The Boston Celtics will be signing Charles Bassey to a second 10-day contract according to a report by Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe. Bassey signed his first 10-day contract with the Celtics on March 14th, making today, March 25th, its expiration date. As such, Boston opted to bring him back to stay in compliance with league minimum roster rules as they try to duck the luxury tax.
Charles is just 25 years old, and a five-year vet of the NBA. The 6’10 center has had stints with the Philadelphia
76ers, the San Antonio Spurs, and the Memphis Grizzlies before his time with Boston. In his five years, he’s played a combined 118 games, most of those coming from his three-year run with the Spurs from the 22-23 season through the 24-25 season. He averages 4.2 points, 4.2 rebounds, 0.8 assists, and 0.8 blocks across his career, with a field-goal percentage of 62.7%.
This signing brings Boston’s roster back up to 14 players on standard contracts, at least for the next 10 days. At the end of that timeline, it is widely expected that the Celtics will convert Ron Harper Jr.’s two-way contract to a standard deal to ensure he is playoff eligible, while also keeping the team in roster compliance, and giving them just enough room to stay under the Luxury Tax for the season.
At this point, Bassey has only played in two games for the Celtics this season, a combined four minutes across those two games, all in garbage time. Given the limited on-court opportunity, Bassey didn’t have much room to prove himself, but he did score 4 points on 2-3 shooting while picking up 2 rebounds and 1 steal.
Charles was with Boston before the season as well, playing three games as part of the Celtics Summer League roster. He managed to impress fans who tapped in during that time, averaging 15.3 points, 11 rebounds, and 2 blocks in 21.3 minutes per game, shooting 70.4% from the floor. His Summer League performance likely influenced the Celtics decision to bring Bassey in for the two recent 10-day contracts. While it’s unlikely that he will be retained for the season after this most recent contract expires, it’s clear he made an impression on the team.
