It is not all that often that a player earns a roster spot off a training camp deal after playing just one game in preseason. But that is exactly what happened with former Providence College standout Devin Carter, who had an excellent outing in the Celtics' first preseason tilt vs. the Cleveland Cavaliers. In it, he put up 17 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals off the bench with respectable efficiency for Boston before he came down with what has since been revealed to be a case of mononucleosis.
That outing was enough to land Carter a two way spot with the team once he is healthy enough to return to action, and Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla explained what the front office saw in his play that led to the vote of confidence after practice
on Sunday (Oct. 18). "He's very talented," said Mazzulla viaCLNS Media. "He's done some good things in the league. But with us, he's put his head down, (and was) really impactful on the defensive end of the floor in the Cleveland game."
"(He) did some things for us offensively, but I think we have a guy who came in with a great attitude, (and) did what we asked him to do," added the Celtics coach. "You see the talent and the impact that he could have. You want to be able to invest in that."
"It's always tough in those moments because the group we started the other night were fighting for that as well," he noted. "I thought they worked their asses off from really summer league in August (and) September, and you can only pick one of them."
"We always talk about how the bigger guys impact the culture in the locker room. But I thought the team that started the night the (training camp contract players), the two ways, the guys fighting for the two ways … those guys are just as important, and really helped us have a great training camp and Devin was a part of as well."
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This article originally appeared on Celtics Wire: Joe Mazzulla on how Devin Carter earned two way deal in one Boston Celtics preseason game
