The Boston Celtics waived forward Perry Jones III on Saturday while trimming to the 15-man roster limit in advance of Wednesday’s season opener.
The Celtics acquired Jones from the tax-shedding Oklahoma City Thunder in July in exchange for a second-round pick and cash that will help pay his $2 million salary.
Boston also released training-camp invite Corey Walden, who could land with the Maine Red Claws of the NBA Development League.
Boston was intrigued by the 25-year-old Jones, a first-round pick in the 2012 draft, particularly because of his athleticism and ability to defend multiple positions. Jones averaged 2.0 points and 1.6 rebounds over a mere 8.3 minutes per game in five appearances this preseason.
Jones didn’t quite distinguish himself in game action, but made an impression on coach Brad Stevens in practice.
“Perry has a chance to be a very, very good multi-positional defender and he’s got a chance to be a guy that can play off closeouts, make shots or play switches,” Celtics coach Brad Stevens said last week. “So being able to do those things regularly is a huge key. But I’ve been impressed with what Perry can do, what he has done, especially in practice.”
The Celtics now have two dead contracts on their books in Jones III and Zoran Dragic. Both were acquired this summer for second-round picks and Boston has enough financial flexibility to eat those contracts (having also brought back nearly $3 million in cash to help defray the cost).
Boston had been searching for potential trades in advance of the league’s final trimdown that might have allowed the team to carry Jones -- and also alleviated some depth-chart logjams -- but nothing materialized.
The Celtics are over the salary cap and committed to roughly $77.5 million this season, but still have plenty of room under the luxury tax to maneuver should other deals open during the season.
