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BOSTON, MA – The Boston Celtics have signed guard Jeff Teague and forward Tristan Thompson, the team announced today. Per team policy, terms of the deals were not disclosed.
Teague (6-3, 195) joins Boston’s backcourt after a 2019-20 season in which he averaged 10.9 points (43.6% FG, 36.8% 3-PT, 87.3% FT), 2.4 rebounds, 5.2 assists, and 24.8 minutes played in 59 games (17 starts) with Minnesota and Atlanta. The 32-year-old tallied five 20-point games last season, including a pair of 30-point performances with the Timberwolves.
Set to begin his 12th NBA season in 2020-21, Teague holds career averages of 12.6 points (44.5% FG, 35.6% 3-PT, 84.4% FT), 2.5 rebounds, 5.8 assists, 1.2 steals, and 27.5 minutes played in 771 career games (593 starts) with Atlanta, Indiana, and Minnesota. The 2014-15 All-Star is one of only seven NBA players to average at least 10.0 points and 5.0 assists in each of the last eight seasons (minimum 40 games played).
A nine-year NBA veteran, Thompson (6-9, 254) joins Boston’s front court after producing a career-best 12.0 points (51.2% FG), 10.1 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 0.9 blocked shots, and 30.2 minutes in 57 games played (51 starts) with the Cavaliers in 2019-20.
Thompson was one of six forwards to average a double-double on at least 50.0% shooting in 2019-20, and the only one of that group to also contribute at least 4.0 offensive boards per contest. The 29-year-old has amassed a double-double average in each of the past two years, recording 11.5 points and 10.2 rebounds over his last 100 contests.
Originally drafted by Cleveland with the fourth overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft, Thompson produced 9.4 points on 51.8% shooting, 8.7 rebounds, 1.0 assist, 0.7 blocked shots, and 28.1 minutes played in 619 games (429 starts) across nine seasons with the Cavaliers. He tallied 10.3 points (63.6% FG), 10.1 rebounds, and three double-doubles during the 2016 NBA Finals – a seven-game series against Golden State – to help the Cavaliers capture their first NBA Championship in franchise history.
Teague will wear number 55 with the Celtics, and Thompson will wear number 13.
About the Boston Celtics
A charter member of the Basketball Association of America (which evolved into the National Basketball Association) since 1946, the Boston Celtics have won a record 17 NBA Championships, including eight (8) in a row from 1959-1966, winning their first title in 1957 and their most recent in 2008. The Celtics have long stood for equality, and respect, including hiring the first African American Coach and starting the first all black starting five. In addition, 35 former Celtics players, management or staff have been inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. In December 2002 the team returned to local ownership for the first time since 1963. For more information on the Celtics, log on to www.celtics.com.