Celtics release Bell-Holter, Taylor, and Sims

CSNNE's Jessica Camerato has the scoop:

Both will consider their options for this season, including playing for the Celtics NBA Development League affiliate, the Maine Red Claws. They appeared in three preseason games, clocking less than 10 minutes each.

Undrafted rookie Bell-Holter will fly back to his home state of Alaska and spend time with his infant son while he figures out the next step.

"I'm just going to go home for a couple of days, evaluate everything, and figure out what I'm going to do this year," he told CSNNE.com. "I'm going to weigh options. Apparently they want me to do D-League, and it's looking like that."

Taylor, 29, has years of international experience but had never played in the NBA. While he has not ruled out returning to Europe, he will see what options are available in the league.

"Tomorrow I'll talk to my agent, go over a few options," he said. "I know the D-League affiliate is an option. I want to go wherever I have the best opportunity to further my career and provide for my family. Whatever the best option is, then I'm going to go with it."

Bell-Holter and Taylor played a combined 12 minutes in the preseason and were long shots to make the team.  As mentioned, the D-League is an option for both and maybe we'll see them in Maine.  These moves were expected, but it might be it's interesting that DeShawn Sims and Chris Babb made that first round of cuts.  Ainge and Stevens might have them stick around a little longer as practice dummies while the team still has a week to prepare for the regular season.  Or--and this is where my mind races with possibilities--Ainge is planning on keeping them both on the roster.

Babb has shown flashes as a reliable outside shooter with his quick trigger release.  In his short time, he's also proven to be a pretty decent perimeter defender.  (Camerato has another nice piece on how he's soaking up the experience and looking just looking for a chance to contribute.)  Sims hasn't exactly shown much in actual games, but his size alone could be an asset.  When the Celtics traded Fab Melo to Memphis for Donte Greene and then eventually cut Greene, they put themselves just far enough under the luxury tax to sign an undrafted rookie like Babb and Sims.  Babb seems like the likely candidate if the team wants to commit a roster spot, but there could be room for both.

Could Ainge have already found a trade partner for some of the team's redundancies?  This is that curious time where teams can re-evaluate their rosters after some pre-season games and make some moves just before the marathon of 82 starts.  This is when James Harden was traded last year and Ainge still has time to negotiate and extend Avery Bradley.  There will be a quiet over the next week while Stevens prepares the team in Waltham, but I'm sure Ainge is working his cell like one of those old timey switchboard phone operators.

UPDATE:

Stevens said training camp invitees DeShawn Sims, Damen Bell-Holter & Kammron Taylor have been released. Chris Babb is with them, for now.

— Baxter Holmes (@BaxterHolmes) October 24, 2013

Looks like Sims got cut, too.