CELTICS SIGN DAYE; WEDMAN OUT

December 12, 1986

CELTICS SIGN DAYE; WEDMAN OUT

The Celtics have taken a step toward rectifying their abysmal bench production by placing injury-plagued Scott Wedman on the injured list and signing three-year veteran Darren Daye to replace him on the roster.

Wedman's ailing left heel did not hold up well after he started Dec. 3 and played 25 minutes against Denver. He was unable to practice the next day, and he was pulled from the game after seven ineffective minutes (all zeroes across the board, save for a personal foul) last Friday against the 76ers. Since then -- zilch.

The 6-foot-7-inch, 26-year-old Daye was waived by the Chicago Bulls when Eugene Banks came off the injured list. The Celtics had interest in him when the Bullets released him during training camp, but Chicago claimed him on waivers. Having done that, the Bulls embarrassed the former UCLA star by playing him in one game. His entire Bulls career consisted of a seven-minute appearance against the Pistons Nov. 7.

"They didn't want to play me," shrugged Daye after a morning workout at Hellenic College yesterday. "Sometimes teams say certain things to a guy, telling you that you'll play, and then they don't play you."

"He can play the big guard, he can push it and he can play the small forward," said K.C. Jones. "He's been sitting around for a couple of weeks, and he's rusty."

Daye was a 1983 third-round pick of the Bullets. His career average is 7.8 points per game, which is very close to half of what the Celtics are getting per game from their bench this season.