BOSTON -- Max Strus knows what it means that the Boston Celtics signed him to a partially guaranteed contract on Sunday afternoon, prior to their 118-72 beatdown of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
It means very little.
Of course, “very little” by NBA standards is a lot by every other standard. "Very little” means hundreds of thousands of dollars guaranteed in annual salary and an opportunity to play on the game’s biggest stage -- both an honor and a chance to showcase oneself for future contracts, whether in the United States or overseas.
But the status of Strus’ pursuit of a guaranteed roster spot remains unchanged: Nothing is promised, except for some money.
“Nothing’s really changed,” Strus said. “Just got to keep working, keep grinding, hope for the best in a week or whenever that final decision comes out.”
The decision to keep or cut Strus won’t be an easy one for the Celtics, who plucked him out of the relative security of his two-way contract and slotted Tacko Fall in his place. A brief rundown of what Sunday’s roster moves mean:
- Strus is now in competition for the final roster spot, reportedly with Javonte Green. Both Strus and Green have reportedly played well in practice, and the Celtics are understandably intrigued by both. Strus has a sweet 3-point stroke and plenty of size on the wing. Green is a rugged defender with a ton of athleticism who doesn’t try to do too much. Neither is likely to receive major minutes this season, but both are relatively intriguing prospects.
- Fall no longer has to worry about making the roster, but he will spend much of his season in Maine. That has the two-fold benefit for Boston of maintaining him in the event that he dominates in the G-League while also keeping Tacko-mania at a comfortable arm’s length. He’s still on the team, but “We want Tacko” chants won’t echo through the building on a random night in January when Boston trails by eight.
Of course, that also means Fall’s ever-growing brand won’t be around the team on a nightly basis. That matters as well.
“It was a reaction where you don’t know, it was like ‘Oh wow. Did that really happen?’” Fall said after Sunday’s game, when asked for his first reaction to the two-way deal. “Talked to my agent, talked to the other guys, everybody congratulated me. I haven’t checked my phone yet, but I’m sure it’s all over the place. Like I said, I feel blessed. I’ve taken advantage of every opportunity that was given to me, and this is just another one where I have to keep proving myself.”
Meanwhile, if Strus and Green know they are in competition for the final spot (and they almost certainly do), they didn’t show it. Green found Strus in the fourth quarter on a drive-and-kick for an open three which Strus canned, and they exchanged high fives on the way back down the court. On the next play, Strus came up with a steal, then launched a pass to a streaking Green, who leapt from just inside the circle and bashed home a big one-handed slam. Later in the fourth quarter, after Green checked out of the game, he waved his towel and pretended to play the guitar when Strus buried another triple -- a 3-point celebration coined by Lance Stephenson. Both appeared supportive of one another, even though their shared goal sets them at odds.
After struggling to find his range in previous contests off the bench, Strus led the Celtics in scoring on Sunday with 14 points on 4-for-5 shooting from deep.
“It’s tough, definitely, to come off the bench and (shoot),” he said. “But if that’s going to be my role then I’m going to have to get good at it, and work at it and get used to doing that.”
Brad Stevens has been impressed by the former DePaul star.
“Max can really play,” Stevens said. “He’s smart, he cuts hard and he can really shoot. He’s a big, strong guy, and he, Javonte, Tacko, (Tremont) Waters and obviously the guys we drafted, (Romeo) Langford and (Carsen) Edwards and (Grant) Williams, that’s as good of a group of rookie workers that I’ve ever been around. They work. They all can play and they all have a good impact on our environment, which is important. I thought he did a good job tonight, but that’s not a surprise. Those guys, those guys grind. They are hard workers.”
As nice as that sounds, one of those hard workers is going to miss the cut. While the 15th player on a roster is unlikely to get major minutes, the Celtics have managed to put together a training camp roster full of players who seemingly could carve out NBA roles for themselves. Now they have to choose one.
Fall said having some security will help going forward.
“(This is) another opportunity to keep proving myself,” Fall said. “I’ve worked really hard to get to this point. I’m really fortunate to be in this position, and I’m going to keep fighting to show I can play in the NBA and keep getting better.”
Fall’s teammates, for the time being, are left in suspense.
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