Less than a month ago in Las Vegas, John Tonje made a very strong case to be the best player on the Celtics’ summer league squad. Tonje was a scoring and shooting machine, showing off some ball-handling and defense as well.Â
It looked like he’d be a surefire bet to get another two-way deal with the Celtics for the 2026-27 season after coming to Boston from Utah at the trade deadline in February. But things got crowded and confusing quickly, with the Celtics keeping an open roster spot but signing Amari Williams to one of their three two-way slots.
The assumption was that there were two remaining spots for Tonje, Dillon Mitchell, and Milos Uzan, a rookie point guard out of Houston who also had an impressive showing in Vegas. The only question seemed to be whether Boston would give Mitchell the 15th roster spot so they could keep everyone, or make a tough decision to part with one (likely Uzan).
Tonje may have signed with Blazers due to uncertainty in Boston
But Tonje made that decision easier when he signed a two-way deal with the Trail Blazers last month. Portland offered Tonje two guaranteed years on the unusual deal, and between that and the uncertainty in Boston, he accepted the deal and moved on from the Celtics organization.
It was sad to see him go, but if there was a silver lining, it was that the Celtics could keep the 15th roster spot open and sign both Mitchell and Uzan to two-ways. But now, a wrench has been thrown into that plan with an NCAA ruling that allows Mitchell the opportunity to go back to college for a fifth year.
He hasn’t made any decision yet, but he’d surely make much more money than he would on a two-way deal playing in Maine, so that seems likely. Boston could try to lure him to stay by offering him a standard contract for $1.7 million, but even that may be less than he’d make in college.
Mitchell heading back to college would have secured a 2-way for Tonje
So, it seems he’s likely to go another year before signing with the Celtics, which means Boston may have let Tonje go for nothing. Now, they’ve got Williams signed to one two-way; they’ll likely use one on Uzan, and they’ll still have a third two-way spot plus a 15th roster spot.
Of course, they can now sign Tucker DeVries, who also got a training camp invite (like Uzan) after a solid summer league showing, or shop around the league for any other prospect they may want to add on a two-way, but it’s going to be hard to find anyone close to as good as Tonje. He already proved he could dominate in the G League last year, and has had several months to develop in Maine.
Now that’s all gone by the wayside, and Boston must go back to the drawing board. It’s not the end of the world, as we’re talking about a guy who may never even be an NBA rotation player. Also, for all we know, he may have preferred to sign with the Blazers either way. But still, with this latest Mitchell news, it’s hard not to think that the Celtics may have missed out on a promising 25-year-old prospect for little to no reason.
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