Celtics waive former first-round pick R.J. Hunter
— -- The Boston Celtics have waived former first-round pick R.J. Hunter in advance of Monday's deadline to trim the regular-season roster to a maximum of 15 players, sources told ESPN's Jeff Goodman.
Unable to find a trade that could have saved the team from eating salary or brought back an asset, the team elected to simply move on from Hunter, the 28th pick in the 2015 draft.
The team had been exploring possible deals for both Hunter and 2014 first-round pick James Young in the final days before the final roster trim. Rivals knew the Celtics had to cut a player and were reluctant to part with anything of value in order to facilitate a deal.
The Celtics came to camp with an overstocked roster knowing they might have to simply cut a former first-round pick. The team waived second-round pick Ben Bentil on Friday.
Boston will carry two rookies on this year's roster in No. 3 pick Jaylen Brown and No. 45 pick Demetrius Jackson, who provides deep ball-handling depth. Two more 2016 draft picks are stashed overseas in Guerschon Yabusele and Ante Zizic, while another second-rounder Abdul Nader is expected to land with the team's D-League affiliate in Maine.
Celtics brass ultimately decided that because Hunter and Young had some positional redundancy, the team had to simply pick one to move forward with. The front office wrestled with the decision but, ultimately, the 15th player on the roster was unlikely to impact the team's success during the 2016-17 season.
