Celtics Sign Former North Shore Prep Star Noah Vonleh

SALEM, MA — A Salem native and one-time North Shore prep star will be in training camp with the Boston Celtics when it opens late next month.

Noah Vonleh, who starred at Haverhill High School and New Hampton School (N.H.) before becoming an NBA Lottery pick in 2014, signed a one-year deal with his hometown team on Monday night, according to ESPN.

The 6-foot-10 forward was highly touted coming out of high school as a McDonald's All-American in 2013. He attended the University of Indiana for one year — where he was named Big Ten Player of the Year — before declaring for the NBA Draft.

A projected lottery pick, Vonleh was in the mix for Boston's No. 6 overall pick in the 2014 draft that the team eventually used on Marcus Smart, who went on to become the team's longest-tenured player and an NBA Defensive Player of the Year this past season.

Vonleh has led more of a vagabond NBA lifestyle as he played for seven teams in seven years after the Charlotte Hornets made him the No. 9 overall pick in 2014.

His best season came with the New York Knicks in 2018-19 when he averaged a career-high 25.3 minutes per game and scored 8.4 points with 7.9 rebounds per game.

He played parts of the next two seasons with the Minnesota Timberwolves, Denver Nuggets, Chicago Bulls (where he never appeared in a game) and the Brooklyn Nets before last season when he played with the Shanghai Sharks of the Chinese Basketball Association.

Vonleh could provide some frontcourt depth for the Celtics, who have Robert Williams, Al Horford, Grant Williams and Luke Kornet in line for minutes at the center position coming off this past season's NBA Finals run.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)