The Boston Celtics have been one of the most talked-about teams in the league since the controversial Jaylen Brown trade. Do they have any other aces up their sleeves?
Celtics Planning on Taking Any More Big Swings? Interested In Young Guard
After arguably being the biggest surprise in the league, the Celtics have made two of the most surprising moves this offseason. The C’s inked Mitchell Robinson to a three-year, $47.3 million deal. While one of their goals was to improve their center depth, the surprise was that they were not among the teams linked to the 28-year-old.
Not long after the Robinson news dropped, Boston dropped the big hammer by sending Brown to Philadelphia. The Celtics have also added Chris Cernac Jr. (No. 28) and Mike Conley, and re-signed Ron Harper Jr. Additionally, they extended Neemias Queta, though his new deal doesn’t kick in until next season.
Boston has 15 players under contract and is currently $945,000 over the tax line. This is important, as the Celtics have been over the threshold in four of the past five seasons. As a result, they will owe a repeater tax which as it currently stands will cost them an additional ($2.8 million).
The Celtics could create some flexibility and save money, if they so choose, by waiving Dalano Banton. Banton, whose $2.8 million salary is nonguaranteed, is a big, veteran guard who likes to push the pace and provides defensive versatility. He is coming off an excellent G-League campaign, though he only appeared in six NBA games this past season.
However, president of basketball operations Brad Stevens told Zach Cox of the Boston Herald that ownership has not mandated that he cut salary. He also mentioned that the C’s could make another move if something comes up.
“We don’t have a mandate (from ownership) to do anything but try to put the best team on the court that we can,” Stevens said. “… If we see that we can do something that will make us better, then we will do that.”
“I mean, we’re open, and we’ll be open,” he continued. “I don’t anticipate anything in the very near term. I think that we do like the team we have. We might be able to add to it, but at the end of the day, we like the group we have. We like the people that we will be able to sign officially and those types of things. But we’re cognizant that we have a lot of work to do.”
Boston has several assets that facilitate a major trade. Sam Hauser, Baylor Scheierman, Jordan Walsh and Queta are trade candidates. The Celtics can trade up to five first-round picks and six second-round selections. They also have several trade exceptions.
Celtics Do Have an Open Two-Way Spot
While it is unknown and unlikely that Boston will make another big-time move, they do have to fill out their minor league spots. The Celtics officially signed Amari Williams to a two-way contract.
Williams, acquired in a trade from Orlando on Day 2 of the 2025 NBA draft, averaged a double-double with the G-League Maine Celtics before being promoted to a standard contract on February 5. Overall, the 7-footer appeared in 22 games, averaging 7 minutes per game. He will likely spend most of the year with Maine once again.
Williams joins Milos Uzan on a two-way deal. Uzan went undrafted out of Houston, but wasn’t available for long, as the Celtics nabbed the 6-4 playmaker right after the event concluded.
So, the Celtics have one open spot, and that could go to Cedric Jones, per Darren Wolfson of the Flagrant Howls podcast.
“Let me throw out one other NBA-related note, my guy, Curtis Jones, Minneapolis South High School, Cretin-Derham Hall High School, Iowa State, plus some other schools,” Wolfson said. “I thought he had a good run as a rookie for the Denver Nuggets, but it sounds like Denver is not bringing him back. He’s a free agent. The Boston Celtics have all sorts of interest in Curtis Jones.”
Jones, who is playing for Boston’s Las Vegas Summer League team, went undrafted in 2025. However, Jones averaged 20.0 points and 5.7 assists in the G-League with the Grand Rapids Gold, though he struggled with efficiency. He also appeared in 10 games for the Nuggets, totaling 88 minutes.
The Celtics do have other options for their last two-way spot. John Tonje, 2026 second-round pick Dillon Mitchell, and Tucker DeVries are all playing on the Celtics summer league squad and are legitimate candidates.
Photo Credit: David Butler II, Imagn Images via Reuters Connect
