Former Celtics guard signs with Houston Rockets

Former Celtics guard JD Davison has signed a two-way contract with the Houston Rockets, per the NBA transactions log. The Celtics announced they had waived Davison on Wednesday, after he spent the last three seasons on a two-way contract with the organization.

The 6’1 guard was drafted 53rd overall in 2022 and was with the Maine Celtics for most of the past three seasons. Last year, he won G League MVP after averaging 25.1 points, 7.6 assists, 5.3 rebounds, and 1.5 steals per game.

Davison was no longer eligible for a two-way contract with the Celtics, as the maximum two-way contracts a player can sign with one NBA team is three. But players can play on a two-way contract for up to four seasons in total — so Davison has one remaining year of eligibility. He joins a Rockets team expected to be among the NBA’s contenders, led by former Celtics head coach Ime Udoka and offseason acquisition Kevin Durant.

JD Davison finished his Celtics tenure as a Maine Celtics legend

In his three years with the Celtics, he only appeared in 36 games, averaging 1.9 points, 0.9 rebounds, and 0.9 assists. Davison finished his Celtics’ tenure as the Maine Celtics’ all-time leader in points, assists, and steals. In 2023, he won a championship with the Celtics.

At the beginning of last season, Davison’s Celtics teammates took note of his improvements.

“You could tell he took it to another level in training camp,” Jaylen Brown said. “I think he’s been able to learn from our guys, going against Payton [Pritchard], going against Jrue [Holiday] and Derrick [White].”

Jrue Holiday said his experiences playing alongside and against Davison in practice gave him confidence he was going to make it: “He’s definitely going to be a really good NBA player.”

Now, Davison gets one more chance to achieve his ultimate goal of signing an NBA contract.