The Celtics have had a mostly promising showing at summer league, highlighted by the play of last year’s draft picks Hugo Gonzalez and Amari Williams, and this year’s two picks, Chris Cenac Jr. and Dillon Mitchell. The roster goes a lot deeper than that, but realistically, most of these guys aren’t going to be a part of Boston’s future.
However, there is still room for another move or two as the Celtics currently have one open roster spot and two open two-way slots. They were happy going through most of last season with only 14 on the roster, and that may be the move again this year as they look to avoid the luxury tax for a second straight year.
If that’s the case, you’d have to assume that Mitchell will get one of the two-way slots, with one already committed to Williams. That leaves one final two-way contract for the Celtics to play with. John Tonje is one option, as he ended last season in Maine on a two-way after coming over from Utah at the trade deadline.
But two more viable options have emerged in Milos Uzan and Tucker DeVries, who were both signed to Exhibit 10 contracts on Wednesday. These are non-guaranteed training camp deals, basically showing that the Celtics have liked what they’ve seen from the duo in summer league and want to see more, but aren’t ready to commit any further.
Uzan and DeVries could thrive for the Maine Celtics
Uzan is a reliable floor-general type of point guard, who makes up for his lack of size with high IQ and bball savvy. He has looked great organizing the summer Celtics, and considering the team’s need for a backup point guard, his addition would make a lot of sense. He can shoot, pass, and handle the ball, and his connection with Cenac from their year together at Houston can’t hurt.
DeVries is a wing shooter in the Sam Hauser mold. He’s never going to be a plus NBA athlete, but he is one of the best shooters in Las Vegas, and with that baseline, the Celtics’ development staff could work him into a reliable role player someday.
Ultimately, neither of these players was drafted, and while they’ve had some nice moments in Vegas, it’s not like teams are knocking down the doors to sign them. In an ideal world, the Celtics are able to use the final two-way slot on Tonje and can add Uzan and DeVries to the Maine Celtics after training camp. That would still open the threat of another team stealing them away, but it gives the team a longer rope and more time to analyze these prospects and figure out the rest of the roster.
Who knows? Maybe they give Mitchell a standard contract, or maybe they make a two-for-one kind of trade. NBA rosters are extremely static, and having good young players waiting in the wings is always a good thing.
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