Robb: New Celtics Randolph And Prince Joining Team For Road Trip
BOSTON (CBS) – The Boston Celtics roster received quite the makeover this week and the team's new pieces are still coming together.
Days after acquiring Tayshaun Prince and Shavlik Randolph in separate trades with the Memphis Grizzlies and Phoenix Suns, both players are expected to join the team in Los Angeles this weekend, ahead of the team's six-game Western Conference road trip.
Boston's third new acquisition, Chris Douglas-Roberts will be waived on Saturday, opening up a roster spot for the team, but the veteran additions of Prince and Randolph will add more of a veteran presence to the Celtics locker room for the time being.
Prince's situation is a particularly intriguing for Celtics president Danny Ainge to handle. The 34-year-old small forward is earning $7.4 million in the final year of his contract. He clearly has no long-term future on a rebuilding team like Boston, but his salary could come in handy for some trade deadline dealing by the Celtics in the coming weeks. Rather than opting for a buyout immediately, it appears the Celtics will keep Prince around for now and try to benefit from his track record.
"I think that we'll see how it all plays out with how opportunity with all these different guys," Brad Stevens said Friday night. "[Prince has] got a lot of experience, he's had a lot of winning experience, and any guy like that is welcome to share his thoughts all day long," said Stevens.
Randolph will be making his second stint with the Celtics. The 31-year-old power forward was a fan favorite as a late-season free agent signing during the 2012-13 campaign. He provided some terrific rebounding on both sides of the floor for Doc Rivers in the final year of the Big Three era before being cut that summer.
Stevens was briefly Randolph's coach in July 2013 before the team let Randolph go and he shared those memories of Randolph Friday.
"I talked to him right after I got the [Celtics] job, he was still on our roster," Stevens said. "Obviously, I look forward to coaching him. This is really jogging my memory -- I'm pretty sure his career high in college came against [Butler], which was disappointing at the time, obviously."
Randolph was no more than an end of the bench player this year in Phoenix, playing in just 12 games for the Suns. His age makes him a question mark to stick around as the trade deadline looms, but he clearly made a solid first impression in Boston and that is something that is valued by Stevens.
"He's a guy that people just love having on their team. He adds to the way that teams play, from a physical standpoint. I know that the people in Phoenix felt that way; everybody you talk to in our organization feels that way. The guys that were with him, albeit there's not many of them left, are excited that he's going to be back. And I'm excited that he's going to be back," Stevens said.
With more veteran trades to come in the coming weeks, Randolph may get an extended opportunity to see regular minutes in Boston's frontcourt and take advantage of the good vibes that remains from his first stop in town.
Brian Robb covers the Celtics for CBS Boston and contributes to NBA.com, among other media outlets. You can follow him on Twitter @CelticsHub.