Stevens: Celtics having 'everyday discussions' on adding 15th man

One aftereffect of the Kyrie Irving trade for the Celtics was opening up some room on the 15-man roster. Instead of having to trim down from 16 guaranteed contracts during training camp later this month, Boston is down to 14 after dealing away Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder and Ante Zizic in a 3-for-1 swap.

While reports have varied on whether the Celtics plan on adding another veteran contract to the roster, the odds of that happening before training camp seem to be on the rise after Brad Stevens told Bostonsportsjournal.com that bringing aboard a new addition remains a constant topic inside Celtics offices.   

“Everyday discussions,” Stevens said when asked about the possibility of adding a 15th man. “I’d say nothing imminent is the way that I’ve kind of gauged it, but I’m not the one that makes that call.”

The Celtics continue to do their due diligence about possible additions after leaving themselves with a shallow depth chart at center once Zizic was flipped to Cleveland. Free agent big man Thomas Robinson worked out for the team last week, but the C’s have reportedly not offered the former Laker a deal, at least at this point.

While Danny Ainge is taking plenty of time to weigh his options for now, Stevens cautioned that could change quickly.

“Imminent may mean five minutes or three days,” he said on the timing of a potential addition. “I don’t know.”

Boston currently only has 13 players with guaranteed deals signed to the roster. The team reportedly agreed to a deal with point guard Shane Larkin back in July, but the Celtics have failed to make that signing official to this point, at least publicly. Second-round picks Jabari Bird and Kadeem Allen have already signed two-way deals with Boston. Other likely D-League players (L.J. Peak, Andrew White) have also reportedly agreed to training camp deals with Boston that include small partial guarantees. The Celtics can have a maximum of 20 players in training camp.

For a closer look at the potential fit of some of the remaining free agent big men the Celtics are evaluating, you can check out my deep dive on them from earlier this week. Additionally, the prospect of bringing aboard an defensive-minded wing (i.e. Tony Allen) can not be ruled out either with the Celtics looking a little thin at the shooting guard spot. We’ll examine the potential fit of Allen and other remaining wings on the free agent market at the Boston Sports Journal early next week.