BOSTON — The Boston Celtics are filling the gaps in their frontcourt by bringing back Daniel Theis on a two-year deal, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, and bringing in another player from France.

Theis joins recently signed Enes Kanter in the Boston frontcourt along with Robert Williams and Guerschon Yabusele. Now add into the mix Vincent Poirier, a 7-foot French player, and the Celtics suddenly have some assets in the center position.

According to reports, Poirier signed a two-year deal. He averaged 8.8 points and 6 rebounds per game in his career, and 16.2 points and 11 rebounds per 36 minutes. According to L’Equipe, the 25-year-old Poirier received interest from NBA teams hoping to sign a mobile, hard-nosed center, but he had no intention of crossing over to the league in order to sit on the bench.

In Boston, he will have plenty of opportunities to play, and might even earn a start over Kanter and Williams depending on his performance during training camp.

Theis will have a chance to earn more than the 14 minutes per game he’s averaged in his time in Boston. Coach Brad Stevens might turn to Theis when he needs another floor spacer against teams who play more traditional centers, so the departure of Al Horford does open up the potential for more minutes. The familiarity with Boston’s offense won’t hurt, either.

• A Celtics assistant coach has been sentenced to probation and ordered to pay a fine for accepting $300,000 in bribes to get a wealthy Florida businessman’s son into the University of Pennsylvania.

Court records show a federal judge imposed the sentence Monday on Jerome Allen, the former head basketball coach at Penn. In addition to four years’ probation, the 47-year-old Allen must pay a $202,000 fine and forfeit another $18,000.Allen received a lenient sentence after testifying for prosecutors against Philip Esformes in a $1 billion Medicare fraud trial. Esformes was convicted in April of 20 counts including money laundering and obstruction of justice and awaits sentencing.Allen testified that he accepted Esformes’ money to help the businessman’s son, Morris, gain acceptance as a “recruited” basketball player at Penn.
WIZARDS: In a clear signal that five-time all-star John Wall could miss the entire 2019-20 season due to his Achilles rehabilitation, the Washington Wizards have requested a disabled player exception from the NBA, according to a person familiar with the team’s plans.When teams apply for the exception, which provides financial flexibility to either sign a free agent, claim a player off waivers or trade for one, the purpose is to replace the roster player who is likely to be sidelined for the season. If a league-appointed doctor deems it’s possible that Wall will miss the full year, Washington will receive about $9 million to use at its discretion.

WARRIORS: A person with knowledge of the details says Golden State is adding Willie Cauley-Stein and Glenn Robinson III, along with re-signing center Kevon Looney. The moves continue a busy offseason for the Warriors, who lost Kevin Durant to the Brooklyn Nets but are keeping Klay Thompson.

Looney agreed to a three-year deal to stay with Golden State, the person told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Tuesday because no contracts can be signed until the NBA’s moratorium ends on Saturday. Though the Warriors frequently altered their starting center based on matchups, Looney was getting the bulk of the minutes in the postseason and had been identified by Coach Steve Kerr as one of the team’s core pieces.

He will be joined in the Warriors’ center rotation by Cauley-Stein, who makes the short move from Sacramento. The No. 6 pick in the 2015 draft averaged 10.1 points and 6.4 rebounds with the Kings. Robinson spent last season with Detroit, his fourth NBA team. His agency says he agreed to a two-year deal.

76ERS:  All-Star point guard Ben Simmons and the 76ers are negotiating a $170 million, five-year extension, according to a person with knowledge of the situation who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Tuesday because neither the team nor Simmons revealed any details publicly.

Simmons will make about $8.1 million this season, the last of his four-year rookie deal. Assuming the sides agree on what will be a full max, Simmons’ salary for the following season would jump to about $29.3 million and eventually rise to nearly $39 million in 2024-25.

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