The Boston Celtics have waived Rodney Purvis.

Purvis was on a fully non-guaranteed deal and was acquired from the Oklahoma City Thunder for Abdel Nader.

The Celtics will try to stay below the luxury tax.

Kyrie Irving said he is relieved to have his left knee infection behind him.

Irving went through one-on-one drills with his trainer Thursday and said he expects to be fully ready for Boston Celtics training camp.

Irving said Thursday that the infection discovered on the metal wiring and screws in his knee could have evolved into a staph infection but that it was caught and treated early enough to avoid that outcome. 

"I mean, you ask anybody with an infection, they will probably try to downplay it," Irving said when asked how scary the infection was. "It's a personal thing because your body is going through it. I was fighting an infection in a specific place in your body where you can't necessarily reach with your hands. You got to go in there and kind of see what's going on, and what happened for me was, the metal wiring and the screws that I had in there, the infection was on that, so I had to remove that and then be on antibiotics for about two months.

"It could have evolved to staph, but good thing we caught it early. I am glad that is done. That was a long, long f---ing two months."

Jabari Bird and the Boston Celtics are close to agreement on a two-year deal.

Bird spent his rookie season with the Celtics on a two-way contract.

Shane Larkin will sign a one-year, $1.8 million deal with Anadolu Efes.

Larkin returned to the NBA in 17-18, appearing in 54 games with the Boston Celtics.

Larkin played in Spain for Laboral Kutxa Baskonia in 16-17.

The Boston Celtics appeared to be on the periphery of the Kawhi Leonard trade talks as they didn't have the type of package the San Antonio Spurs were looking for. 

While Boston wasn't prepared to offer any of their top-5 players, they were willing to part with some of their future draft picks from other teams.

"Rebuilding was just not going to be an option there," said Zach Lowe on his podcast. "They want to remain 'relevant', I think is the word that has been used. They want to remain in the playoff race. They just weren't going to consider offers that were heavy on draft picks and young players.

"And by the way, as all the reporting from this sort of trickled in, I think the Celtics offered most of their best draft picks. I don't think the Celtics just offered (and said) 'You could have a bunch of our picks.' I think some of the picks they're owed, at least two of the picks, if not all of them that they own from other teams, including the Kings, Grizzlies and Clippers. I think those were all in the deal.

"And the Spurs were like 'Nah, we don't want that.'"

The Spurs traded Leonard to the Toronto Raptors for a package centered on DeMar DeRozan.

The Boston Celtics have waived Abdel Nader.

Nader was the Celtics' 58th overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft.

Nader spent the 16-17 season in the G League before signing an NBA deal.

The Celtics had to waive Nader before August 1st unless his contract would have become guaranteed.

Isaiah Thomas reached out to Danny Ainge about signing with the Boston Celtics before he reached his agreement with the Denver Nuggets.

Thomas and Ainge talked about about 15 minutes.

"If the opportunity is there, I would just like to let you know that I'd love to come back," Thomas told Ainge.

Ainge says his mind was open to the idea but they first had to resolve the free agency of Marcus Smart. In the meantime, Thomas agreed to his deal with the Denver Nuggets.

"S---, I'd have gone back," Thomas said. "I don't hold grudges."

Marcus Smart and the Boston Celtics have agreed to a four-year, $52 million deal.

Smart was a restricted free agent.

Smart could have played the 18-19 season under the $6 million qualifying offer to become an unrestricted free agent next offseason.

Smart and the Celtics discussed a four-year, $50 million extension before the 17-18 season.

The Boston Celtics were unwilling to trade any of their core players, including Jaylen Brown, without assurances about Kawhi Leonard's health and future plans.

The Celtics feel comfortable with their short-term and long-term outlook without gambling on Leonard.

Boston has tremendous depth on the wing with Brown, Jayson Tatum and Gordon Hayward, but the upside of their roster is questionable without a true MVP candidate like Leonard.

Though not noted in Zach Lowe's piece, the Celtics have long been linked to Anthony Davis and they could be waiting for the possibility he becomes available.