Boston Celtics sign two-way rookie guard to main roster

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Boston Celtics sign two-way rookie guard to main roster

Brian Robb, Souichi Terada · MassLive

Sun, Mar 15, 2026 ·

3 min read

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The Celtics are promoting two-way guard Max Shulga to their 15-man roster, a team source confirmed to MassLive. Boston originally signed the No. 57 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft to a two-way deal last July.

But now, the 6-foot-4 guard will take one of Boston’s open roster spots on the 15-man roster created following the trades of Josh Minott , Chris Boucher and Xavier Tillman at the trade deadline. Boston also agreed to a 10-day contract with center Charles Bassey on Saturday , league sources told MassLive.

The two new deals bring Boston’s 15-man roster back to the minimum required 14 players. The Celtics left those spots vacant over the last 14 days for salary cap savings. Those savings will help keep the team under the luxury tax for the season after the team’s cost-cutting moves at the trade deadline.

Shulga is signing a two-year deal, per sources, that is non-guaranteed for next season. His cap hit for the remainder of the 2025-26 season will be just $219,460, which was a factor in why Boston is having him fill a 15-man roster spot. That low cost will help keep the C’s under the luxury tax line while providing extra backcourt depth.

Shulga has appeared in four games for the Celtics this season, spending the majority of his time with the Maine Celtics in the G League. The 23-year-old is posting 16.2 points, 4.5 rebounds and 7.1 assists per game in 22 appearances. Notably, he has shot an impressive 39.9% from 3-point range.

The rookie guard played three seasons for Utah State before transferring to VCU for his final two years of collegiate play. He was the Atlantic 10 Conference Player of the Year last season and led VCU to an NCAA tournament berth.

Shulga joins Amari Williams as the second player drafted in last year’s second round to earn a standard NBA contract this season. Williams impressed during his time with the main club, playing spot minutes, before getting the promotion to the standard roster.

That also means all three Celtics rookies are signed to the Celtics. First-round pick Hugo Gonzalez has been a pleasant surprise for the team this season. Despite being one of the youngest players in the NBA, Gonzalez has shown he can already be a contributor. Gonzalez is still a bit raw, but there’s plenty of reason to be optimistic about his future.

Boston now has an open two-way slot. However, the Celtics will be unable to fill the spot until the offseason. The deadline to sign a two-way player during the 2025-26 season was March 4.

The other two-way slots are filled by Ron Harper Jr. and John Tonje . The Celtics acquired Tonje from the Jazz as part of the Boucher trade. Harper has also impressed amid a successful G League season with a chance to get promoted ahead of the playoffs. Like past seasons, the Celtics will wait until the end of the regular season to fill the 15th spot for cap purposes.

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