The Celtics closed out their NBA Summer League campaign with a 103-97 consolation-game loss to the Orlando Magic on Saturday at the Thomas & Mack Center.
Here are three takeaways from Boston’s Las Vegas swan song, which featured extended cameos from some of the team’s deep reserves:
1. Key three sit
Summer League ended early for three notable Celtics. Second-year wing Hugo Gonzalez and 2026 draft picks Chris Cenac Jr. and Dillon Mitchell all watched Saturday’s game from the bench in street clothes.
Gonzalez and Mitchell each played in three of Boston’s five games in Vegas, with the latter sitting out the final two. Cenac saw action in the first four before getting the day off against Orlando.
Overall, it was an encouraging week for Boston’s two draftees as they experienced NBA basketball (or some semblance of it) for the first time.
Cenac came as advertised as a prolific defensive rebounder, and he showed more shot-blocking prowess than he did during his lone season at Houston. After four games, the 19-year-old big man was tied for third among all Summer Leaguers in blocks, sixth in defensive rebounds and eighth in total rebounds.
Mitchell brought his trademark defensive playmaking and rim pressure, and his shooting was a pleasant surprise. A nonfactor from 3-point range at St. John’s last season, the 22-year-old wing shot a respectable 37.5% from deep and 47.2% overall in Summer League.
Gonzalez finished strong, turning in his best performance in Wednesday’s win over Sacramento. He posted solid numbers over his three appearances (18.3 points, 8.0 rebounds, 5.7 assists, 1.7 steals) despite struggling to find his rhythm as a shooter (31.8%; 25.9% from three).
2. Deep bench
With those three notables inactive, Summer League head coach Amile Jefferson utilized every inch of his bench. All 13 suited-up Celtics saw playing time by the midway point of the second quarter as Jefferson rolled through subs and pushed the tempo.
Several of those players were not part of Jefferson’s rotation in any of the previous games, but each one contributed.
One example: A 12-2 second-quarter run was keyed by big plays from Day Day Thomas, who stole a pass that led to a fast-break layup, and Nick Pringle, who soared in for a putback slam off a missed Caleb Grill 3-pointer.
Minutes into the second half, all 13 Celtics had scored, and eight had hit at least one three.
Jefferson pulled most of his starters (Amari Williams, John Tonje, Milos Uzan and Tucker DeVries) midway through the third quarter and played the rest of the game with his reserves, all of whom are unlikely to challenge for NBA minutes this season.
Grill, a 26-year-old guard who played for the G League’s Windy City Bulls and Greensboro Swarm in 2025-26, hit four threes off the bench to lead all Celtics with 18 points. Pringle, an undrafted rookie forward out of Arkansas, piled up five rebounds, four assists, three blocks and two steals.
The Celtics cut a 15-point Magic lead to two in the final minute but couldn’t complete the comeback.
3. Tryout check-in
DeVries scored 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting in 16 minutes to close out a quietly productive tournament for the undrafted rookie out of Indiana.
A 6-foot-7 wing playing on an Exhibit-10 contract, DeVries scored in double figures and made three 3-pointers in three of his four Summer League appearances. He shot 1-for-7 and 0-for-6 from deep in the outlier (Wednesday’s win over the Kings) but was a plus-19 in that game.
Exhibit-10 contracts run through the NBA preseason, so expect to see DeVries join the main Celtics roster for training camp. The same goes for fellow E-10 signee Uzan, who finished with his best shooting performance of the summer (nine points on 4-for-5, three assists, one block in 17 minutes).
The Houston product was Boston’s most effective point guard in Las Vegas. He’s vying to make the team at a position where Boston could benefit from more developmental depth.
Tonje capped his strong showing in Sin City by tallying 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting, four rebounds, three assists, one steal and one block in 19 minutes against Orlando. The second-year guard was one of the Summer Celtics’ most consistent scorers, notching at least 14 points in four of the five games while making 51.0% of his field goals and 45.2% of his triples.
The Celtics currently have one open 15-man roster spot and two open two-way contract slots. One of those three will go to second-round pick Mitchell, who has yet to sign his first NBA deal. Tonje, Uzan and DeVries all are candidates for the remaining vacancies.