Lamar Stevens, a free agency forward, and the Celtics have come to terms, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
After graduating from Penn State in 2020 and being undrafted, Stevens spent the following three seasons in Cleveland. Last season, he played in 62 games, starting 25, and averaging 18.1 minutes each game. The 26-year-old was one of the Cavaliers’ most dependable outside defenders, averaging 5.3 points and 3.3 rebounds per game on.448/.316/.702 shooting.
Stevens was a part of the three-team deal that brought Max Strus to Cleveland via sign-and-trade after the Cavaliers exercised his non-guaranteed team option. In that agreement, he received a $400K partial guarantee and moved to San Antonio, but the Spurs later in July terminated him before his $1.9MM+ salary for 2023/24 became completely guaranteed.
Several teams, including Houston, Miami, and Minnesota, were said to be interested in Stevens last week, but he ultimately decided to sign with the Celtics after trying out for the team in August.
We don’t yet know the specifics of Stevens’ contract with the Celtics. With Dalano Banton, Svi Mykhailiuk, and Luke Kornet playing on non-guaranteed or partially-guaranteed minimum-salary contracts, Boston only has 11 players whose salaries are fully guaranteed at the moment. It wouldn’t be surprising if Stevens signed a contract that was similar to Banton and Mykhailiuk’s ($200,000 each), perhaps with a partial guarantee.
