Written by Chris Forsberg at ESPN.com
The Boston Celtics plan to sign free-agent center Aron Baynes to a one-year, $4.3 million contract, according to a league source.
The 6-foot-10 Baynes, born in New Zealand but an Australia national, averaged 4.9 points and 4.4 rebounds over 15.5 minutes per game last season in Detroit. Baynes provides much-needed help on the defensive glass, grabbing 21.6 percent of all defensive caroms when he was on the floor last season.
The Celtics can’t officially sign Baynes until a sequence of moves that will include first signing Gordon Hayward. Boston traded Avery Bradley to Detroit last week to generate the necessary cap space to sign Hayward to a maximum-contract salary that starts at $29.7 million for the 2017-18 season.
The Vertical first reported Baynes’ signing.
The Celtics were thin up front with the recent departures of Kelly Olynyk (four years, $50 million with Miami) and Amir Johnson (one year, $11 million with Philadelphia). Baynes adds a bruiser to Boston’s big-man depth chart in which the only other veteran is Al Horford.
While the Celtics have a bunch of players capable of playing as undersized 4s, the team is thin on pure centers. Boston’s frontcourt is likely to be filled out with first-year players Ante Zizic (2016 first-round pick who played last year in Croatia and Turkey), Daniel Theis (undrafted, played last year in Germany) and Guerschon Yabusele (2016 first-round pick who played last year in China and the G-League).
Baynes playfully hinted at his Boston signing on social media Sunday afternoon.
Does anybody know if there’s good BBQ in Boston? Asking for a friend ☘️
— Aron Baynes (@aronbaynes) July 9, 2017
The Detroit Pistons owned a net rating of plus-5.2 with Baynes on the court last season, best among the team’s regulars. Detroit posted a defensive rating of 105.3 for the season, but that number plummeted to 98.5 with Baynes on the court.
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