Dionte Christmas Signs Partially Guaranteed Deal With Celtics
Posted by Brian Robb on Jul 23, 2012: celticshub.com
Dionte Christmas knew things were going well in Summer League in Orlando when the Celtics invited him to stick with the team in Las Vegas a week and a half back, instead of joining the Rockets squad. His consistent play continued in Sin City while being surrounded by an impressive supporting cast, Christmas stood out regardless with his stellar effort in all parts of his game.
With a crowded roster making making an open shot tough to come by for the hybrid guard in Beantown, things opened for the former Temple star Thursday, as E’Twaun Moore and JaJuan Johnson were dealt to Houston, giving Danny Ainge the flexibility to bring aboard Boston’s best performer of the past two weeks of summer ball.
Boston and Christmas came to terms over the weekend, and the guard made it official today, confirming to CelticsHub he had signed a partially guaranteed deal with the C’s. The undrafted Christmas, who has played the last three seasons overseas after being cut by the Philadelphia 76ers in 2008 before training camp has earned a soft spot in the hearts of many Celtics fans already with his gritty play while pursuing his life-long dream of getting to the NBA.
Christmas turned down hundreds of thousands of dollars, along with extra security overseas to join the C’s, and while he is likely a lock (barring injury) to make the team out of training camp, his contract is structured much like Greg Stiemsma’s was last season, with his deal becoming fully guaranteed at a certain date in the middle of the season.
The 6’5” scorer, who can play anywhere from the one to the three on the floor, averaged 14.2 points, 4.2