SEPTEMBER 29TH: The deals are official, the team announced via press release.
AUGUST 20TH: The Celtics have signed Rodney McGruder and Christian Watford to one-year deals, reports Mark Deeks of ShamSports. The team hasn’t announced the signings, but they are reflected on RealGM’s transaction log. The two players were added along with Tim Frazier, who is a training camp invite. It’s very likely that both McGruder and Watford are joining Boston on non-guaranteed summer contracts to compete for a roster spot.
Both McGruder and Watford went undrafted in 2013, and both spent last year playing overseas. McGruder spent time with the Thunder for training camp last summer, but was cut from the roster prior to the season. Boston has 14 guaranteed contracts on the books for 2014/15, and this will bring their total roster count, including non-guaranteed deals, up to the summer maximum of 20. However, the team also has a deal with Evan Turner that’s yet to become official, meaning they will have to waive or trade one of the 20 players under contract before formally signing him.
McGruder is a shooting guard who averaged 11.7 PPG and 4.8 RPG at Kansas State. Watford, a power forward, averaged 12.3 PPG and 5.9 RPG in four years at Indiana. Deeks places their odds of making the team as “not remotely likely” in a separate tweet.
This weekend could prove very interesting.