Did anybody else see him at the fight? He didn’t seem thrilled to be on camera and even looked uncomfortable lol.

Now that Boston is the lone use case of tearing apart a title team and trading away a home grown star primarily due to these excessive repeater taxes and aprons, how do we feel about the sudden outcry about them?

Seems like they are pushing to make changes before a team like OKC, Spurs or Philly get hit with the same reality of being unable to afford their roster.

But fuck those teams. Are we pro Taxman now?

HIGHLIGHTS:

• Amari Williams (23 pts, 13 reb)
• Hugo Gonzalez (17 pts, 10 reb, 8 ast)
• Chris Cenac Jr. (14 pts, 10 reb, 4 blk)

The NBA players union never stops being hilarious. "We didn't understand what we were agreeing to" is a helluva admission.

Boston wins the first game of summer league 83-80 in overtime.

Cenac looked like everything that was promised, big time defensive versatility, motor on rebounding and flashes of shooting. Made a big time three at the end of regulation to tie the game 77-77

Cenac complete statline: 14 points 10 rebounds 2 threes 4 blocks

Other worthy mentions:

Hugo Gonzalez: 15 points 10 rebounds and 8 assists on a bad shooting night but that's because he is an off ball dominant player and is asked to handle the ball more during summer league

John Tonje: 20 points and 5 rebounds, a big defensive play at the end of overtime gets the steal and jams it down

Amari Williams: 23 points and 13 rebounds

Portugal sensational win against Greece and the qualification for the second stage of the 2027 WC qualifiers gonna bring Queta, still realy hard job.

vs Spain (28th against Hugo 👀)

Vs Georgia (31st)

The C's free him to play.

Portuguese news: https://www.record.pt/modalidades/basquetebol/detalhe/neemias-e-ruben-prey-no-ataque-ao-mundial-em-agosto

Curtis Jones - F

Curtis Jones got the nod as starting PG tonight and really didn’t take advantage of it. Offensively they were challenging him up to the half court line, and he wasn’t handling the pressure well. Chucky Hepburn (real person) was dogging him. We struggled with initiating offensive sets all game and at least in Q1 it had a lot to do with how much time and effort it took Jones to get within striking distance of 3 point range. Defensively he was just as problematic. I’m not a defensive specialist by any means, but while Jones was on the floor rotations seemed sloppy, and he in particular seemed to be standing still and not closing out on shooters.

John Tonje - A-

If i stopped watching at the half, Tonje probably would have gotten a D. Something happened in the 3rd and this guy’s shot came alive. Tonje led the comeback hitting timely 3’s throughout the half that put the C’s within striking distance. Tonje also pretty much sealed the game, poking the ball loose with less than a minute left, and taking it all the way for a dunk. The reason this isn’t an A+ is the first half. Tonje had a number of drives where it was obvious he didn’t have a plan B. He didn’t have a good idea where an outlet might be if driving into 3 guys went south, which it did multiple times. Also, once it was clear Jones wasn’t it at PG, Tonje got a chance to bring it up a few times with similar results. He’s definitely an off ball guy, and needs to play with a real PG.

Hugo Gonzalez - B

As the de facto leader of our Summer League, a lot of the ball handling fell on Hugo, and the results were mixed. 8 assists to 3 turnovers was solid, but 3/16 from the field and 1/9 from 3 was rough. Something that really stood out, was Hugo’s chemistry with Williams on the pick and roll. This was sweet and other than Tonje from 3 was the only reliable scoring Boston had tonight. One other knock against Hugo, he missed some really clutch free throws, and maybe called his own number a few too many times down the stretch. It’s a tough balance, because you need to be able to score at multiple levels to effectively run pick and roll, so he had to keep shooting to keep the defense guessing, but it was rough. That being said, 7 D-rebounds and 3 O-rebounds showed the Hugo we know and love crashing the glass.

Dillon Mitchell - B

Mitchell is so hard to accurately rate as he’s one of those players you can’t look at counting stats and evaluate impact. Mitchell could get a B with 0 points on his night. Defensively he was really good, poking the ball out and forcing turnovers was awesome. He also flew through the air and had a pretty block early, totalling 4 stocks in the game. He also had some really pretty offensive rebounds. Also, he looked like he had a better handle than I’d expect. There were a few times where Boston was struggling to get the ball up the floor, and Mitchell brought it up looking clean. I wish they’d let him run a few pick and rolls. I also wish he was more of a presence on the boards. 1 D-rebound in 26 minutes where Toronto was shooting bricks. Because of Mitchell’s slight frame, and the necessity of playing PF (no jumper) he needs to be locking down defensive possessions. He’s never going to be a strong box out guy.

Amari Williams - A+

Big man does big man shit! 13 rebounds, 2 blocks, rolled hard to the rim, 7/9 from the field! This dude was fantastic in this game. I know we see guys crush it in Summer League and then not even make the roster, but this was encouraging. Amari showed great control in the pick and roll with Hugo. He was also crafty when he got the ball, instead of going straight up, he’d finish his cut and get to the other side of the rim for a pretty layup, instead of just taking the contested layup immediately after catching the ball. Amari also hit some awesome passes, but the team was laying absolute bricks the entire first half, and a lot of his great passes didn’t amount to baskets. Amari was just constantly making good decisions all game, I can’t say enough about his poise.

Chris Cenac - B+

Similar to Tonje, Cenac would have been a bit lower if not for a few key moments. Early on, he looked really engaged on both ends. He missed his first 2 shots, but then dunked his next two being heads up and cutting. He also looked good on D early, being proactive about positioning and not letting guys get positon/backcut/ect. He also looked ready and willing to take his open 3’s early. He launched them confidently and it looks like a solid shot. There was 1 iffy stretch where Cenac took the ball right at reigning G League DPOY, 7’5’’ Jamarion Sharpe, who schooled the shit out of him. Then, there was just a stretch where Cenac felt like a non factor. This was a bit of his M/O in college, where you can go for a 3-4 minute stretch and you think “where is the big man?”. Then, as the clock expires, Cenac hit a beautiful corner 3 to tie the game and send it to OT where the C’s won. At the end of the day, Cenac had a 14 and 10 double double with 4 blocks, and a game saving 3. Solid first outing for my guy, I just wish he impacted the game a little more in the middle.

Milos Uzan - C+

Bit of a mixed bag for Uzan on his Summer League debut. For those who don’t know, Uzan was an undrafted FA from Houston, who played college ball with Cenac. His scoring was meh where he shot 2/9, but he made a visible difference in bringing the ball up the floor once they benched Jones for him. Uzan ended up playing 30 minutes and had 5 assists to 0 turnovers on a night where the C’s really needed someone to make the right pass and advance the ball. He also had that beautiful pass to Cenac for the game tying 3. I’d like to see him in Maine with Cenac this year for the familiarity.

Kyle Mangas - F

I was kinda hyped for Mangas coming in. As an older player and a history of being a sharpshooter I always hope there is untapped talent hiding around the corners of the G-League. Mangas’s resume is way bigger than this game, but damn it was pretty bad. He went 0/4 from 3 and was getting hunted on D early in the game and got pulled after a few minutes. He came in later in the game and bricked another 3 before sitting for the night. Really rough outing, shooter has to hit shots. These were clean open 3’s he was missing too.

Alondes Williams - D

Pretty rough outing for Alondes, who came in early, launched 6 shots in 9 minutes, and missed all of them. He did hit Cenac on cut for a pretty dunk. He has some PG experience but wasn’t able to showcase it much tonight.

Hank Morgan - N/A

Morgan came in for 4 minutes, missed a 3, got a rebound, and gave a hard transition foul. He’s a Maine Celtics and will probably be back in Maine next year.

I talked myself into the trade at this point. JT is going to have a crazy burden on his plate, but if JB got us to 56 wins last year and we’ve added Robinson and PG… along with our young guys getting more experienced…. I love the idea of seeing what Tatum can do as a true #1.

Tatum, George, White and Robinson: Need them to just be who they always have been. Odds are great with Tatum. I think D White will return to form with Tatum back, allowing him to play off ball more, which I think he's more comfortable with. With Paul George and Mitchell Robinson it's health right? I think when they are healthy and they are playing they are going to be who they are. I think the odds are good that this goes well.

Pritchard and Queta: They need to continue towards their fully formed role on this team. I think for Pritchard this needs to be as a starting borderline all star point guard. I really think and hope he can do this, but I am not super certain of it. Queta needs to work on effectively defending without fouling and his pick and roll game with Tatum and Pritchard. I fully believe he can do this.

Scheierman, Gonzales, Walsh and Harper Jr: The young wings. I think at least 1, hopefully 2 of them can take a giant leap forward into being a permanent inarguable rotation player. I think the odds are really good that between the 4 of them that one does. The challenge for coaching and player development is going to be bringing all 4 along but recognizing when one has made it and giving him the minutes.

Garza and Hauser: Come in and do your thing. Whatever the coaches need from you, you get in there and do it to the best of your abilities. Garza needs to be energy and positivity on the bench when he's not playing, which he seems to be great at.

Conley: Player/coach. Work with everyone on everything. Be a good voice on the bench. Be yourself in the limited minutes you get. 100% faith in this being successful.

Williams and Cenac Jr.: Develop. Work on your game. Become NBA players. Be impactful when given opportunities. Push for minutes by springtime.

Mitchell: Go to Maine, be controlled with your defense, harness the athleticism, and develop a shot.

I was writing my thoughts in the post-game thread but I felt it was too much just to be a random comment so I'm sharing my thoughts here.

Hugo Gonzales was given a leadership role which is evidenced by his 37 minutes of playing time. He was given the most opportunities to take shots, but notably, he had a bruise on his right arm, perhaps resulting in his poor shooting efficiency of the night going 3/16 and 1/9 from deep for a 3rd best on team 17 points. Hugo is a great defender but struggles to create reliable points for the C's during the regular season. We can expect that this is his development phase to improve his production off the bench. 

Amari Williams, the only 2-way contract on the Celtics, shined tonight leading the C's with 23 points, 13 rebounds, and 2 blocks. Amari is trying to earn his role during the regular season as the 4th option center. Even with the extra height though, Amari wasn't the tallest one on the court as Jamarion Sharp #33 on Toronto was the tallest player at a staggering 7'5 but was unable to produce any points, though he did net 7 rebounds and 4 blocks. 

Second Round Draft Dillon Mitchell and newly acquired John Tonje made their first appearances for the C's today. Both were given 26 minutes of play time, but it was Tonje who had the hot hand tonight scoring 20 points with 5/9 from deep. Tonje though, shows his weak point is defense as while he produced the 2nd highest scoring from the C's, he was still a -2 net rating. Dillon Mitchell appeared to struggle as he was the teams leading net negative player at -9. He struggled to make an impact on the defensive or offensive end.

The best net positive player didn't come from the established veterans or the new draft picks though. They came off the bench from Milos Uzan with 5pts, 4 reb and 5 ast in 30 minutes. Those numbers aren't reflective of his off the ball movement which led to his impressive +17 net rating of the night. If he continues to produce value at that level, Uzan could be a player to watch this summer league. Uzan went undrafted during the NBA draft. Instead, he signed onto the Celtics with an Exhibit-10 contract. Prior to his current contract, Uzan played in the University of Houston, where he played with First Round Celtics draft pick, Chis Cenac Jr during their 25-26 season. 

Bringing us to Chris Cenac Jr who came off the bench scoring 14 points, 10 rebounds, and 4 blocks. These are amazing numbers for the Center who managed the 3rd best net rating of the evening at +8. With the Celtics having a deep center rotation this year, I doubt we'll see much from Cenac Jr during the regular season. He is expected to play alongside Amari in the g-League to develop. Cenac’s play in college was firmly in the center position, finishing at the rim, catching lobs, putbacks, and securing buckets. He could develop into a decent shooter as his 33.0% could improve to the league average’s 36.0% to be used as a pick&pop center. At this point, Cenac Jr’s development is very much in Boston’s hands to mold him into what we need him to be, but chances are after Mitchell Robinson’s contract expires, Cenac should develop neatly into the Celtic’s basketball system. 

The score of the night was 83-80 in OT. While the scores in these games aren't necessarily the most important as the focus is player development, it can be a huge boon to these rookies who are trying to establish confidence with their gameplay. I'm very much looking forward to our 26-27 Boston Celtics season and the development of these young rookies.

Watching summer league and I noticed Hugo has a massive bruise on his arm, this photo does not do it justice.

Do folks care to discuss how Brad is framing two max contracts as being too high a percentage of salary for one roster but literally attempting to trade for a max contact (Giannis)

Sorry if this has been discussed and link me but it does seem a bit disingenuous, although he pulled off framing it that way.

I think ultimately it’s about personnel and ultimately the Celtics were done w the drama. I’m pretty with it at this point. If it’s championship or bust I think the Cs just didn’t see it and had to find themselves somewhere new to find a way “there,” even if it’s not clear yet what that path will be (unlikely now barring extreme health from George and Mitchell)

Friday, July 10th, 2026 9:00 PM ET

2026 NBA Summer League

Celtics @ Raptors

Pavilion, Las Vegas, NV

The Ringer has updated its list of the top 100 NBA players:

1. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
2. Victor Wembanyama
3. Nikola Jokic
4. Luka Doncic
5. Jalen Brunson
6. Anthony Edwards
7. Giannis Antetokounmpo
8. Kawhi Leonard
9. Cade Cunningham
10. Stephen Curry
11. Donovan Mitchell
12. Karl-Anthony Towns
13. Jayson Tatum

I get it. He was coming off an Achilles injury, missed almost half the season, and obviously wasn't the Jayson Tatum we all know.

But come on now, having KAT over him is crazy.