Boston Celtics waive John Lucas III and Malcolm Thomas
By Wes Goldberg
Days after sending guard Keith Bogans to the Cleveland Cavaliers for the non-guaranteed contracts of John Lucas III, Erik Murphy, Dwight Powell and Malcolm Thomas, the Boston Celtics have already parted ways with two of the newly acquired players.
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Per ESPN’s Marc Stein:
ESPN sources say that the Boston Celtics have officially waived John Lucas III and Malcolm Thomas
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) September 28, 2014
As Stein originally reported, the Celtics were expected the waive both Thomas and Lucas but hold onto the younger Murphy.
Lucas, Thomas and Murphy have been on the move this summer. They were traded from the Utah Jazz to the Cavaliers on July 22, with Cleveland intending to trade them as soon as possible, according to Stein.
Meanwhile, the Cavs already traded Bogans and a 2018 second-round pick to the Philadelphia 76ers for a protected, 2015 second round pick. The trade created a $5.3 million trade exception.
All of these moves were an attempt by one very competitive team and another not-so competitive team to create cap space and acquire valuable trade exceptions.
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