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Coming off of the Daniel Theis re-signing news from earlier this summer, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reported that Brad Wanamaker will return to the Boston Celtics on a 1-year deal.
Free agent guard Brad Wanamaker is returning to the Boston Celtics on a one-year deal, agent Steve McCaskill tells ESPN. Wanamaker played six seasons in Europe before joining the Celtics last season as the oldest rookie (29) in the NBA.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 2, 2019
Wanamaker joined the Celtics last year as their third-string guard for annual Phil Pressey duties. As the season wore on in a fashion that was unlike what was expected of the team, there was a large contingent of fans who clamored for Wanamaker to receive more minutes over some of the second stringers.
Last season, Wanamaker averaged 3.9 points, 1.1 rebounds and 1.6 assists on 47.6% shooting, 41% from 3 and 85.7% from the free-throw line. With the return of Theis earlier today, it appears that Boston is trying to pad out the rest of the roster with familiar quantities while other names are left out in the cold. With Carsen Edwards and Tremont Waters filling out the bottom of the guard depth chart, it’s nice insurance to bring back Wanamaker should the team need a poised presence in case of emergency or injury.
Brad Wanamaker likely wasn’t the cause of any locker room difficulties last year, so it makes sense that they’d bring him back. The Celtics now have at least 15 guaranteed contracts on the roster.
Boston will add some camp players, but it seems like the roster is set:
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) July 2, 2019
J. Brown
C. Edwards
G. Hayward
E. Kanter
R. Langford
S. Ojeleye
V. Poirier
M. Smart
J. Tatum
D. Theis
K. Walker
B. Wanamaker
G. Williams
R. Williams III
G. Yabusele
We’ll see in the coming days and months if this is it for Ainge or if there’s a trade/roster move coming.