WALTHAM, Mass. -- Veteran swingman Gerald Green will make the Celtics' roster, and Boston's decision on who will earn the final roster spot will come down to former first-round picks James Young and R.J. Hunter, according to president of basketball operations Danny Ainge.
The Celtics trimmed their overstocked roster to 16 on Friday by releasing second-round draft pick Ben Bentil, who had a $250,000 guarantee.
Boston must still drop one more player before the start of the regular season, and Ainge told ESPN that Green is safe as the team continues to explore possible deals that might allow them to recoup an asset while dropping the roster to the regular-season limit of 15 players.
The Celtics would prefer to trade Hunter or Young to either avoid eating salary or bring back a draft pick. The trouble there is that teams know the Celtics are in a bind and are unlikely to offer much knowing one of those players will simply become available next week.
Ainge said the decision on the final roster spot likely won't occur until Monday.
While neither Hunter nor Young played well enough to ensure their spot this preseason, both have made the sort of encouraging strides that make the final decision tough for Ainge.
"I just think that sometimes the decision is made for you -- it's really easy. And this year it hasn't been that way," Ainge said. "It's been very challenging. Both of those guys have had some outstanding moments in practice, training camp and in games. So it's been challenging."
The Celtics knew this would happen when they built their draft-pick surplus and don't mind the competition it has promoted at the back end of the roster.
Green, the oldest player on Boston's roster at 30 years old, said Friday he had not been formally told he had made the team and said he was still trying to prove himself after missing time at the start of camp with a hip flexor injury.
The Celtics started their roster trim-down Thursday by releasing camp invites Marcus Georges-Hunt, Damion Lee and Jalen Jones. All three players are expected to land with the team's D-League affiliate in Maine. While many expected Bentil to shuffle north as well, Ainge said he expects Bentil to explore other opportunities.