Just In: Boston Celtics Confirmed another Waive as super star leaves Boston Celtics

Celtics Release Forward/Center Wenyen Gabriel After Preseason

Following five preseason games, the Boston Celtics have decided to waive Wenyen Gabriel, a forward/center who recently inked a non-guaranteed Exhibit 9 deal with the team, as reported by Shams Charania of The Athletic.

Gabriel, 26, has a five-year NBA career that includes stints with the Sacramento Kings, Portland Trail Blazers, New Orleans Pelicans, Brooklyn Nets, and Los Angeles Clippers. Last season, he played for the Lakers, where he averaged 5.5 points in 15.1 minutes per game and boasted a 59.6% shooting percentage.

Throughout the preseason, Gabriel had limited playing time, while Neemias Queta, a two-way center, seized his on-court opportunities, indicating a shift in the hierarchy of big men. Queta posted an average plus-minus of +13.7 during his time on the court, compared to Gabriel’s -1.3. Gabriel averaged 2.3 points and 2.7 rebounds in 8.2 minutes per game, while Queta, in 11.5 minutes per game, averaged 9.7 points and 4.7 rebounds, impressing both Joe Mazzulla and Celtics fans with his athleticism and defensive skills.

Gabriel, who hails from Sudan but grew up in New Hampshire, expressed his excitement about returning to Massachusetts, where he spent his senior year of high school, saying, “I’m happy to be back home.”

Gabriel played a pivotal role in helping South Sudan secure its first-ever Olympic berth in the FIBA World Cup last summer, where he averaged 9.3 points and 8.8 rebounds for the tournament.

After the postseason finale against the Hornets, Joe Mazzulla shared the difficulty of parting ways with a player who had been with the team since camp. Gabriel, along with Lamar Stevens and D.J. Stewart, was on camp contracts. Stewart is likely to be cut and join the team’s G League affiliate in Maine. The Celtics are expected to maintain an open roster spot to provide flexibility as they head into the regular season.

Mazzulla reflected on the tough decision, saying, “It’s always difficult when you spend two to three weeks with anybody, and you get to know them, and watch them work hard, and they do everything they can, and then they’re not with you anymore. That process is difficult. But at the end of the day, those decisions have to be made, and we just have to move on.”