2:52 pm: Banton has officially signed a 10-day contract with the Celtics, the team announced today in a press release. Tonje has also inked a 10-day deal, as we outlined in a separate story.
8:52 am: The Celtics, who must make two additions to their 15-man roster on Thursday, will fill one of their openings by signing free agent guard Dalano Banton to a 10-day contract, reports Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link).
Banton, 26, was a second-round pick in 2021 and has since appeared in 218 regular season games for the Raptors, Celtics, Trail Blazers, and Clippers. He was a rotation regular last season in Portland, where he averaged 8.3 points, 2.4 assists, and 2.0 rebounds in 16.7 minutes per game across 67 outings (seven starts).
However, Banton was unable to land a spot on a regular season roster last fall and has spent most of 2025/26 playing for the Texas Legends, the Mavericks’ G League affiliate. He just recently caught on with the Clippers, but his 10-day deal with L.A. expired earlier this week, freeing him up to return to Boston, where he played for a half-season in ’23/24.
The Celtics have been carrying 12 players on their standard roster since making a series of trades at the February 5 deadline. Teams are permitted to dip below the usual minimum of 14 players on standard contracts, but only for up to two weeks at a time (and 28 total days during a season), so Boston must get back to the 14-man minimum today.
The margins for the Celtics to remain below the luxury tax line for the rest of the season are razor-thin, so the expectation is that the team will sign a pair of players to 10-day deals on Thursday, then spend another 14 days at 12 players once those contracts expire.
Two-way rookies Max Shulga and John Tonje are expected to be part of the club’s plan sooner or later, since their rookie-minimum deals would be more team-friendly for tax/apron purposes than a veteran’s minimum deal.
Ayy im good with this move. I was hoping for Sochan but I’ll take it
John Collins would have been a better trade than Nikola
Only Shulga can sign a “cheaper” minimum deal because they drafted him in the second round. Tonje would cost more making Shulga a lot more likely. Celtics best add is likley to come in the final few days of the season when signing a vet doesn’t cost a lot more about 13,500 a day. C,s signed Tonje to a ten day today. If they add another 2 way then Tonje is a goner in ten days.
Tonje can also sign that “cheaper” minimum deal because he was drafted in the second round too and hadn’t signed a standard NBA contract until today. He won’t get a full-season deal (I agree he’ll likely be a goner in 10 days), but being able to sign him instead of a veteran on that 10-day will save the Celtics about $59K, which will help them stay out of the tax at the end of the season.
Well this immediately fills the spot they lost getting rid of Minott