After an afternoon of questionable reports, the Celtics have confirmed they did indeed waive Dionte Christmas and Jamar Smith.
Smith, a 6’3 guard, appeared in four preseason games for the Celtics and averaged 2.3 points and 1.0 rebound. Christmas, a 6’5 guard, appeared in four preseason games for the Celtics and averaged 3.3 points and 1.8 rebounds per game.
The Celtics roster now stands at 16.
The move is actually a nice courtesy by the Celtics, who now give Christmas and Smith an opportunity to hook on with another team since it’s early in the preseason. Personally, I was pulling for Christmas after having spoken with him over the summer. Jason Terry had also taken Christmas under his wing, and was eagerly showing him the ropes. I also believe it’s possible for the Celtics to put both on the Maine Red Claws now and retain them in a D-League capacity should they not sign with another team.
Meanwhile, this is opening up speculation as to who can win the back up point guard position. It’s entirely possible the Celtics will bring in another player, but considering what we’ve seen this preseason, they seem content to let Jason Terry and Courtney Lee handle things for the few minutes a game Rondo is out.
Good luck to Christmas and Smith. Both are hard workers and, by the way, both had partially guaranteed deals that give them a little bit of cash on the way out the door. It’s not much by NBA standards, but by real person standards, it’d be gigantic for me.
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