Appreciation Thread, Anton Watson (Boston/Maine) – (Waived March 2, 2025)

[cloverleaf]

I take it Brad must be at least considering the possibility of a regular contract? Hard to imagine the 2-way wouldn't otherwise be done by now.

[31to6]

I take it Brad must be at least considering the possibility of a regular contract? Hard to imagine the 2-way wouldn't otherwise be done by now.

Maybe. Another possibility is some of the front office is actually taking some time off — they rolled straight from winning game 5 to draft workouts the next morning to the draft to FA to SL — I’m sure they’ll make a good decision on Watson, but wouldn’t regret anyone being on the beach right now!

[cloverleaf]

I take it Brad must be at least considering the possibility of a regular contract? Hard to imagine the 2-way wouldn't otherwise be done by now.

Maybe. Another possibility is some of the front office is actually taking some time off — they rolled straight from winning game 5 to draft workouts the next morning to the draft to FA to SL — I’m sure they’ll make a good decision on Watson, but wouldn’t regret anyone being on the beach right now!

Yes, though Anton had sounded like he expected it to get done last week. Maybe they are waiting to see what shakes out with the last of the VM FAs.

[cl2117]

I take it Brad must be at least considering the possibility of a regular contract? Hard to imagine the 2-way wouldn't otherwise be done by now.

Maybe. Another possibility is some of the front office is actually taking some time off — they rolled straight from winning game 5 to draft workouts the next morning to the draft to FA to SL — I’m sure they’ll make a good decision on Watson, but wouldn’t regret anyone being on the beach right now!

Yes, though Anton had sounded like he expected it to get done last week. Maybe they are waiting to see what shakes out with the last of the VM FAs.

I think it really just comes down to the fact that there's no urgency on the C's FO side. We've got control since he's a draft pick and he's not likely a Euro flight risk. Comparatively JD and Drew could sign elsewhere if they were unrestricted, hence why putting them on a deal makes sense if we are interested in keeping them around.

It's a bit cut throat, but my only other thought is that they don't want to put him on a deal (15th man or two-way) until they have to just in case he tears his achilles and we are stuck with damaged goods. If that happens before we sign him to anything, we can still retain his rights without using up a two-way or roster spot.

[cloverleaf]

Maybe. Another possibility is some of the front office is actually taking some time off — they rolled straight from winning game 5 to draft workouts the next morning to the draft to FA to SL — I’m sure they’ll make a good decision on Watson, but wouldn’t regret anyone being on the beach right now!

Yes, though Anton had sounded like he expected it to get done last week. Maybe they are waiting to see what shakes out with the last of the VM FAs.

I think it really just comes down to the fact that there's no urgency on the C's FO side. We've got control since he's a draft pick and he's not likely a Euro flight risk. Comparatively JD and Drew could sign elsewhere if they were unrestricted, hence why putting them on a deal makes sense if we are interested in keeping them around.

It's a bit cut throat, but my only other thought is that they don't want to put him on a deal (15th man or two-way) until they have to just in case he tears his achilles and we are stuck with damaged goods. If that happens before we sign him to anything, we can still retain his rights without using up a two-way or roster spot.

They gave Walsh a 4-year deal (which they may now be questioning) on July 6th last year.

[brackdan70]

Yes, though Anton had sounded like he expected it to get done last week. Maybe they are waiting to see what shakes out with the last of the VM FAs.

I think it really just comes down to the fact that there's no urgency on the C's FO side. We've got control since he's a draft pick and he's not likely a Euro flight risk. Comparatively JD and Drew could sign elsewhere if they were unrestricted, hence why putting them on a deal makes sense if we are interested in keeping them around.

It's a bit cut throat, but my only other thought is that they don't want to put him on a deal (15th man or two-way) until they have to just in case he tears his achilles and we are stuck with damaged goods. If that happens before we sign him to anything, we can still retain his rights without using up a two-way or roster spot.

They gave Walsh a 4-year deal (which they may now be questioning) on July 6th last year.

Walsh’s deal contains a bunch of team options and is about as cheap as possible. A similar deal for Watson isn’t a bad idea.
I doubt there are any regrets about Walsh deal. As team friendly as possible.

[Hal14]

I think it really just comes down to the fact that there's no urgency on the C's FO side. We've got control since he's a draft pick and he's not likely a Euro flight risk. Comparatively JD and Drew could sign elsewhere if they were unrestricted, hence why putting them on a deal makes sense if we are interested in keeping them around.

It's a bit cut throat, but my only other thought is that they don't want to put him on a deal (15th man or two-way) until they have to just in case he tears his achilles and we are stuck with damaged goods. If that happens before we sign him to anything, we can still retain his rights without using up a two-way or roster spot.

I think that could be a factor, to a lesser extent.

Think it moreso has to do with flexibility. We only have 1 open 2-way spot left and only 1 open standard roster spot left right now. That's not many open spots. As soon as we sign Watson, the small amount of open roster spots immediately becomes even smaller - giving us less flexibility to sign other players.

As of now, if some guy out there gets waived and we want to sign him to a 2-way, we can because we have an open spot (without having to waive anybody). If some guy gets waived and we want to sign him to the 15th roster spot, we can (without having to waive anybody).

Depending on who is available that BOS would like to sign (and that player has to want to sign here too, of course..it's not easy for both of those things to align at the same time), we could end up wanting to put Watson on a 2-way..or a 2standard roster spot..depending on who else we end up signing..and how injuries end up looking for our other guys.

CL, you brought up what if Anton tears his ACL..well what if Jrue tears his ACL in the Olympics? Then we'll need to pivot and get a guard for the standard roster, which would likely push Watson to a 2-way.

But if Tillman tears his ACL today (he actually has had some knee injuries linger..) we'd probably slot Watson into a lot of those mins so we might give Watson the standard roster spot and sign some other guy to a 2-way.

The longer we wait, the more flexibility we have to make whatever move works best for the team, based on injuries, other available players, etc.

At the same time, there's a respect thing where ideally we would sign Watson to some type of contract sooner rather than later, out of respect for him. He's a guy we drafted and probably see as a guy who could be a long term piece here. So the right thing to do is to not leave him hanging. Give him peace of mind that if he does get injured, he still has a contract. He played very well in SL, give the man a contract.

So I think there's a balance..and think a deal will get done soon.

FWIW, here's the updated contract status for picks in the 35-58 range:


A bunch of mid 2nd round picks did get multi year standard contracts. But Only 1 player in the 48-58 range (where Watson was picked) got a standard contract. Out of the players in that 48-58 range who have gotten a contract, 5 got a 2-way..and the 1 that got a standard contract is Bronny..

[cloverleaf]

I think it really just comes down to the fact that there's no urgency on the C's FO side. We've got control since he's a draft pick and he's not likely a Euro flight risk. Comparatively JD and Drew could sign elsewhere if they were unrestricted, hence why putting them on a deal makes sense if we are interested in keeping them around.

It's a bit cut throat, but my only other thought is that they don't want to put him on a deal (15th man or two-way) until they have to just in case he tears his achilles and we are stuck with damaged goods. If that happens before we sign him to anything, we can still retain his rights without using up a two-way or roster spot.

I think that could be a factor, to a lesser extent.

Think it moreso has to do with flexibility. We only have 1 open 2-way spot left and only 1 open standard roster spot left right now. That's not many open spots. As soon as we sign Watson, the small amount of open roster spots immediately becomes even smaller - giving us less flexibility to sign other players.

As of now, if some guy out there gets waived and we want to sign him to a 2-way, we can because we have an open spot (without having to waive anybody). If some guy gets waived and we want to sign him to the 15th roster spot, we can (without having to waive anybody).

Depending on who is available that BOS would like to sign (and that player has to want to sign here too, of course..it's not easy for both of those things to align at the same time), we could end up wanting to put Watson on a 2-way..or a 2standard roster spot..depending on who else we end up signing..and how injuries end up looking for our other guys.

CL, you brought up what if Anton tears his ACL..well what if Jrue tears his ACL in the Olympics? Then we'll need to pivot and get a guard for the standard roster, which would likely push Watson to a 2-way.

But if Tillman tears his ACL today (he actually has had some knee injuries linger..) we'd probably slot Watson into a lot of those mins so we might give Watson the standard roster spot and sign some other guy to a 2-way.

The longer we wait, the more flexibility we have to make whatever move works best for the team, based on injuries, other available players, etc.

At the same time, there's a respect thing where ideally we would sign Watson to some type of contract sooner rather than later, out of respect for him. He's a guy we drafted and probably see as a guy who could be a long term piece here. So the right thing to do is to not leave him hanging. Give him peace of mind that if he does get injured, he still has a contract. He played very well in SL, give the man a contract.

So I think there's a balance..and think a deal will get done soon.

FWIW, here's the updated contract status for picks in the 35-58 range:


A bunch of mid 2nd round picks did get multi year standard contracts. But Only 1 player in the 48-58 range (where Watson was picked) got a standard contract. Out of the players in that 48-58 range who have gotten a contract, 5 got a 2-way..and the 1 that got a standard contract is Bronny..

I don't recall having brought up Anton's risk of a torn ACL. But if Jrue goes down for the year, can't he be replaced on the roster?

PS The C's had announced J.D. was signed to his original 2-way on July 9, 2022.

[cl2117]

I don't recall having brought up Anton's risk of a torn ACL. But if Jrue goes down for the year, can't he be replaced on the roster?

PS The C's had announced J.D. was signed to his original 2-way on July 9, 2022.

He means me. This is what happens when you choose a username without the intention of ever actually posting and then don't know how to change it 11 years later....

Buy yeah if Jrue goes down with a season ending injury, you could get a disabled player exception and replace him. But wouldn't it be better to have two bites at the apple and two roster spots to try and do that with?

Other than keeping Anton sweet, there's just very little benefit to sign him to a two-way or a full roster spot before it suits us. Most teams probably would have signed him, but most teams aren't restricted under the 2nd apron, paying out the nose in tax and have 3 guys on the Olympics roster.

Think it's just a perfect storm whereby Anton has to just be patient. I assume C's brass is doing whatever they can to assuage his fears and keep him on side. The kid was the 54th pick, is about to turn 24 and isn't the son of LeBron James. I don't think he likely has too big an ego/idea of himself to be too bothered by this (especially if they are saying he's got an outside shot at a full roster spot).

[cloverleaf]

I don't recall having brought up Anton's risk of a torn ACL. But if Jrue goes down for the year, can't he be replaced on the roster?

PS The C's had announced J.D. was signed to his original 2-way on July 9, 2022.

He means me. This is what happens when you choose a username without the intention of ever actually posting and then don't know how to change it 11 years later....

Buy yeah if Jrue goes down with a season ending injury, you could get a disabled player exception and replace him. But wouldn't it be better to have two bites at the apple and two roster spots to try and do that with?

Other than keeping Anton sweet, there's just very little benefit to sign him to a two-way or a full roster spot before it suits us. Most teams probably would have signed him, but most teams aren't restricted under the 2nd apron, paying out the nose in tax and have 3 guys on the Olympics roster.

Think it's just a perfect storm whereby Anton has to just be patient. I assume C's brass is doing whatever they can to assuage his fears and keep him on side. The kid was the 54th pick, is about to turn 24 and isn't the son of LeBron James. I don't think he likely has too big an ego/idea of himself to be too bothered by this (especially if they are saying he's got an outside shot at a full roster spot).

Ah, haha--thanks! My only curiosity is whether they are considering possibly putting him on the 15, which would change the nature of Anton's needed patience. I think he played well enough to be assured a 2-way, so he shouldn't have any worries there.

[Dogen]

I think it really just comes down to the fact that there's no urgency on the C's FO side. We've got control since he's a draft pick and he's not likely a Euro flight risk. Comparatively JD and Drew could sign elsewhere if they were unrestricted, hence why putting them on a deal makes sense if we are interested in keeping them around.

It's a bit cut throat, but my only other thought is that they don't want to put him on a deal (15th man or two-way) until they have to just in case he tears his achilles and we are stuck with damaged goods. If that happens before we sign him to anything, we can still retain his rights without using up a two-way or roster spot.

I think that could be a factor, to a lesser extent.

Think it moreso has to do with flexibility. We only have 1 open 2-way spot left and only 1 open standard roster spot left right now. That's not many open spots. As soon as we sign Watson, the small amount of open roster spots immediately becomes even smaller - giving us less flexibility to sign other players.

As of now, if some guy out there gets waived and we want to sign him to a 2-way, we can because we have an open spot (without having to waive anybody). If some guy gets waived and we want to sign him to the 15th roster spot, we can (without having to waive anybody).

Depending on who is available that BOS would like to sign (and that player has to want to sign here too, of course..it's not easy for both of those things to align at the same time), we could end up wanting to put Watson on a 2-way..or a 2standard roster spot..depending on who else we end up signing..and how injuries end up looking for our other guys.

CL, you brought up what if Anton tears his ACL..well what if Jrue tears his ACL in the Olympics? Then we'll need to pivot and get a guard for the standard roster, which would likely push Watson to a 2-way.

But if Tillman tears his ACL today (he actually has had some knee injuries linger..) we'd probably slot Watson into a lot of those mins so we might give Watson the standard roster spot and sign some other guy to a 2-way.

The longer we wait, the more flexibility we have to make whatever move works best for the team, based on injuries, other available players, etc.

At the same time, there's a respect thing where ideally we would sign Watson to some type of contract sooner rather than later, out of respect for him. He's a guy we drafted and probably see as a guy who could be a long term piece here. So the right thing to do is to not leave him hanging. Give him peace of mind that if he does get injured, he still has a contract. He played very well in SL, give the man a contract.

So I think there's a balance..and think a deal will get done soon.

FWIW, here's the updated contract status for picks in the 35-58 range:


A bunch of mid 2nd round picks did get multi year standard contracts. But Only 1 player in the 48-58 range (where Watson was picked) got a standard contract. Out of the players in that 48-58 range who have gotten a contract, 5 got a 2-way..and the 1 that got a standard contract is Bronny..

I wouldn't mind Anton getting a standard contract and taking that 15th spot. He'll be 24 when the season starts, and the team should have a good sense of what they're getting after 5 years in college, the pre-draft workouts, and summer league. If he gets an affordable 4 year deal, the team will have him in those paek 24-28yo range.

If Brissy wants back in, I'd go with that. Maybe the team is waiting on Brissett. If he signs Watson can have a 2-Way.

Now, the guy I would have picked just ahead of Watson, Ulrich Comche, he's totally a 2-Way guy with potential, probably 2 years away if he develops. Watson is clearly a matured player. Not a finished product, but he has good court sense and in summer league looked like he might be that utility big we've been looking for since Grant.

[cl2117]

I think it really just comes down to the fact that there's no urgency on the C's FO side. We've got control since he's a draft pick and he's not likely a Euro flight risk. Comparatively JD and Drew could sign elsewhere if they were unrestricted, hence why putting them on a deal makes sense if we are interested in keeping them around.

It's a bit cut throat, but my only other thought is that they don't want to put him on a deal (15th man or two-way) until they have to just in case he tears his achilles and we are stuck with damaged goods. If that happens before we sign him to anything, we can still retain his rights without using up a two-way or roster spot.

I think that could be a factor, to a lesser extent.

Think it moreso has to do with flexibility. We only have 1 open 2-way spot left and only 1 open standard roster spot left right now. That's not many open spots. As soon as we sign Watson, the small amount of open roster spots immediately becomes even smaller - giving us less flexibility to sign other players.

As of now, if some guy out there gets waived and we want to sign him to a 2-way, we can because we have an open spot (without having to waive anybody). If some guy gets waived and we want to sign him to the 15th roster spot, we can (without having to waive anybody).

Depending on who is available that BOS would like to sign (and that player has to want to sign here too, of course..it's not easy for both of those things to align at the same time), we could end up wanting to put Watson on a 2-way..or a 2standard roster spot..depending on who else we end up signing..and how injuries end up looking for our other guys.

CL, you brought up what if Anton tears his ACL..well what if Jrue tears his ACL in the Olympics? Then we'll need to pivot and get a guard for the standard roster, which would likely push Watson to a 2-way.

But if Tillman tears his ACL today (he actually has had some knee injuries linger..) we'd probably slot Watson into a lot of those mins so we might give Watson the standard roster spot and sign some other guy to a 2-way.

The longer we wait, the more flexibility we have to make whatever move works best for the team, based on injuries, other available players, etc.

At the same time, there's a respect thing where ideally we would sign Watson to some type of contract sooner rather than later, out of respect for him. He's a guy we drafted and probably see as a guy who could be a long term piece here. So the right thing to do is to not leave him hanging. Give him peace of mind that if he does get injured, he still has a contract. He played very well in SL, give the man a contract.

So I think there's a balance..and think a deal will get done soon.

FWIW, here's the updated contract status for picks in the 35-58 range:


A bunch of mid 2nd round picks did get multi year standard contracts. But Only 1 player in the 48-58 range (where Watson was picked) got a standard contract. Out of the players in that 48-58 range who have gotten a contract, 5 got a 2-way..and the 1 that got a standard contract is Bronny..

I wouldn't mind Anton getting a standard contract and taking that 15th spot. He'll be 24 when the season starts, and the team should have a good sense of what they're getting after 5 years in college, the pre-draft workouts, and summer league. If he gets an affordable 4 year deal, the team will have him in those paek 24-28yo range.

If Brissy wants back in, I'd go with that. Maybe the team is waiting on Brissett. If he signs Watson can have a 2-Way.

Now, the guy I would have picked just ahead of Watson, Ulrich Comche, he's totally a 2-Way guy with potential, probably 2 years away if he develops. Watson is clearly a matured player. Not a finished product, but he has good court sense and in summer league looked like he might be that utility big we've been looking for since Grant.

For me the only logical reason to give Watson the 15th spot is if there is a two-way guy that you can't bear to let hit the market and I'm only luke warm on the two guys we've already got, so I just don't see that as a reality.

Otherwise you stick him on the two way and let him play his way into the open roster spot from there.

[Hal14]

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Tristen Newton yesterday signed a 2-way with the Pacers. Today it's Harrison Ingram with the Spurs.

Seems like these 2-way contract deals with mid to late 2nd round picks are just taking some time.

Probably due to flexibility..teams want to hang on to the flexibility as long as possible (and to a less extent, protect themselves in case the player gets hurt).

Certainly seems like it'll be a 2-way for Watson as well.

That would mean Peterson, Watson and JD on a 2-way. That's fine with me.

Then the 15th roster spot: either is left open, or goes to Oshae or some FA guy we decide to sign. Seems like at this point it'll probably be left open, with the possibility of Watson getting some front court mins here and there (especially with KP out during the fist 2-23 months) as a pseudo-15th man, on a 2-way but still getting some rotation mins here and there, like Queta last season..

[Homerclease]

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[cloverleaf]

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Tristen Newton yesterday signed a 2-way with the Pacers. Today it's Harrison Ingram with the Spurs.

Seems like these 2-way contract deals with mid to late 2nd round picks are just taking some time.

Probably due to flexibility..teams want to hang on to the flexibility as long as possible (and to a less extent, protect themselves in case the player gets hurt).

Certainly seems like it'll be a 2-way for Watson as well.

That would mean Peterson, Watson and JD on a 2-way. That's fine with me.

Then the 15th roster spot: either is left open, or goes to Oshae or some FA guy we decide to sign. Seems like at this point it'll probably be left open, with the possibility of Watson getting some front court mins here and there (especially with KP out during the fist 2-23 months) as a pseudo-15th man, on a 2-way but still getting some rotation mins here and there, like Queta last season..

Queta pretty much played out his game eligibility, and I expect Watson to similarly see a good number of games with the big team.

[Hal14]

Well, it took awhile but this is no surprise, of course.

He was always going to sign either a 2-way or a standard contract. You don't draft a guy and then not give him a standard or 2-way contract..that would be bad asset management. Not to mention it was a strategic draft pick since he fits the archetype of other guys who have been successful in Boston and who the celtics have targeted (Tillman, Grant, Horford, etc.). And he was very good in Summer league so there was never really a question about whether he'd at least get a 2-way. He wasn't competing for a 2-way spot at summer league. It was a guarantee that he would get at least a 2-way.

Question was, which contract would he get. 2-way or standard contract? That was the only question here.

But as many people on here mentioned, it made more sense (for now) to have him on a 2-way. Then possibly convert him later in the season like we did with Hauser his rookie year and Queta last year.

This pretty much completes our offseason..still 2 more spots available on the training camp roster..



I put the players (roughly) on order of how much they'll likely move the needle and impact winning for us this season, when healthy.

Last year Queta (on a 2-way) was more impactful and getting more rotation mins than a few guys who were on standard contracts (Walsh, Svi, Stevens..) and I think it could play out similarly with Watson..think he is more plug and play, more ready to contribute than Walsh and Scheierman..Watson also plays a position (PF/C) that could be in line for more mins than another bench wing behind Hauser..

Now with the contract squared away, Anton can relax a bit, maybe have a little vacation..before soon guys will be coming in for offseason workouts..

[Homerclease]

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I dunno. He played well enough to earn a two way, I’m not sure the kid has the physical gifts to ever be more than a quad A player though

[Parliament10]

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[zoyathedestroya]

Brad is on top of things. All we are is noise to him lol. He gets **** done.

[Hal14]

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