The Boston Celtics have signed Jason Terry. The move is a bit anti-climatic when you consider the fact that it was only a matter of when, not if, he would officially join the Celtics.
Terry was introduced in town last weekend, along with Jeff Green, Brandon Bass and Chris Wilcox. At the time, only Wilcox and Bass had signed, while Green and Terry's deals were still being finalized.
Boston was hoping to complete a sign-and-trade deal with Dallas for Terry, which would have allowed Boston to add Courtney Lee via the mid-level exception.
When the C's were unable to strike a deal with the Mavs, they were left to sign Terry with the mid-level exception that's worth 5 million.
That leaves Boston only the bi-annual exception (worth about 1.9 million) and veteran minimum contracts to offer as they try and round out the rest of their roster.
The addition of Terry fills the huge void left by Ray Allen, who took his talents to South Beach and signed a two-year deal with Miami.
And while Allen never quite embraced his role of coming off the bench after he was replaced by Avery Bradley, Terry has proven to be one of the NBA's best reserves.
In fact, he was the league's Sixth Man of the Year in 2009 in addition to playing an integral role in the Dallas Mavericks winning the franchise's first NBA title in 2011.
Jason is one of the best sixth men in the NBA and his versatility in the backcourt is a great addition to our roster, said Danny Ainge, Celtics President of Basketball Operations.
The 6-2 guard can play both positions, but has proven to be one of the NBA's all-time great 3-point shooters. In fact only Allen, Jason Kidd and Reggie Miller have made more 3-pointers than Terry who has 1,788. And while his role will surely be to provide a jolt of offense off the bench, he might be in the starting lineup on opening night depending on how quickly Avery Bradley can recover from surgery to both of his shoulders.
"If they need me to wash the uniforms or sweep the floor, whatever role Doc wants me to play, I'm here to do it at 100 percent and give my all," said Terry. "That's what I've done my whole career; pretty much whatever it takes to win. Whatever puts us in the best position to win these games, a championship, I want."