Wenyen Gabriel signs training camp deal with Boston Celtics

Wenyen Gabriel is trading in purple and gold for green and white. Coming off a solid season with the Los Angeles Lakers, the former Wildcat has signed a training camp deal with the Boston Celtics.

The Athletic’s Shams Charania and ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski broke the news Sunday afternoon.

Gabriel, 26, just wrapped up his fourth season in the league, averaging 5.5 points and 4.2 rebounds in 15.1 minutes per contest across a career-high 68 regular season games to go with 10 in the postseason. He previously had stints with the Sacramento Kings, Portland Trail Blazers, New Orleans Pelicans, Brooklyn Nets and Los Angeles Clippers before joining the Lakers in 2021-22.

Now, he’ll get his next shot with the Celtics, competing for a reserve big man spot during training camp. His signing comes after Boston’s blockbuster acquisition of two-time NBA All-Star Jrue Holiday, a deal that sent center Robert Williams III, guard Malcolm Brogdon and picks to the Trail Blazers. With the franchise in need of frontcourt depth to back up the likes of Kristaps Porzingis and Al Horford, it turned to the former Kentucky forward.

The 6-foot-9 forward represented South Sudan in the FIBA World Cup this summer, averaging 9.2 points and 6.8 rebounds per game while helping lead his home country to its first-ever spot in the 2024 Olympics.

Gabriel’s journey to the NBA

Gabriel averaged 5.7 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.0 blocks in 20.4 minutes per contest across two seasons at Kentucky. He played in 38 games with 23 starts in 2016-17 and 37 games with seven starts as a sophomore in 2017-18. His final season in Lexington saw improvements in points, rebounds, blocks, steals, 3-point field goals, field-goal percentage, 3-point percentage and free-throw percentage.

His biggest highlight as a Wildcat came during the SEC Tournament, going 7-7 from three in the semifinals en route to All-Tournament Team honors. He wrapped up the event averaging 13.7 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.7 blocks during the team’s three-game run to the tournament title.

Gabriel, originally a five-star recruit from Manchester, New Hampshire, signed with Kentucky over Duke, Connecticut and Maryland out of high school. He was rated as the No. 13 overall prospect and No. 5 forward in the 2016 On3 Industry Ranking.