Summer League Player Grades

Las Vegas Summer League is the most wonderful time of the year. It’s a time when every dribble, rebound, and shot can mean as much or as little as the beholder wants.

My personal rulebook for Summer League is that rookies can only improve their stock; second-year guys should look like second-year guys; and third-year guys better not play poorly, or they will be looking for a spot on my hometown professional team, the Tasmanian JackJumpers.

The great news for Celtics fans is that every player of consequence showed out at Summer League. Before we hand out some summer grades, I will remind everyone that I am grading these players based on my expectations and perceptions of their abilities coming into Summer League.

I’m not comparing Chris Cenac Jr. to Cam Boozer. 

Hugo González – B+ 

Hugo Gonzalez is having an excellent summer. It tipped off with a pair of strong performances in the FIBA World Cup qualifiers, in which Gonzalez contributed 13 points, 4 points, 4 assists, 2 steals, and 1 block.

The skill that really flashed in Hugo’s two FIBA games was his passing, which he carried over to Summer League, where he was tasked with being the team’s lead shot creator, a tall task for a 20-year-old wing who was given close to zero ball-handling responsibility in his rookie season. While there were some clunky stretches for the Summer Celtics’ offense, most notably the streak of 17 straight misses in the first game of the campaign, Hugo acquitted himself nicely in this role. Gonzalez showcased improved handling and passing skills. The young forward turned in 5.7 assists to go with 3.7 turnovers per game.

For a franchise that prioritizes limiting turnovers, I’m sure the coaching staff would like to see the turnover number lower, but an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.54 is impressive in this context. The Celtics Summer League roster was low on spacing and shot creation, so Hugo being a passable offensive engine is encouraging.

Letting ourselves get carried away by the Vegas Vibes, if the young wing can develop his creation ability, it would be a significant boon for the Boston Celtics. With Hugo already showing in his rookie season that he can be a defensive and rebounding machine, if he can simultaneously morph into being a jumbo secondary creator? The “I can’t believe the Celtics didn’t trade this guy for Giannis” takes won’t age well.

Lastly, Celtics fans are likely already familiar with Gonzalez’s historic plus/minus numbers as a rookie. Rivalling all-time greats like Tim Duncan and Jayson Tatum in their rookie seasons. Well, Hugo did it again at Summer League. The Celtics were a plus-34 with Hugo on the court and a minus-28 with him off the court. The kid impacts winning. I docked Hugo down from an “A” because I thought his defense in the second Summer League game was disappointing. He got torched by Liam McNeely. But I won’t let a bad half of Summer League supersede a rookie season of being a defensive menace. 

Amari Williams – B

Amari Williams has some passionate believers. I get it. The blend of size and vision is tantalizing. When you squint (close your eyes), it’s not hard to see British Nikola Jokic. Summer League shenanigans aside, the former second-round pick left me feeling optimistic that he could become a solid backup big man at some point.

For those who think reaching a ceiling of a competent backup big man is something to scoff at, I implore you to look at the big man market in today’s NBA. Walker Kessler was just traded for an unconscionable haul, Jock Landale (Australian King) signed for $14 million, and even Zach Collins managed to secure a two-year $17 million contract. The pendulum has violently swung back on the value of big men. Teams have realized the value of having high-level center play for 48 minutes.

So, what did Amari do that leads me to believe he can provide competent centre play for the Celtics? The seven-footer continues to flash impressive rim protection, the ability to gobble up rebounds, and the alluring trait of being a team’s offensive hub due to his passing skills.

On the alluring passing, Williams had a handful of turnovers on no-look and overly saucy passes. My recommendation would be to both look when passing and limit the amount of sauce on some of these passes to ensure better ball security.

My biggest gripe with Williams is that, despite being the biggest guy out there, I’m often left wishing he could experience a motor upgrade. While the seven-footer had several high-level moments as a rim protector and rebounder throughout Summer League, I see no reason why he couldn’t be a game-wrecker.

In the consolation game, we saw what it can look like when Williams cranks his motor up. The big fella had a beautiful tip-in on an offensive rebound, a sequence with back-to-back blocks, and a lovely backdoor pass to DeVries. We need more of that for the big man to fulfil his potential as a high-level backup big man. If we could clone Hugo Gonzalez’s motor and install it where Williams’ currently is, we would have a monster on our hands. All that to say I’m encouraged by Amari’s development and feel confident in his ability to reach the level of rotational big man in the NBA. 

Chris Cenac – A 

I loved the Celtics’ selection of Chris Cenac at the 27th overall pick. He fits the profile of the type of prospect I wanted the Celtics to draft: a high upside big man that, in a ceiling outcome, gives you two-way versatility in the playoffs.

The book on Cenac was that he was a raw prospect. I come away blown away by how this kid fell to the Celtics at the 27th pick. The blend of size and length, skill, and motor all popped across his Summer League campaign. I expected Cenac to look like Bambi on ice out there. But he flashed the ability to switch on the perimeter defensively, hit clutch threes, mash opponents on the glass, and make smooth passing reads out of the short roll… and he just turned 19 years old in February.

The Chris Cenac hype train has left the station. In just 23.3 minutes per game, the first-round draft pick stuffed the stat sheet with 10.5 points, 8 rebounds, 1 assist, and 2.8 blocks. If we let our imagination run wild and extrapolate those numbers to a per-36-minute number, we would be looking at 18 points, 12 rebounds, 1.5 assists, and 4.3 blocks.

One of the concerns about Cenac as a prospect was his incredibly low block rate in college, despite being an athletic marvel. The big man out of Houston only averaged 0.5 blocks per game in college. The optimists explained this by saying it was due to Cenac playing in a Houston context that had him at the power forward spot, where he was not asked to be a rim protector. Well, those concerns have been addressed emphatically with 11 blocks over his four games. The rim protection isn’t perfect; Cenac has the quintessential rookie trait of biting on lots of pump fakes. However, Cenac also has the ability to recover from these mistakes to either collect blocks or still impact shots at the rim thanks to his freakish mix of size and athleticism. 19-year-olds picked late in the first round of the NBA draft rarely get much playing time, but I would love to see what Cenac could do with some real NBA minutes.

Dillon Mitchell – B+

Dillon Mitchell is a fun player to watch. The 40th overall pick is a high-octane, turnover-generating, rebound-securing chaos agent. Mazzulla Ball is often pigeonholed as only being about three-point shooting rate. It is more about maximising possessions, and Mitchell fits this philosophy. The explosive guard looks like Ed Reed picking off passes on the way to thunderous dunks on the other end, and is often in danger of concussing himself as he soars through traffic to collect offensive rebounds.

This is what the Celtics envision with Mitchell: a non-shooting possessions generator. Mitchell is not a shooter, but he is a smart offensive player. The explosive guard is quick to set screens that spring teammates open, a timely cutter, and a precise passer. He also hit more threes in Summer League (3) than he did in the entirety of his last college season (1)…so maybe there is a shooter in there that the Celtics development staff can coax out of him. I don’t see a path for Mitchell to get burn in his rookie season with so many perimeter players ahead of him in the rotation, but I’m certainly intrigued to follow his development.

John Tonje – A 

John Tonje already stamped himself as a Celtics legend with his performance in Game 82 of last season. The two-way forward continued his strong play for the Summer Celtics.

Tonje can stroke it from three. Catch and shoot threes, pull-ups, and side step threes. The athletic wing also showed improvement on defense, continued to hit the glass, and showcased his athleticism with a one-handed tomahawk slam in the final Summer League game.

The only thing working against the toolsy guard-forward hybrid is that the Celtics are overflowing with talent on the wing. Between Jayson Tatum, Paul George, Hugo Gonzalez, Sam Hauser, Baylor Scheierman, Ron Harper Jr, and Jordan Walsh, there isn’t a path for Tonje to earn minutes. For this reason, I would lean toward giving the last two-way slot to Milos Uzan. That being said, I am terrified that Tonje will end up on the Miami Heat and be the next Caleb Martin or Max Strus for them. Dude can play. 

Milos Uzan – A

Milos Uzan is a slippery, tough-shot-making, consistent shot-creator. At a minimum, Milos Uzan will go down as a Summer Celtic great. The highlight of Uzan’s Summer League was his clutch buckets to seal a victory against the Sacramento Kings.

The Celtics’ point guard depth is not the strength of the roster. After Derrick White and Payton Pritchard, the options get a little bit creaky. Mike Conley, whom I love, is coming into his 20th season as a pro. It would be great to add a developmental guard to the pipeline. Interestingly, Uzan and Conley have similar profiles as shifty guards who battle on defense, and more importantly, are great in the possession game. Mike Conley has made a career out of suppressing turnovers and getting offenses organized. I’m not saying Uzan is prime Mike Conley, although that would be wonderful news for the Celtics, but Uzan fits the Celtics philosophy of maximising possessions across 48 minutes and across 82 games.

Milos (have I mentioned how Milos Uzan is an outrageously cool name?), averaged 4 assists to only 1.4 turnovers per game in his Summer League campaign, which was a near identical stat line to his two-year career at Houston, where he averaged 4.1 assists to 1.4 turnovers across 77 games. Signalling to me that this was a deliberate roster decision by the Celtics as they see Uzan as fitting their identity.

As mentioned above, I think it makes sense for Uzan to be rewarded with one of the two-way contracts. Milos fills a bigger need than John Tonje, has some built-in chemistry with Houston teammate Chris Cenac, and is two years younger than Tonje. As much as I will always remember Tonje’s performance in Game 82 of the 2025-2026 NBA season, it is Milos Uzan’s time to shine in Maine. 

Honourable mention – Tucker Devries – A

Tucker DeVries had two jobs: take threes and make threes. Mission accomplished. I don’t know if there is an NBA player in there, but he will, at a minimum, have a long career overseas as a professional basketball player. 

I’m already excited to see what Year Two Chris Cenac looks like at Summer League next year. Until then, we have three months to argue about whether or not the Celtics are better or worse than last season. I can’t wait.