The Celtics made a change to the back end of their bench Thursday, waiving fourth-year point guard JD Davison.
Davison starred on the NBA’s farm circuit last season, earning G League MVP honors after averaging 25.1 points, 5.2 rebounds, 7.4 assists and 1.5 steals per game for the Maine Celtics. That success never translated to the big club, however.
Drafted in the second round out of Alabama in 2022, the 6-foot-1 Davison appeared in just 36 NBA games over his three seasons with Boston, with the vast majority of his minutes coming in garbage time.
The 22-year-old made 16 NBA appearances in 2024-25, averaging 2.1 points, 0.8 rebounds, 0.8 assists and 5.8 minutes per game. His most productive outing came in the regular-season finale against Charlotte, with Davison tallying nine points, four assists and two steals in 17 minutes while most of Boston’s regulars sat out.
When the Celtics converted Davison’s two-way contract to a standard NBA deal this past April, head coach Joe Mazzulla said it was “the right thing to do because of what he’s done for our program and what he’s done as a player and what he’s done as a person off the court.”
Davison’s contract was not guaranteed for this season, and he was not projected to factor into Boston’s new-look rotation, even after the offseason departure of starting guard Jrue Holiday. He is no longer eligible to sign a two-way – which allows players to split time between the NBA and G League – with the Celtics but can with another team.
Releasing Davison pushed the Celtics back beneath the second apron of the NBA’s luxury tax, which they’d surpassed by signing center Luka Garza, wing Josh Minott and first-round draft pick Hugo Gonzalez after trading away Holiday and center Kristaps Porzingis.
The move also created an open spot on Boston’s 15-man roster, but it’s unclear whether president of basketball operations Brad Stevens plans to fill it before the season begins in October. The Celtics chose to carry just 14 rostered players into each of the last two seasons, and filling the final spot with even a veteran-minimum signing would push them back above the second apron, severely limiting their flexibility.
Derrick White, Payton Pritchard and veteran newcomer Anfernee Simons, acquired in the Holiday trade, headline the Celtics’ backcourt depth chart. Second-round draft pick Max Shulga and recent Exhibit 10 signee Hayden Gray, who both played for Boston’s Summer League squad, will compete for spots in training camp.
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