SAN FRANCISCO — The Celtics, as expected, made a pair of roster moves Thursday to round out their roster coming out of the All-Star break. The C’s needed to get to the minimum 14 rostered players by Thursday following their flurry of moves at the trade deadline a couple weeks ago.
The Celtics signed Dalano Banton to a 10-day contract to start things off. Then they converted John Tonje from a two-way to a 10-day contract. So now, the Celtics are at the minimum roster requirements. Expect the C’s to utilize 10-day deals going forward to stay under the luxury tax.
As a reminder, the Celtics made four total trades at the deadline earlier this month. They acquired big man Nikola Vucevic from the Bulls, trading away Anfernee Simons. They also shipped out Chris Boucher to the Jazz, Xavier Tillman to the Hornets, and Josh Minott to the Nets.
Here’s a look at the Celtics roster after the pair of moves Thursday:
Guards: Derrick White, Payton Pritchard, Dalano Banton (10-day) John Tonje (10-day), Max Shulga (two-way)
Wings: Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum (injured), Sam Hauser, Jordan Walsh, Hugo Gonzalez, Baylor Scheierman, Ron Harper Jr. (two-way)
Bigs: Neemias Queta, Nikola Vucevic, Luka Garza, Amari Williams
Celtics fans will be familiar with Banton, who was part of the 2023-24 title squad before getting traded at the deadline. Banton was most recently on the Clippers on a 10-day contract and now he’ll get a shot back in Boston. In the short-term, he’s another guard option for the Celtics.
Tonje was acquired in the Boucher deal from the Jazz. He’s enjoyed a solid rookie season on a two-way contract and now he’ll be part of the standard roster. He’ll also be another guard option for the Celtics going forward. Since Tonje is now part of the standard roster, the front office has another two-way slot to fill going forward.
The Celtics are in the thick of the playoff hunt at 35-19, good for second in the East. They open their post-break schedule with four tough games, all on the road against West teams with a winning record. So that’ll be an important stretch for the Celtics in the final sprint of the regular season.
The subplot of the C’s season continues to be if or when Jayson Tatum will be back on the court. He practiced with the Maine Celtics, the team’s G League affiliate, earlier this month. But there hasn’t been any indication of an official comeback as the C’s star continues his rehab from a ruptured Achilles tendon.