Colton Iverson is coming home this summer to get hitched. The only question is whether there will be one ceremony or two.
Iverson, the 53rd overall pick in the 2013 draft whose rights are owned by the Boston Celtics, is set to wed his fiancée, Sarah Roering, in Minneapolis in late July, just a short while after he auditions for an NBA engagement at summer league.
"That’ll be an exciting time, going from summer league straight to the wedding," Iverson said with a laugh Monday from Spain, where he's completing his second professional season overseas with Laboral Kuxta of Liga ACB.
Iverson hasn't been stateside since he signed in Spain in August, given Boston's overstocked roster and the unlikelihood the 7-footer could wrestle away a roster spot. When Laboral Kuxta's season wraps, Iverson will trek back to Boston to join the Celtics for veteran workouts in advance of two summer league entries in Utah and Las Vegas.
This will be his third summer with the Celtics, and Iverson knows he must show he's made the strides necessary to warrant roster consideration.
Meanwhile, Boston will attempt to strengthen its roster after a playoff surge this past season. As Celtics director of player personnel Austin Ainge told Iverson last year at this time: "Just come in and work so hard that everyone wants to find a way to make it work."
A Celtics contingent that included director of scouting Dave Lewin and international scout Benas Matkevicius flew to Spain last month to check on Iverson and formally invite him to join the team's summer squad again. They watched him practice, then took him to dinner to discuss the state of the team and the role he'd be competing for moving forward.
Said Iverson: "We essentially agree on everything that I need to do to make it happen."
The question now is whether Iverson can show the Celtics enough to finally say "I do."
In 56 games this season between Liga ACB and Euroleague play, Iverson has averaged 7.3 points and 6 rebounds over 20.5 minutes per game. His scoring is down a tick from his first season overseas in Turkey last year, but he's been a more efficient scorer, shooting 60.2 percent from the floor.
Synergy Sports' advanced data backs that up. Iverson grades out as one of the more efficient international players while averaging 1.037 points per possession this season (85th percentile among all international players). Iverson knows where his offense comes from: More than a third of his total plays finished have come in the pick-and-roll (34.5 percent), where he's shot 66.2 percent and averaged 1.196 points per play. Another 31.1 percent of his plays finished have come on putbacks.
Iverson said the one thing he hopes the Celtics notice is that he attacks more often.
"Overall, I think I just improved on my aggressiveness," said Iverson. "Last year, I kinda just settled into a role [with his Turkish team]; this year, I’ve been more assertive. I try to force my way on offense and make moves in the post when I have opportunities. Not being selfish, but if I got an offensive rebound, I’d go back up with it."
Iverson struggled with his post offense, but even at his advanced age, he's convinced he's progressing.
"I just hope to be as aggressive as possible this summer and kinda show [the Celtics] what my role can be for this team," Iverson said. "Show them that I am ready for this opportunity."
Iverson, who will turn 26 before the start of summer league in July, didn't put his best foot forward last summer in Orlando. He averaged 6.4 points and 2.4 rebounds per game but faded as the week went on. He's still learning defensively (ranking in the middle of the pack among all international players, according to Synergy's defensive data), and his aggression sometimes left him in early foul trouble.
By early August, he made the decision to sign in Spain with hopes that more seasoning would give him a better opportunity to latch on with Boston, especially if the Celtics' big-man depth chart cleared out a bit.
Watching from afar this season as 41 different players graced Boston's roster, Iverson felt conflicted. He believes he could have helped an undersized team up front by bringing physicality and toughness, but he knows the turnover made it tough for end-of-the-roster players to stick.
"I thought there may have been an opportunity for me, but at the same time, they are still building right now, and maybe that was not the right time," said Iverson. "They are still rebuilding -- they’ve communicated that with me -- that they are trying to get their main components, their starting 5 solidified, then they’ll build their roster after that. It’s kind of a waiting game right now for me and them. I just hope that the rebuilding process is as strong as possible right now."
Does Iverson have a chance to stick this year? It could depend on how Boston navigates in the draft and free agency. Right now, the big-man depth chart is set to return Tyler Zeller, Jared Sullinger, and Kelly Olynyk, while the team has expressed some interest in bringing back in-season acquisition Jonas Jerebko. Stevens leaned heavily on a five-man bigs rotation for much of last season, and Iverson is seemingly destined to compete for a low-cost spot at the end of the roster.
Of course, trades or free-agent acquisitions could change Boston's needs.
What we know for sure is that the team loves Iverson's attitude and his character. He's a wall of muscle and has potential to play with a mean streak near the basket. Iverson must show he has improved both his defense and rebounding to give himself a real chance to stick.
Iverson traded texts with Austin Ainge and assistant coach Jay Larranaga (the team's summer league coach in recent seasons) throughout the 2014-15 season and enjoyed watching Boston's playoff push and first-round matchup with the Cavaliers from afar. He raves about his interactions with coach Brad Stevens.
"Obviously, a ton of respect for [Stevens]," said Iverson. "He's a great college coach, and he’s as intelligent as you get in the game of basketball -- just a genius. I have a ton of respect for him, I love the way he comes about the game and brings it to you. If I ever had the opportunity to play for him, it would be a blessing."
Iverson felt more at ease overseas this year. After some acclimation pains in Turkey, he's playing for a team for which nearly all the players, coaches and management speak English. It's also the same team that groomed Tiago Splitter for the NBA, and the Spurs have another big man in Davis Bertans (a 2011 draft pick) playing for Laboral. What's more, Bertans' brother, Dairis, was a summer league teammate with Iverson last year. Iverson's Spanish-team roster also featured a handful of former NBA players (Tornike Shengelia, DJ White, Sasha Vujacic, and Ryan Gomes among them).
Iverson has enjoyed his experience overseas, but he's ready for an extended stint back home. His fiancée spent the past nine months living overseas with him, but they've been at the mercy of Skype for most of their contact back home. Iverson's parents visited between Thanksgiving and Christmas, and the soon-to-be in-laws came to Spain last month.
He'd much prefer to keep everyone stateside and make those visits a bit easier. He'd like to stop worrying about overseas phone roaming rates for a bit.
But it's on Iverson to force the issue with the Celtics at summer league. Despite all the craziness planning one wedding from a far, he has to make the Celtics fall in love, too, if he desires to plan an NBA wedding, as well.