Brian Scalabrine has named the player who he was shocked the Boston Celtics did not retain and let go in free agency.
The 2024 champions crashed out in the second round of the playoffs to the New York Knicks.
That series also saw the Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum suffer a serious Achilles injury, which could rule him out for the entirety of next season.
With the roster already over the NBA second apron, the Celtics decided to move on from a few players to save some money for the 2025-26 season and be ready to contend when Tatum returns.
While the franchise managed to offload some of their players, there is one name who the Celtics did not retain which shocked Scalabrine, especially because of the contract he got in free agency.
Photo by Maddie Meyer/BIG3/Getty ImagesScalabrine shocked the Celtics did not try to retain Luke Kornet
Luke Kornet’s first stint with the Celtics was in the 2020-21 season. He was not able to impress on that occasion and had multiple 10-day contracts with other teams before returning to the C’s in 2022 and making a name for himself.
The 30-year-old was also involved in the Celtics championship team as his ability inside the paint gave them a much-needed option in the center position.
Despite his contribution to the Celtics, they had to let him walk in free agency because they needed to reduce their salary cap after the Tatum injury.
He eventually was picked up by the San Antonio Spurs, who signed him on a four-year $41 million contract, which according to Scalabrine is a good deal for a player of his quality.
Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images
He said: “I think Luke Kornet is one of the best signings in the offseason to add a guy, like he is really good at getting behind the defense, exactly what in my opinion the Spurs need.
“But everyone calls it the worst signing, because Kornet averaged six points a game, are you kidding me? I think that was a great free agent for what he got, and I was a little bit shocked on why we didn’t keep him at that number.”
Luke Kornet could be an important player for the San Antonio Spurs
Derrick White, who formerly played for the Spurs, revealed that San Antonio would love Kornet.
His ability to play in pick-and-rolls will be a great benefit for the team as they have three point guards, who will constantly try and find him.
Victor Wembanyama is definitely going to be the star on the Spurs, but Kornet will be a great option next to the Frenchman.
Opponents shot 11.9% (elite) less than expected at the rim when contested by Luke Kornet last season…
97th percentile D-DPM, rebounded 13.6% of his teams’ misses, shot 67.5% on 2s, & +8.9 on/off. Perfect zero-waste, high-impact player to back-up (or play alongside?) Wemby. pic.twitter.com/hDQbSAfvqa
— NBA University (@NBA_University) August 8, 2025
View Tweet
The Spurs can also try playing both of them together, and it would be interesting to see how a lineup with the two bigs will perform.
He averaged only 6.0 points and 5.3 rebounds, but shot a scintillating 66.8% from the field.
As someone who has won a championship, Kornet will bring some experience to the young Spurs roster, who are set to take the big leap next season.