Jayson Tatum pushing Celtics to sign Harry Giles III?

Giles’ tweet drew a strong reaction from the Boston Celtics star Tatum, who played with Giles in college at Duke when they were both freshmen. “SIGN HIM,” Tatum wrote in a quote tweet of Giles’ post.

While Tatum did not quite make it clear if he was specifically calling on the Celtics to sign Giles, we do know that Boston has some roster spots to work with. They just traded Daniel Theis, Aaron Nesmith, Nik Stauskas, Malik Fitts, and Juwan Morgan (plus a first-rounder) to the Indiana Pacers for Malcolm Brogdon. While one of those open slots is expected to go to the bought-out Danilo Gallinari, that still leaves somewhat of a hole in the frontcourt that the 6-foot-11 Giles might be able to fill.

Though Giles is still only 24, he has an extensive injury history and averaged just 2.8 points and 3.5 rebounds per game during his last NBA stint with the Portland Trail Blazers in 2020-21. But Giles looked fairly solid last season in the G League for the Agua Caliente Clippers with 11.7 points and 7.3 boards per game in a handful of appearances. If he does end up getting a shot with Boston, Giles will have to overcome some past history with another Celtic.