Earlier this week, Justin Champagnie boarded a flight to South Dakota eager to hear back from his agent.
The Celtics were supposedly interested in signing him, a 6-foot-6, second-year forward, for the remainder of their season. Champagnie had spent most of this year playing in the G-League for the Sioux Falls Skyforce, a stint that followed a two-month stay with the Raptors which ended in December. Another NBA deal could be close.
Champagnie’s phone buzzed mid-flight. It was his agent. Time to fly east.
“I was really excited to get an opportunity just to get back on an NBA floor and help and do whatever I can,” Champagnie told reporters Friday, when Boston officially announced his deal.
Champagnie, 21, is now the 15th man on the Celtics’ roster for their final two regular-season games and playoff run. During a morning shoot-around, Champagnie said he looked forward to seeing old faces Friday night in a home tip-off against Toronto. As a rookie last season, he appeared in 31 games with the Raptors, who instilled a few principles that helped him return to the highest level.
“Staying ready no matter what,” Champagnie said. “You might not play a lot in the NBA, so always being ready to go and make an impact on the game.”
Champagnie called Raptors all-star Pascal Siakam “an older brother,” and shared Toronto’s staff helped him learn how to get his shot off quicker and navigate rebounding space against bigger players. In South Dakota, he averaged 18.2 points and 8.0 rebounds per game on 52% shooting from the floor.
After going undrafted out of Pitt in 2021, Champagnie signed a two-way contract with the Raptors. He averaged 2.3 points over 7.8 minutes per game last season in the NBA. Last summer, he inked a partially guaranteed deal with Toronto, but was eventually waived after appearing in just three games.
His only prior contact with the Celtics was a pre-draft visit where he met with president of basketball operations Brad Stevens. His twin brother, Julian Champagnie, is currently on a two-way contract with the Spurs. Justin said he’s not only excited to return to the NBA to pursue a lifelong dream, but hopefully play against his brother again. And, at the very least, stay out of South Dakota a little bit longer.
“It gives you an opportunity to just focus on just straight basketball. So that was a blessing in disguise,” Champagnie said of his time in South Dakota. “But I couldn’t walk outside, I couldn’t do anything. It always snows there. Horrible weather.”