A little over two weeks ago, the Celtics signed Turkish center Semih Erden, whom they selected with the 60th pick in the 2008 NBA Draft, to a deal with undisclosed terms. But those terms have recently emerged, and should encourage Celtics fans.
Mark Deeks, who runs ShamSports, the best NBA salary database on the internet, posted the following message on his Twitter account this morning:
Semih Erden’s two year minimum salary deal is fully guaranteed.
I suppose the bad news is that even if Erden doesn’t pan out, will still owe him the full value of his deal. The good news? It is, quite literally, the smallest contract anyone can sign with an NBA club: according to the 11th item on Larry Coon’s salary cap FAQ, the minimum salary for a player with no NBA experience is $473,604 this season. The Celtics didn’t just get their fifth big man on the cheap; they got him on the cheapest.
With Kendrick Perkins recovering from ACL surgery, Shelden Williams leaving for Denver, and Rasheed Wallace likely retiring, Boston needed to replenish its big-man corps. Adding Erden and Jermaine O’Neal certainly helped that task.
Erden averaged 5.7 points and 4.0 rebounds in three games for the Celtics in the Orlando Pro Summer League, shooting 50% from the field and 77.8% from the foul line.