The five worst free agent signings in Boston Celtics history

4. Travis Knight

One thing The Last Dance failed to mention is when Scottie Pippen asked for a raise, Chicago Bulls general manager Jerry Krause already gave the team’s ‘surplus’ to Michael Jordan, Dennis Rodman, and Phil Jackson. Having so little left, they were even forced to let their first-round pick go.

That player, Travis Knight, got a call from Krause, just two weeks after being drafted. The Los Angeles Lakers, even after signing Shaquille O’Neal, dished out a minimum contract for the seven-foot rookie. In his first NBA season, Knight played mostly a reserve role for the team behind the Big Diesel. He only averaged 16.3 minutes a game and was not really involved on either side of the ball.

It may have been for the equally nonchalant attitude of Shaquille O’Neal, the beaches, or the attention in the big city, but either way, Knight immediately fell in love with Los Angeles. Dejectedly, as his rookie campaign came to an end, the Lakers were unable to free up enough cap space to resign him, forcing the center to walk.

In classic Rick Pitino style, the former Louisville coach stepped in and offered the unproven Knight $22 million over the course of seven years. Days later, Knight was introduced to his first career press conference. Some memorial moments came out of it. The New York Times reported that he was apparently unhappy with the situation, after very subtlely implying so.

He further mentioned he felt like he was ‘secured for life later’. Not to mention, Knight was the replacement for Tim Duncan, whom the Celtics expected to land in that year’s draft. Instead, they got a Utah-born UConn graduate, in Knight, who was dallying with the city’s most prominent rival.

In his first game with the Celtics, Knight played 34 minutes racking up eight points on a 3-for-7 line including 13 rebounds. Things quickly went downhill. His minutes and production went down, until by late November he was no longer regularly in the starting lineup, being replaced by Andrew DeClerq. At the end of the season, the offensive big man had six games where he was held scoreless, compared to the two where he surpassed twenty.

And what made the move more atrocious was that no one expected him to do well. He did not play much differently than when he was backing up for O’Neal back in Los Angeles. The only distinction between the year before was that was in mid-February Knight was wearing twice as many layers, the fans were slightly drunker, and he now could call himself a millionaire. The move makes you wonder if Pitino really did venture to kill the Celtics.

Before his sophomore season with the Cs, Knight was traded back to the Lakers for Tony Battie, another player overpaid by Pitino. Knight never bloomed as a player, but not even he expected himself too.

The Travis Knight deal perfectly defined the notorious Rick Pitino overstayed time in The Hub. He got his money and was able to go back to the beaches with the rest of his family, after just a one-year hiatus. Knight retired once his seven-year contract expired, never playing professional basketball again.

Both Wallace and Knight were able to get big paydays; however, Boston only had to pay one year of their enormous contracts. The number three player was able to disappointment Celtics fans for six injury-riddled years.