He may have only played in one preseason game, but that was all it took for Devin Carter to prove himself worthy of the Celtics’ final two-way roster spot. On Saturday, Boston officially converted Carter’s deal and waived Milos Uzan, Gabe McGlothan, Tucker DeVries, and Hayden Gray.
Uzan is probably the biggest loser, as he appeared to have the upper hand for the two-way spot before Carter was brought in. Assuming they clear waivers and aren’t poached away by another NBA team, all four of those players should end up on the Maine Celtics.
With the Celtics keeping their final roster spot open for now, there’s definitely a chance that Carter, or one of the other two-way guys, could have their contract converted to a standard deal later in the year, a prorated move that would keep Boston under the luxury tax. That would open up another two-way deal that could go to Uzan or another player.
But for now, this is all about Carter, and the fact that the Celtics were able to bring in a 2024 lottery pick who has had some nice moments in the NBA already and won’t even count against the salary cap.
The Kings and Hawks quickly gave up on Carter, and he has struggled to break out, especially when it comes to shooting the ball. But this is an extremely talented kid with an NBA pedigree. His father played in the league for years, and Devin won Big East Player of the Year not that long ago. He can play.
Carter should be a perfect fit in Boston
He should also be a great fit in Boston: a hounding defender and someone who loves to attack the rim. He plays much more aggressively than you would think for a smaller player and is also a very impressive rebounder for his size. He’s another chaos-creator on both ends, and everyone got a good look at what he can do in his first preseason game, when he came off the bench and put up 17 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals in 24 minutes.
Carter was a team-high +22 in that game, one that the Celtics won against a nearly full-strength Cavaliers squad despite missing most of their own rotation. Carter certainly looked like he belonged on an NBA court, and other teams around the league have to be kicking themselves for letting him end up in Boston on a two-way.
Unfortunately, Carter came down with mononucleosis, which kept him out of the Celtics’ final three preseason games. The illness could keep him out for a few more weeks, but shouldn’t impact his long-term status in any way. The timing wasn’t ideal, but obviously the Boston brass had seen enough to hand him the final spot.
On the surface, it’s a match made in heaven, and there’s a real opportunity for Carter to grow and develop into the player that he was expected to be. If that happens, it would be a massive win for the Celtics, and they could have another young, cheap, two-way player at the end of Joe Mazzulla’s bench for years to come.
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