Ben Bentil waived by Celtics, Ainge continues to shop RJ Hunter and James Young


As expected, the Boston Celtics have waived rookie forward Ben Bentil. The 51st pick this past June in the NBA draft was a long-shot to make the Celtics roster outright this year, and after seeing limited minutes in the preseason the move anticipated by most. It was largely assumed that Bentil would end up on the Celtics D-League affiliate, the Maine Red Claws, in large part because of the partially guaranteed offer they signed him for in the offseason::


The unusually large guaranteed portion of his contract - for someone drafted in Bentil's position - was thought to be an attempt by the Celtics brass to illustrate that they viewed him highly, and as early as Wednesday it sounded like Bentil was eager to join his other fellow rookies in Maine. Via Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe:

“That’ll be awesome,” he said. “We grew so much together in camp, so it’d be an experience and a blessing to play with them and continue to grow the chemistry. I just want to be an ultimate good player all around, a player that my coaches and teammates can count on, so that’s basically what I’m going out there to develop.”

But it seems Ben has had a change of heart over the past 48 hours, and has decided it might be best to move in a different direction due to the crowded Celtics front court:




Both Celtics GM Danny Ainge and head coach Brad Stevens were fond of Bentil, and consider the move strictly out of necessity:

With Bentil off the roster, that leaves the Celtics still one over the magic number of 15. The last two two guys on the chopping block would appear to be James Young and RJ Hunter. Danny Ainge isn't eager to part with either of them, but if he must, he's looking to get something in return:


'Trader Danny' has the weekend to swing a deal, as final roster cuts throughout the NBA will come down Monday afternoon.


Photo Credit - Charles Krupa, Associated Press

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