and four spots could be an intriguing option for the Celtics to explore.
If they wanted to put some extra effort into developing young talent this year, Prosper could be an interesting target. That said, it could prove too difficult to fit him into their current roster plans heading into the 2025-26 campaign.