4:18pm: The Celtics have officially waived Christmas and Smith, according to a press release from the team.
3:43pm: The Celtics have decided to release camp invitees Dionte Christmas and Jamar Smith, reports Peter Yannopoulos of TSN Radio 690 Montreal (via Twitter). While no official announcement has been made yet, Gary Tanguay of CSNNE.com confirms the report, citing an NBA source. With Christmas and Smith no longer on the roster, the Celtics will be keeping Kris Joseph, according to Yannopoulos.
The Celtics' moves are a little surprising, since half of Christmas' contract was guaranteed, and Smith had a $25K guarantee on his deal as well. With 13 players on fully guaranteed deals for Boston, it was expected that at least one of Christmas and Smith would earn one of the final two roster spots. Joseph will be the Celtics' 14th man, and it appears the club will keep an open 15th spot, since invitees Rob Kurz and Micah Downs are unlikely to survive cuts.
When the Celtics officially place Christmas and Smith on waivers, they'll have committed money to three players that won't be on their regular-season roster. Boston is expected to still be on the hook for Keyon Dooling's minimum-salary deal after the veteran retired last month.
I thought Christmas was going to make it. Kind of surprising.