Who should get that last roster spot for the Celtics 2020 season?

With their undefeated preseason now wrapped up, there is not much room left on the Celtics' roster for those competing for a spot in the NBA next season. Looking at most of the speculation surrounding the new-look Celtics, it appears that the 15th and final roster spot for Boston will either go to undrafted rookie Max Strus or summer pick up Javonte Green.

26-year-old Javonte Green has impressed many with his play in the preseason for the Boston Celtics. Photo via Ethan Miller 
Having most of the roster pretty much set to go, the decision between Green and Strus for that final roster spot is pretty tough with all things considered. They both have made an impression on the Celtics as well as the fanbase in their own unique ways, as their playstyles are extremely different overall.

When it comes to Max Strus, his outside shooting (particularly off screens) has been his biggest strength throughout his basketball career thus far. Last season, the 6'6" guard played his second year at Depaul University where he averaged 20 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 2.2 assists on 42% shooting (36% from three-point range). He then declared for the draft in which he went undrafted.

However, it was his summer workouts that got his name back in the running for an NBA roster spot. Rumors have indicated that in his practices with the Celtics, Strus put on a three-point shooting clinic that landed him his initial two-way contract with Boston this past summer. He then continued to play on through the summer league as well as the preseason where he did have his fair share of big moments, his most notable being his 14 point performance against the Cavaliers in just 16 minutes of play.

Not too long ago, the 23-year-old upgraded to a two year guaranteed contract with the Celtics that will earn him more than $200,000. Despite this, Strus made it clear that this does not officially grant him the last roster spot and he still has to work for it if he wants to play on the parquet of the TD Garden this season.

On the other side of things is the athletic 26-year-old wing Javonte Green, who after playing four years at Radford University from 2011 to 2015 and a brief summer league stint with the Phoenix Suns, has spent the majority of his time overseas.

It wasn't until this summer that Green made his NBA return in a Boston Celtics uniform, and boy has it gone well for him. After playing in the summer league, Green jumped out of the gates for Boston in their first preseason game scoring 16 points without missing a single field goal attempt (7-7 shooting).

He continued his consistently athletic and aggressive play in his limited minutes of the preseason as he went on to averaged 9 points and 4 rebounds in just 14 minutes a game. He also shot an extremely impressive 80% field percentage throughout the Celtics four preseason matchups.


Right now, Green is currently signed onto a partially guaranteed contract and if said deal is not altered to something more long term before the start of the season, the athletic wing will be up for grabs in free agency. According to reports his impressive play thus far seems to have caught the eye of a few other organizations.
Having to pick between these two extremely young and potentially great role players is a lot more challenging than it may seem. Green has gotten a lot more buzz so far, but I don't think we can just immediately cast Strus out as in today's NBA his type of game could be very valuable if he meets his fullest potential. Not to mention, there are some other guys on the team who are already in more long term positions that I think could easily be swapped out for these two in a heartbeat.

With all that being said, if I had to choose between Strus and Green right here right now I'm going with Javonte. The passion and effort he puts into his game is so obvious it just feels wrong to not give him the opportunity. Not to mention that his aggressive play on both ends seems NBA ready to the point that if need be he could help this team immediately, which could prove to be very valuable in an upcoming season full of x-factors. Whereas Strus' game might need a little bit more fine-tuning before he can reach that potential I mentioned earlier.

Either way, I don't think I would be too upset if the Celtics front office chooses to go with Strus for that 15th spot. I mean how many teams can find themselves in a position like this where the final roster spot is this challenging. I consider it a good thing that we're in this position in the first place.

But all of that is just my opinion. The important thing is what you think. Should Strus' shooting outweigh Green's athleticism? Or should it be the other way around? Or would you rather keep both and get rid of someone else who is already on the roster? Let me know who you believe should get that last spot on the Celtics this upcoming season in the comments down below.

You can follow Thomas Desmond on Twitter @td_654
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I'm a college student studying in Creative Writing as well as Communication and Media studies.