The Boston Celtics are preparing for an unpredictable season as they navigate life without star Jayson Tatum. Tatum’s torn Achilles created a ripple effect throughout the organization as the injury has forced President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens to get creative when building his roster.
The NBA Summer League was an excellent opportunity for the Celtics to find talent as they’ll need cheap players at the end of their bench to keep them out of the second apron. One of the biggest stars during the summer showcase was forward Charles Bassey, who averaged 15.3 points and 11.0 rebounds per game over three games and his performance was good enough to spark rumors that he could join the team for next season.
But in the end, the Celtics didn’t appear to be interested as the Atlanta Hawks announced on Wednesday that they’ve struck a deal with the 24-year-old.
Celtics Pass on Keeping Summer League Star Charles Bassey
Lauren Williams of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that Bassey’s deal with the Hawks is a non-guaranteed Exhibit 10 contract. While that type of deal is usually a license for teams to cut players with minimal repercussions, Bassey could find a way to force his way onto the roster as they have just 11 players on fully guaranteed contracts with training camps beginning at the end of the month.
For Bassey, that was good enough to take the risk. A second-round pick by the Philadelphia 76ers in the 2021 draft, Bassey was waived after his rookie season and spent the past three seasons with San Antonio. While his play amounted to 4.7 points, 4.7 rebounds and 0.9 blocks per game, didn’t amount to increased playing time, Bassey’s health also got in the way with a non-displaced patella fracture in 2022-23 and a torn ACL in 2023-24.
Averaging 10.4 minutes per game in his final season with the Spurs, Bassey decided to give the Summer League a try and it felt like Boston was going to be his final landing spot. The Celtics’ center situation has been cleared out as Kristaps Porzingis, Al Horford and Luke Kornet all left town and the incumbents don’t look too promising with Neemias Queta, Chris Boucher, Luka Garza, Xavier Tillman and Amari Williams all looking for roster spots.
Despite the quantity at the position, the Celtics were seeking quality, which is why a rumor from Noa Dalzell of CelticsBlog reported that Bassey would “especially love to sign with the Celtics if the opportunity presented itself.” The caveat of it not being realistic turned out to be closer to the truth and Bassey will chase his shot in Atlanta while the Celtics try to figure out what they have in the months leading up to the season.