A 2024 NBA champion Celtics bench player is heading west.
Free agent Svi Mykhailiuk signed a four-year, $15 million contract with the Utah Jazz, his agent told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski on Friday.
The 27-year-old guard played the second-most games in his career in 2023-24. Mykhailiuk appeared in 41 regular season games and eight postseason contests for the Celtics last season. He signed with the Celtics on a one-year, $2.4 million deal (the league minimum) last offseason.
The Ukranian athlete started just two games for Boston and averaged four points per game in the regular season. Mykhailiuk expanded his portfolio, though, winning the NBA Finals with Boston and recording a handful of minutes throughout the playoffs, helping him earn his contract.
The Jazz see potential in Mykhailiuk, a career 36.3 percent three-point shooter. Having played on seven different teams over six seasons, the wing will presumably be getting more playing time and a better chance to develop on the court than he would have if he re-signed with Boston.
Free agent F Svi Mykhailiuk has agreed on a four-year, $15 million deal with the Utah Jazz, agent Michael Lelchitski of @SIGSports tells ESPN. He played 41 games for the NBA champion Boston Celtics last season. pic.twitter.com/kfUMaN9nM8
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) August 9, 2024
The Celtics wanted to run it back in 2024-25 with the exact same roster as last season in hopes of winning back-to-back NBA Finals, but Mykhailiuk’s departure makes that impossible.
Oshae Brissett is left as the final player from last season’s championship-winning Boston team on the free agent market. The Celtics have one roster spot remaining; they can opt to fill it before the 2024-25 season begins, or leave it open.
“I think we have to be mindful of the last roster spot, what our needs might be,” president of basketball operations Brad Stevens said on July 17. “As far as how we fill out the rest of the roster, we kept 14 most of the year last year and then we added two at the end of the year. We’ll see how the next few months play themselves out with regard to people’s availability.
“Obviously Kristaps (Porzingis) is going to have a long rehab process ahead of him and then we have to determine what’s the best need for our team in that 15th spot. Both Oshae and Svi, to me, are good NBA players that, whether here or elsewhere, are great fits for any team.”
