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While they did just recently make the NBA Finals, the Boston Celtics have been really busy this NBA offseason. Not only did they upgrade their bench with the addition of former 2016-17 Rookie of the Year Malcolm Brogdon from the Indiana Pacers, but the Celtics have been making some other smaller moves as well to add scoring talent to their roster.
Signing veteran forward Danilo Gallinari was a huge addition for this team, but with Gallinari recently suffering a torn ACL, the Celtics are now forced to look elsewhere for production from the forward position.
Maybe he will not actually make the 15-man roster for the 2022-23 season, but Jake Layman will certainly have a chance to prove his worth tor the Celtics in training camp, as Bobby Manning of CLNS Media reported on Monday evening that Boston and Layman had reached an agreement on a deal.
Layman, 28, was drafted 47th overall in the 2016 NBA Draft by the Orlando Magic and he was dealt immediately to the Portland Trail Blazers for $1.2 million in cash on draft night.
Spending three seasons in Portland, Layman really never cracked the team’s rotation until his third season and by then, the team was ready to move on. Being traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves ahead of the start of the 2019-20 season, Jake Layman recently finished up his contract with the Timberwolves, making him an unrestricted free agent this offseason.
In six NBA seasons, Layman has played in a total of 243 regular season games and has averaged 4.8 points and 1.7 rebounds per game for his career. Layman has also shot 46.0% from the floor and 30.0% from three-point range.
Labeled as a 6-foot-8 small forward, Jake Layman was always known to be a three-point shooting threat in college at Maryland, but in the NBA, he has not found a ton of success from beyond the three-point line. The best season he had from deep in the NBA was during the 2019-20 season with the Timberwolves, a year in which he shot 33.3% in 23 total games.
With JD Davison and Mfiondu Kabengele occupying both two-way roster spots for the Boston Celtics, Jake Layman certainly has his work cut out for him if he is to have a shot at making the Celtics 15-man roster for the 2022-23 season.
He will be competing against Denzel Valentine, Noah Vonleh and Bruno Caboclo, three other veteran talents who have received training camp invites from the Celtics.
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