Max Shulga and the Celtics’ next 10-day inflection point
max shulga has emerged as the most predictable name tied to Boston’s next short-term roster decision, as the Celtics navigate a tight window to add standard-contract players while keeping an eye on the luxury tax line.
Boston has been operating with only 12 players on standard NBA contracts for nearly two weeks, a deliberate approach designed to finish the league year below the luxury tax. Under league rules, teams can temporarily carry fewer than 14 players on standard contracts, but they have 14 days to correct that. That deadline pressure is now colliding with immediate rotation needs created by injury and expiring 10-day deals.
What Happens When the roster minimum forces Boston’s hand on a 10-day?
The Celtics have been threading the needle on roster management. After the trade deadline, the team converted Amari Williams from a two-way deal to a standard contract, bringing the standard roster to 12 (not counting two-way players). Fourteen days later, Boston converted John Tonje to a 10-day deal and also brought back Dalano Banton on the same terms.
When Tonje’s 10-day expired, he was signed back to another two-way deal. When Banton’s 10-day expired, the sides parted ways. The net result is Boston sitting at 12 standard-contract players again, and the organization must get back to at least 14 by Mar. 14 (ET) at the latest. The expectation set by its own recent behavior is that it will wait as long as it can before making the next move, underscoring how precisely it is managing the tax line.
Against that backdrop, two types of decisions are on the table: a reunion with a familiar short-term piece like Banton, or an outside addition on a 10-day. The context points to the Celtics preferring familiar, controllable options to “patch together the back end of the roster, ” rather than making a bigger commitment that could complicate tax positioning.
What If injuries and frontcourt insurance shift the 10-day focus away from Max Shulga?
Boston is also juggling immediate basketball needs. The team plans to sign veteran big man Charles Bassey to a 10-day contract, a move that fills a roster spot left vacant after Banton’s and Tonje’s 10-day contracts expired on March 1 (ET). Bassey’s role is described internally as frontcourt insurance behind starting center Neemias Queta and backup Luka Garza, while veteran Nikola Vucevic recovers from a fractured ring finger suffered in a win over Dallas.
Vucevic underwent surgery and is set to be reevaluated in late March or early April (ET). Boston also has rookie center Amari Williams on its 15-man roster. The Bassey addition addresses a clear positional need in the short term and signals that the Celtics are willing to use 10-day contracts as stopgaps rather than long commitments.
That matters for the guard decision as well. With Bassey covering a frontcourt contingency, Boston still has to add at least one more player to comply with the 14-player standard-contract minimum by Mar. 14 (ET). The question isn’t whether another move is needed—it’s which direction it takes: another big for redundancy, a wing/guard for flexibility, or a familiar return.
In that mix, Max Shulga is framed as the easier move to forecast for a 10-day pact. Still, the Celtics’ approach to timing and tax precision means the team can wait until the latest practical moment, then choose the option that best matches its needs that day rather than locking in early.
What If Max Shulga becomes the simplest compliance move—and an evaluation window?
Max Shulga is explicitly positioned as the straightforward, predictable next step if Boston chooses a 10-day guard addition. The Celtics selected him 57th overall in the 2025 NBA Draft, and he has been playing for Maine. In 23 regular-season games with Maine, he is averaging 16. 4 points and hitting 39. 9 percent of 6. 4 three-point attempts per game. He is also producing 7. 1 assists, 4. 5 rebounds, and 1. 7 steals per contest.
Those numbers provide a clean rationale for a short-term call-up: a 10-day deal can function as both a compliance mechanism to meet the minimum roster requirement and a controlled evaluation window. It would mirror Boston’s recent pattern of converting and reconverting players between two-way, 10-day, and standard-contract arrangements to preserve flexibility.
At the same time, the Celtics have shown they may prefer experienced stopgaps when a need is acute—Bassey’s pending 10-day is a direct example tied to the Vucevic injury timeline. That suggests Boston’s decision tree is situational: use a veteran when the minutes are likely to matter immediately, and use internal development options when the goal is optionality and information.
What is clear from the roster math is that Boston’s next steps are not optional. With one 10-day signing planned for Bassey, the Celtics still need additional standard-contract coverage to reach 14, and the organization’s recent behavior indicates it will choose the most flexible path available at the last responsible moment. In that lane, max shulga remains a central name to watch.
