Luke Kornet is heading to San Antonio after 4 seasons with the Celtics, ESPN’s Shams Charania first reported. Kornet signed a four-year, $41 million cope with the Spurs, signing by far the largest contract of his NBA profession.
The transfer comes although Brad Stevens mentioned on Wednesday that bringing again Kornet and Al Horford can be the Celtics priorities. However, the Celtics had no capacity to match that sort of contract.
“They’re going to have, I’m positive, loads of choices everywhere, and that’s well-deserved, however I believe that might be a precedence,” Stevens mentioned. “On the identical time, I don’t wish to put stress on them. It’s their name, in the end. However, yeah, we might like to have these guys again.”
Kornet is coming off his finest season as a professional, averaging 6 factors, 5.3 rebounds, and 1 block over a career-high 18.6 minutes per recreation. He put collectively one of the best recreation of his playoff profession in Recreation 5 in opposition to the Knicks, tallying 10 factors on 5-5 capturing, 9 rebounds, and seven blocks.
Kornet took a pay reduce final summer season to stay on the Celtics, opting to signal a one-year, minimal deal. However, at age 30, the previous Vanderbilt standout has opted to lastly money in.
Kornet’s journey to a profitable NBA deal was a circuitous one
After stints with the New York Knicks and Chicago Bulls, Luke Kornet joined the Maine Celtics for 10 video games in 2021, then signed 10-day contracts with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Milwaukee Bucks.
He rejoined the Celtics in January of 2022, and signed a rest-of-season contract with Boston for the remainder of the 12 months. He re-signed with the Celtics on a two-year, $4.5 million contract that summer season, and signed a one-year, minimal cope with the Celtics the summer season after they gained the championship in 2024 — which has since been broadly reported as a paycut.
In a single contract, Kornet will almost triple his profession earnings, which thus far have amounted to simply beneath $14.2 million.
Along with Jayson Tatum, the Celtics will now be with out Jrue Vacation, Kristaps Porzingis, Luke Kornet, and (doubtlessly) Al Horford subsequent season, shedding 5 key gamers from their 9-man rotation.
