BOSTONThe news came as a shock to no one.
With little to no chance of playing anytime soon for the Boston Celtics, the C's announced on Wednesday that rookies Fab Melo and Kris Joseph were being assigned to the team's Developmental League affiliate, the Maine Red Claws.
Melo was on the inactive list for all seven of the Celtics' games this season. He did appear in all eight of the C's preseason games and averaged 1.3 rebounds in 5.9 minutes of action per game. Boston selected the 7-footer out of Syracuse University with the No. 22 pick in last June's NBA draft. With the Orange, Melo averaged 7.8 points, 5.8 rebounds and 2.9 blocks prior to declaring for the draft after his sophomore season.
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Joseph appeared in one game for the Celtics this season, tallying one rebound and an assist in the C's home-opening loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on Nov. 2. Like Melo, he also appeared in all eight preseason games for Boston in which he averaged 4.6 points and 1.9 rebounds in 10.8 minutes per game.
Prior to the announcement, Joseph anticipated at some point he would be with the D-League team in Maine.
"I just want to do whatever I can to just keep getting better, growing as a player," Joseph told CSNNE.com. "I'm willing to go wherever that takes me."
Boston drafted Joseph in the second round of last June's draft with the 51st overall pick. As a senior at Syracuse, Joseph led the Orange in scoring with 13.4 points in addition to chipping in 4.7 rebounds per game.