The Celtics have waived two-way big man Nathan Knight, the team announced on Tuesday.
The Boston Celtics have waived big man Nathan Knight, the team announced Tuesday afternoon. Knight had spent the entirety of the 2023-24 campaign with Boston’s G League affiliate, the Maine Celtics, where he averaged 8.9 points and 8.3 rebounds in 22.9 minutes per game. This move gives the Celtics an open two-way contract to consider, although it’s unlikely it signals any imminent move.
Knight originally signed a deal with Boston in October after he was waived by the New York Knicks. Born in upstate New York, Knight played college ball at William & Mary in Virginia. He joined the NBA as a member of the Atlanta Hawks during the 2020-21 season, and also logged minutes as a pro with the Minnesota Timberwolves. In his first career start in December 2021, Knight logged 20 points, 11 rebounds, 1 steal, and 1 block against the Celtics as a member of the Wolves.
The Maine Celtics are 7-5 this season, while the Boston Celtics are 16-5 at the time of this writing.
New episode of the Celtics Lab Podcast ☘️🧪🎧
Sorting out the buyers and sellers as NBA trade season kicks off with @ASherrodblakely
Finding the right balance between players the front office ought to want to retain without also paying too much to do so is a fraught needle to thread.
The Boston Celtics are officially a second apron ball club as they gear up to contend for an NBA-record 18th title this season, and will thus need to take great care with the talent on the team around the margins with the Celtics needing to keep good players on cheap contracts around, which is no easy task even without the additional exigencies of trying to win a title.
Finding the right balance between players the front office ought to want to retain without also paying too much to do so is a fraught needle to thread for Boston moving forward, but one they will need to pull off if they want to stay in the title hunt.
And they will have to do it a total of as many as nine times in the 2024 NBA offseason, with as many potential free agents looking at new deals; let’s take a look at who they are.
The signing of Knight hints at the possibility of him getting playing time with the main Celtics roster, although he averaged only 7.7 minutes in 38 games with the Timberwolves last season.
What can the Boston Celtics expect from signing big man Nathan Knight to a two way deal? Knight, a 26-year-old forward, was previously with the New York Knicks during the preseason, and the Atlanta Hawks and Minnesota Timberwolves before that. Although he’s not a towering center at 6-foot-10, he’s described as a big body who doesn’t need the ball much, making him a valuable addition for the Celtics.
He had a standout college career at William and Mary, where he excelled as a forward and showcased his shot-blocking abilities. The signing of Knight hints at the possibility of him getting playing time with the main Celtics roster, although he averaged only 7.7 minutes in 38 games with the Timberwolves last season.
To hear more about what Knight might bring to Boston, take a look at the clip from the CLNS Media “How Bout Them Celtics!” podcast embedded below.
The Boston Celtics have officially signed Nathan Knight, a 26-year-old forward who previously played for the Minnesota Timberwolves and Atlanta Hawks.
The Boston Celtics have officially signed Nathan Knight, a 26-year-old forward who previously played for the Minnesota Timberwolves and Atlanta Hawks. Knight appeared in 38 regular season games with averages of 3.7 points and 1.5 rebounds per contest last season, shooting 56.8% from the field and 36.4% from deep. He has also played in 8 NBA playoff games.
Knight was recently waived by the New York Knicks from their training camp roster and is now signing a two-way deal with the Celtics. Knight has 3 seasons of NBA experience with career averages of 3.7 points and 2.0 rebounds in 108 regular season games, but if you do not know much about how he looks on the court, we have you covered.
Tomasz Kordylewski put together a highlight reel of his best plays for your viewing enjoyment on his YouTube channel for exactly such a reason.
While he might not see regular playing time with Boston this season, Knight has the opportunity to compete for backup minutes alongside players like Luke Kornet and (at least for now) fellow two way big man Neemias Queta.
The Boston Celtics have reportedly signed Nathan Knight, a 6-foot-10, 253-lb. big man, to a two way deal according to the team. Knight previously played for the New York Knicks in the preseason and before that with the Atlanta Hawks (2020-21) and Minnesota Timberwolves (2022-23), and has a career average of 3.7 points, and 2.0 rebounds per game over three seasons.
Knight, originally from Syracuse, New York, is known for his efficiency as a shooter. He boasts a career shooting percentage of 54.7% from inside the arc and shit 36.4% from beyond the 3-point line last season with Minnesota. In a game against the Celtics in December 2021, he had a standout performance, scoring 20 points, grabbing 11 rebounds, and providing 4 assists.
Knight’s signing fills the two way slot left vacant by Jay Scrubb, who suffered an ACL injury in preseason.
While he might not see regular playing time with Boston this season, Knight has the opportunity to compete for backup minutes alongside players like Luke Kornet and (at least for now) fellow two way big man Neemias Queta.
As a two-way player, Knight can be active for up to 50 NBA games, and could well see some run on nights Al Horford sits on the backend of back-to-backs.
Fresh off a win to stay unbeaten, Hawks head coach Lloyd Pierce only wanted to talk about undrafted rookie Nathan Knight.
Fresh off a win to stay unbeaten, in which Trae Young scored 36 points, Atlanta Hawks head coach Lloyd Pierce only wanted to talk about undrafted rookie Nathan Knight.
Seemingly, there were plenty of things to talk about but Pierce wanted to recognize Knight following his career performance. Knight logged less than nine minutes in the contest but produced a career-high 14 points off the bench, including eight alone in the first half.
The former William & Mary standout earned praise from Young, who said after the game that Knight would have received the game ball if they gave one out. The comments by Young coincide with what Pierce hilariously said, according to Sarah Spencer of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Lloyd Pierce: "I'm only here to talk about Nathan Knight. If you don't have a question about Nathan Knight, I don't have time for you."
Knight, who is signed to a two-way contract, has impressed his teammates in the early going this season in practice. He was only last week on the scout team and was giving the starters problems in one practice ahead of the season opener.
Players signed to two-way contracts will have the opportunity this season to play in as many as 50 games due to the nature of the condensed schedule. Knight will undoubtedly have the opportunity to play more following his performance and it is all a direct result of his hard work to this point.
Atlanta returns to action on Monday vs. the Detroit Pistons.
After numerous delays and postponements, front offices and draftniks have had more time to analyze the 2020 NBA draft than any previous year.
After numerous delays and postponements, front offices and draftniks have had more time to analyze the 2020 NBA draft than any previous year.
Originally scheduled for June, the ongoing pandemic pushed the big night back by five months. While this may cause some teams to overthink their decisions, it gave analysts plenty of time to study all of the top prospects eligible in this class.
This year, players had to participate in a mostly virtual pre-draft process. On the bright side, this meant that teams had the opportunity to interview more candidates than ever before.
However, the number of in-person visits were incredibly limited due to the restrictive parameters set by the league. Similarly, the NBA draft combine was conducted without the typical scrimmages where players can separate themselves from the others with impressive on-court performances.
Overall, the players that stood out in this pre-draft process had a different path to recognition than any other year. College basketball players did not have the opportunity to showcase themselves during March Madness. The nation’s top seniors did not get to participate in the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament.
As such, executives will rely mostly on the existing game footage as well as the intel they gathered during their conversations with the prospects. We also depended on similar strategies, getting access to one-on-one interviews with more than three dozen prospects and exchanging our thoughts with various scouts across the league.
This helped us put together our final big board, looking at the Top 100 players ranked on their potential to make a difference for teams in the NBA.
Relevant statistics were pulled from Synergy Sports Tech, Bart-Torvik, KenPom, Open Look Analytics and RealGM. Note that the age listed for each player references how old they will be on the night of the draft.
Here are the three mid-major college prospects that should have the attention of the Philadelphia 76ers.
The Philadelphia 76ers have five draft picks in the 2020 NBA Draft with four coming in the second round. There are always some hidden gems at the back end of the draft that every team can find with a little hard work.
Normally, those picks at the end of the draft come from mid-major colleges. Those college teams that always fly under the radar and they don’t have the same shine as a team like Duke or Kentucky or North Carolina and the like. However, there are always a few guys who deserve some love and can be productive NBA players.
For the Sixers, there are three guys who stand out as potential prospects for the team who can help right away and that is what this post is about. Let’s get into it.
For the upcoming 2020 NBA Draft, seniors may have an advantage because they have the largest sample size of game film to show front offices.
For the upcoming 2020 NBA Draft, seniors may have an advantage because they have the largest sample size of game film to show front offices.
Most other years, prospects have opportunities to boost their draft stock in the NCAA Tournament or during team workouts and the NBA Combine. But with at least some and potentially even all of those scouting events canceled this year due to the coronavirus, upperclassmen are arguably more valuable than usual due to increased exposure.
With that in mind, we broke the top prospects who have elapsed their college basketball eligibility and as such are thus automatically eligible for the 2020 NBA Draft.
1. Cassius Winston, Michigan State
(Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images)
Guard, 6-foot-1, 21 years old
During his four seasons at Michigan State, Cassius Winston averaged 13.0 assists per 100 possessions. Meanwhile, his career assist rate (43.1%) ranked as sixth-best among all NCAA players since 2009-10. While a bit undersized, he had always been incredibly productive in college and is arguably the most NBA-ready of the seniors who will be in this draft class. Winston is already an incredibly capable finisher and distributor out of the pick-and-roll, which will help his game translate to the next level. He has also been productive as a shooter off the catch, off the dribble and off screens. In fact, he shot above 40.0 percent from 3-point range on each of those attempts. Winston became the second consensus All-American in Michigan State history, also earning All-American honors back-to-back seasons.
Somehow already past the midpoint of the college basketball season, the 2020 NBA Draft is starting to shape up with far more clear rankings.
Somehow already past the midpoint of the college basketball season, the 2020 NBA draft is starting to shape up with far more clear rankings.
As always, we examine the most trusted analysts to give us the best idea of a consensus for what the upcoming draft class will look like in June. The latest 2020 NBA mock drafts from experts at ESPN, CBS Sports, SI.com, Bleacher Report, NBADraft.net, The Athletic and USA Today Sports Media Group’s Rookie Wire were used for these rankings.
The top four players (Anthony Edwards, LaMelo Ball, James Wiseman and Cole Anthony) have remained the exact same despite none of the latter three players being active for various different reasons.
Meanwhile, Iowa State sophomore point guard Tyrese Haliburton entered the Top 5 and replaced 19-year-old Israeli prospect Deni Avdija – who has not seen much playing time in the Euroleague.
Included below are brief scouting reports for senior guards who have improved their draft stock the most since our last update. These players listed are all four-year NCAA players who could be ready to make the jump to the NBA like Josh Hart and Malcolm Brogdon did in their respective classes.
MARKUS HOWARD, MARQUETTE
Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports
Aggregate Mock Draft Rank: 46
One of the most important things to know about Marquette senior Markus Howard is that despite the fact he has four years of collegiate experience, he is just 20 years old. Few teams operate their offense through one player quite like Golden Eagles do with Howard, who has taken 42.5 percent of their total field goal attempts. Fortunately, the guard brags one of the most efficient and prolific jump shots among all NCAA players. Howard operates well when he is shooting off the catch and off the dribble, which will make him a good fit for almost any offense in the NBA. He is currently averaging 28.4 points per game while shooting 42.5 percent on three-pointers. Similarly, no guard in college has been fouled more often than Howard has thus far. He should be a lock win Big East Player of the Year and should be a strong contender for the National Player of the Year, too. As a pro, he can likely become a spark-plug scoring option off the bench. His draft stock has improved from No. 68 up to No. 46 month-over-month.
PAYTON PRITCHARD, OREGON
(Photo by Steve Dykes/Getty Images)
Aggregate Mock Draft Rank: 47
Oregon senior guard Payton Pritchard was a Top-50 recruit coming into the Pac-12 back in 2016. He attended West Linn High School, where he was able to lead his squad to four consecutive state titles. That accomplishment was an especially impressive feat considering the program had only won the OSAA Boys Basketball Championship once before and it was way back in 1997. He has since played for the Ducks in the Final Four (2017) and also won MVP of the Pac-12 Tournament last season. He is currently averaging 19.8 points, 4.3 rebounds and 5.8 assists with 1.7 steals per game. His assist rate (32.7 percent) is Top 20 among seniors and he has connected on 40.7 percent of his three-pointers. Now more than halfway through the season, he is the heavy favorite to win Pac-12 Player of the Year and could be a sleeper for National Player of the Year as well. He has leaped from No. 96 in December all the way to No. 47 now in January.
SKYLAR MAYS, LSU
Bryan Lynn-USA TODAY Sports
Aggregate Mock Draft Rank: 57
During his senior year of high school, Skylar Mays was actually teammates with Howard at Findlay Prep. Also on the roster was 2019 first-rounder PJ Washington and Toronto Raptors two-way wing Oshae Brissett. For what it is worth, their roster also had current college basketball standouts Tristan Clark (Baylor) and Lamine Diane (CSUN). Their team has already sent tons of prospects into the NBA and Mays could very well be the next in line. He is a potential 3-and-D threat, averaging 1.4 three-pointers and 2.1 steals per game for the LSU Tigers as an NCAA senior. Meanwhile, LSU’s adjusted offensive rating (116.6) ranks Top 5 in college basketball. Along with Reggie Perry (Mississippi State) as well as Kerry Blackshear Jr. (Florida), Mays has a strong candidacy to win SEC Player of the Year. He has jumped from No. 90 last month to No. 57 this month.
