The Boston Celtics apparently are prioritizing size as they fill out their roster for next season.
Free-agent guard Dalano Banton has agreed to a two-year contract with the Celtics in free agency, The Athletic's Shams Charania reported Monday. The second year on Banton's deal will be a team option, per The Boston Globe's Adam Himmelsbach.
Banton is exceptionally tall for a guard, standing at 6-foot-9, 204 pounds with a nearly 6-foot-11 wingspan. The 23-year-old Toronto native spent the previous two seasons with his hometown Raptors after they selected him in the second round of the 2021 NBA Draft out of Nebraska.
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Banton projects as an end-of-the bench option for head coach Joe Mazzulla -- he appeared in just 31 games for Toronto last season, averaging 4.6 points over 9.0 minutes per night -- but his height and athleticism make him an intriguing, low-risk development project for Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens.
Banton also has a pair of Massachusetts ties; he attended Redemption Christian Academy in Northfield, Mass., and MacDuffie School in Granby, Mass., after growing up in the Toronto area.
Boston now has added two depth pieces in the last four days after reportedly agreeing to a two-year contract with former Indiana Pacers wing Oshae Brissett on Friday. Between the 6-foot-9 Banton, the 6-foot-7 Brissett and 7-foot-3 big man Kristaps Porzingis, the Celtics have added plenty of height this offseason.