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The Boston Celtics have waived Marcus Georges-Hunt. The Celtics roster now stands at the regular season maximum of 15 standard contracts and 2 Two-Way contracts.
Georges-Hunt was signed for a second time by Boston after Jabari Bird took a leave of absence from the team. Georges-Hunt played in one preseason game with the Celtics, and tallied seven points in 12 minutes.
It’s likely that Georges-Hunt will land with the Maine Red Claws of the NBAGL for the time being. He’s a good candidate to be re-signed by Boston when the Jabari Bird situation is resolved.
To date, the NBA is still completing its investigation of Bird and the charges that were filed against him over the summer. Bird has been away from the Celtics since being bailed out following his arrest. While on a leave of absence, he continues to count against the Boston roster. If he is suspended, he would count against the roster for a minimum of five games. After that point, the Celtics could move him to the suspended list and fill the open roster spot with a signing.
Bird was signed to a two-year, minimum contract this past summer, following a strong showing in the NBAGL last year and a solid NBA Summer League performance. His salary for 2017-18 is fully guaranteed, while his salary for 2018-19 is fully non-guaranteed. If the former second round pick is found by the NBA to have been in violation of the collectively bargained domestic violence policy, the NBA can void his contract. This would remove the contract from the Celtics books entirely.
If Boston was to waive Bird, which many have suggested should be the move, the contract would count against the cap and the resulting luxury tax hit. This, in part, is why the Celtics are waiting for the NBA to rule on Bird’s status.
As it stands now, the Celtics will be down a player, as Bird will assuredly be on the inactive list for opening night against the Philadelphia 76ers. Teams can have 13 active players for each game. As Boston has 17 players, they’ll need to rule four players as inactive for each game. For as long as he is on the roster, but away from the team, Bird will be one of those four inactive players.