Celtics Sign Wolves Wing Josh Minott as Roster Shuffling Continues

The Celtics signed Josh Minott, a 22-year-old wing who projects closer to a small ball center, and filled their active roster for the moment in a Tuesday free agent signing. Boston moved back over the second apron by a hair with the addition, another second draft addition by Brad Stevens after the Celtics added Minott’s Minnesota teammate Luka Garza on Monday.

Minott and Garza shared the floor with the Wolves and their Iowa G-League affiliate over the past three seasons after Minott went No. 45 overall to Minnesota out of Memphis after a one-and-done season. The Florida native appeared in a career high 46 NBA games last season, but only received 6.0 minutes per game on the western conference contender. He floated around 2.3 points and 1.0 rebound per game while shooting 48.8% from the field through his first 93 career games. Minott rarely attempted threes, converting 33.9% on 0.6 attempts, though he shot 37-for-41 at the free throw line.

Draft evaluators in 2022 considered Minott an intriguing defensive prospect for his seven-foot length and 6-8 height. Three years later, he still sports a skinny frame at just over 200 pounds and plays more of a slashing role on offense with his help defense remaining his strength on the other end. He generated almost all of his offense through offensive rebounds, cutting and in transition in college. Last season, he expanded to taking 49 threes alongside his 44 dunk and layup attempts.

That raises the question: could Minott emerge if allowed to play some center? That’s now possible on a team that only features Neemias Queta, Xavier Tillman Sr. and Garza at the position on the active roster.

A different direction

The Celtics didn’t await Al Horford’s official decision to fill the roster on Tuesday. That doesn’t appear imminent as reports continue to strongly link him with the Warriors. Golden State is assessing Jonathan Kuminga’s future, who could end up back with the team due to a free agent market deprived of cap space, or depart through a sign-and-trade. Both scenarios could limit how much the Warriors can offer Horford this season. An alternative destination in the Lakers, not Boston, opened when other centers signed elsewhere this week. With the Celtics over the second apron again and without an available roster spot, his return feels unlikely.

So what’s the plan for a roster that doesn’t feature a center with significant NBA experience, never mind in a starting role? The most straightforward answer: that’s a secondary concern to the team addressing its financial consideration and setting up future competitiveness. But there’s still some basketball intrigue in the Minott signing. The Celtics haven’t added significant talent this summer, and have lost massive amounts. But the skill set they targeted intrigues. Anfernee Simons plays fast, and cuts. Minott cuts to the basket. And Garza can play a versatile role on offense. Brad Stevens stressed speeding things up after the NBA Draft — and cutting.

“I think the thing that I took away, and I talked about the Knicks series,” he said. “I thought the part of those games that stood out to me was, more than anything, when we got stagnant and we played without pace, and you could just feel it. You could see the walking up. You could see all that. I think we’re going to try to address some of that.” 

The big picture

The Celtics now have 15 players under contract, so more moves will follow the Minott signing. Jumping back over the second apron isn’t a big deal. Boston picked up JD Davison’s team option last week and kept his $2.3 million salary non-guaranteed, enough to dive beneath that line when necessary. More substantive moves will likely address their financial priorities, whether creating more flexibility as they’ve publicly prioritized, or however much luxury tax they want to shave off a team that currently has little hope of contending for a championship. Boston currently sits $19.9 million over the tax line, which carries an $86 million bill.

Boston will still try to retain its core players Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Derrick White and Payton Pritchard while trying to return value for Sam Hauser, Georges Niang and Simons. That goal appears increasingly difficult as teams address needs and either fill their rosters or lose flexibility. Nobody’s excited to add salary in this cap environment, especially if the players they acquire don’t move the needle. Fortunately for Boston, as we’ve stress since the offseason began, the tax bill and apron penalties don’t come due until the end of the 2025-26 season. They don’t need to rush anything.

This roster crunch explains the difficult decisions they reportedly made to at least assess Brown and White’s market. The path ahead building around Tatum and Brown will prove as difficult as many expected when they both agreed to super max contracts ahead of the new collective bargaining agreement. The biggest challenge: the Celtics don’t have premium assets elsewhere on the roster or medium-sized contracts to trade. Hauser and Pritchard are on the small side. Brown’s a difficult salary to trade for. Only White rests in the middle. Boston also doesn’t own premium draft capital from other teams, and already traded rights to its 2028 and 2029 first-rounders.

Other restrictions worth mentioning: the Celtics can’t engage in sign-and-trade additions while above the first apron (-$12.2M) and neither Simons nor Niang can aggregate with other salaries for 60 days following their official additions. Those won’t happen until July 6, hope that those trades could eventually expand. But as the Celtics’ moves pile up, between salary dumps, playing the long game in the draft and signing fliers while losing key free agents all point toward where this season is headed.

“I think the biggest thing is that there clearly is a need to prioritize regaining our flexibility and maximizing, from an asset standpoint, what we can,” Stevens said. “As far as whatever moves that those are a part of, they’re all separate, and hard, and things that you’re just going to have to do your best to make sure you put yourself in the right positions. We knew this was coming, right? This isn’t a huge surprise. We have to make sure we prioritize that flexibility.”

“We’ve got to prioritize JT’s health and make sure that he comes back fully strong. JB had a surgery, although his timeline to be back will be much quicker, obviously, and ready at the start of the season. The biggest thing for us is just making sure that we balance that, maximizing what we can with regard to what we bring back so we can continue to build and grow.”