Celtics Waive Joseph And Varnado

Greg Payne has the news:

Celtics waive Joseph, Varnado - Greg Payne - ESPN.com

The Boston Celtics have waived rookie forward Kris Joseph and veteran Jarvis Varnado, ESPN's Marc Stein tweeted on Sunday.

Both Joseph and Varnado were working on non-guaranteed deals, and the Celtics had until Monday at 5 p.m. to guarantee their contracts. In electing to go in a different direction, Boston opens up two roster spots, which it likely will look to fill as other teams waive players.

Varnado's departure isn't overly surprising, as the Celtics signed him out of the NBA Development League on Dec. 24 primarily to help bolster the frontcourt in the wake of Chris Wilcox's thumb injury.

Joseph being waived is a bit more surprising, as Boston had been high on the former Syracuse forward, who was selected with the 51st pick in last year's draft. Joseph had spent the majority of the season with the D-League's Maine Red Claws, where he averaged 17.7 points and 5.3 rebounds in 10 games.

This leaves the Celtics with two open roster spots, and it appears they have enough room to sign two "veteran minimum" free agents under the $74.2 million "hard cap" the Celtics are operating under. The Celts options include targeting a veteran free agent (Kenyon Martin, Chris Andersen), dipping into the D-League, waiting for buyouts, or keeping open roster spots to preserve roster and trade flexibility.