The Celtics' roster was trimmed to 16 players after they waived free agent forward Esteban Batista on Tuesday. Celtics coach Doc Rivers said Monday he hoped to have the roster trimmed to as low as 14 soon so his players could get more reps in practice and to keep one roster spot open just in case they wanted to add a player later. Boston can carry a maximum 15 players when the season begins. Batista only played in the second of the Celtics' two preseason games scoring 7 points in 15 minutes.
We should have seen the writing on the wall for this move after Doc's comments this morning. Still, it comes as somewhat of a surprise, especially with Scott Pollard on the shelf with ongoing ankle issues. Right now, we don't seem to have any viable backup center option, unless the Celtics think Leon Powe or Big Baby Davis can play the pivot. I'm skeptical as to that, and worry that this means that the Celtics expect KG to play a lot of time at center.
Note: Scott Souza looks at the Center spot in depth in this blog entry.