Warriors Sign Charles Bassey
1:33 pm: Bassey’s deal is official, per the Warriors (Twitter link).
8:10 am: The Warriors plan to sign Charles Bassey, reports Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (via Twitter).
The 53rd overall pick in the 2021 draft, Bassey spent his first four NBA seasons with the 76ers and Spurs, appearing in 113 games and averaging 4.3 points and 4.3 rebounds in 11.1 minutes per contest from 2021-25. However, despite a strong Summer League showing last July in Las Vegas, he was unable to secure a regular roster spot at the NBA level this season and has bounced around among several teams in between G League stints.
Bassey signed a 10-day hardship contract with the Grizzlies in October, inked a pair of 10-day deals with Philadelphia in January and February, and recently nearly three weeks with the Celtics on two more 10-day contracts. He became a free agent on Saturday when his second 10-day deal with Boston expired on Friday night.
A 6’10” center from Nigeria, Bassey has averaged 2.9 points and 2.6 rebounds in 6.6 minutes per game across eight appearances with Memphis, Philadelphia and Boston in 2025/26.
He had a much larger role in the G League, averaging 20.5 points, 12.5 rebounds and 2.2 blocks in 20 games (29.9 MPG), with a shooting slash line of .606/.426/.654. The majority of those appearances (17) came with the Warriors’ affiliate team in Santa Cruz.
Bassey will essentially replace Turkish big man Omer Yurtseven, whose second 10-day contract with Golden State expired on Friday night.
If Bassey’s deal is completed on Sunday, he would be eligible to appear in five games over the last eight days of the regular season. He’ll likely earn the veteran’s minimum due to the Warriors’ cap situation.
Checking In On Playoff Picture, Expired 10-Day Contracts
Although we already know which 20 teams will be taking part in the NBA’s postseason, only seven of those clubs have officially clinched playoff spots, assuring themselves of a top-six finish in their respective conferences. The Pistons, Celtics, and Knicks have booked their tickets in the East, while the Thunder, Spurs, Lakers, and Nuggets have done so in the West.
Two more teams could secure top-six playoff spots on Thursday. According to the NBA (Twitter link), the Cavaliers will clinch a playoff berth with a win tonight in Golden State, while the Rockets will be assured of a playoff appearance if the Suns lose in Charlotte.
Although the Timberwolves can’t clinch their own playoff spot with a win tonight, they hold a 4.5-game lead over Phoenix for the No. 6 spot in the West, where we’re getting pretty close to the playoff and play-in fields being set. Barring a late-season collapse, Minnesota and Houston will almost certainly join Oklahoma City, San Antonio, the Lakers, and Denver as top-six seeds, leaving the Suns, Clippers, Trail Blazers, and Warriors to battle it out in the play-in tournament. Those last three teams are already locked into the play-in, though seeding remains up for grabs.
The most compelling remaining playoff race figures to be for the final guaranteed playoff spot(s) in the East. The Cavs, who could’ve clinched with a win on Tuesday or a Philadelphia loss on Wednesday, will undoubtedly secure their spot sooner or later, but the fifth and sixth seeds in the conference are far from settled. The No. 5 Hawks (44-33) are separated from the No. 10 Heat (40-37) by just four games, with the Sixers (42-34), Raptors (42-34), Hornets (40-36), and Magic (40-36) also battling to finish in the top six — or at least to take part in the No. 7 vs. No. 8 play-in game, which would guarantee them two chances to make the playoffs.
While none of those Eastern teams is locked into the play-in yet, blowout home losses on Wednesday have made it increasingly difficult for Orlando and Miami to claw their way into the top six. Conversely, Atlanta strengthened its hold on the No. 5 seed with an impressive win over the Magic. The Hawks have now won 17 of their last 19 games.
In other housekeeping news, a total of four 10-day contracts expired overnight on Wednesday: Bez Mbeng (Jazz), DeJon Jarreau (Grizzlies), Tyler Burton (Grizzlies), and Markelle Fultz (Raptors).
Reporting has already indicated that the Jazz intend to re-sign Mbeng for the rest of the season, but that’s not an option for the Grizzlies with Jarreau or Burton unless they waive someone from their 15-man roster, since they were on hardship deals and aren’t eligible to sign another 10-day contract with Memphis. The Grizzlies remain eligible to re-add two players in those hardship slots, but barring more significant roster changes, they’ll likely have to bring in a pair of newcomers to replace Jarreau and Burton.
The Raptors, meanwhile, have the ability to re-sign Fultz, since they now have an open 15-man roster spot and the former No. 1 overall pick has only received a single 10-day deal with the team. He did appear in five games during his first 10 days with the club, but played very limited minutes and wasn’t all that effective (four total points on 2-of-11 shooting in 36 minutes).
The expectation is that the Raptors will sign someone else to replace Fultz, according to Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca, who identifies Raptors 905 sharpshooter Tyreke Key as a potential candidate for a 10-day deal. If Toronto signs Key or someone else to a 10-day contract on Thursday, it would expire next Saturday night, allowing the team to promote one of its two-way players to the standard roster ahead of the postseason next Sunday.
Since there are only 11 days left in the season, time is quickly running out for teams to sign players to standard 10-day contracts. Starting on Friday, a team with an open roster spot would simply be signing a player to a rest-of-season deal. However, hardship “10-day” signings are still permitted through the end of the season. They would expire after the regular season finale, making those players free agents immediately.
Several more 10-day contracts, including Omer Yurtseven‘s with the Warriors, Malachi Smith‘s with the Nets, and Charles Bassey‘s with the Celtics, will end this weekend. Boston will have to either re-sign Bassey or bring in a new 14th man on Saturday after the center’s second 10-day deal expires on Friday night, since the Celtics aren’t permitted to carry fewer than 14 players on standard contracts for a full day for the rest of the season.
Our 10-day tracker shows the full list of active deals.
Atlantic Notes: Sixers, Maxey, Celtics, Bassey
When the Sixers put together a big three of Joel Embiid, Paul George, and Tyrese Maxey, they had a vision that looked something like the team’s Saturday win over the Hornets, Tony Jones writes for The Athletic.
Embiid, George, and Maxey combined for 81 points, 26 rebounds, and nine three-pointers in the victory, with George submitting possibly his best game as a Sixer. Beyond the counting stats, Jones writes, it was evident how the skill sets of the three stars complement each other.
Most importantly, Jones notes, this was a rare example of the trio shining together in a high-stakes game. Philadelphia is battling for playoff positioning and this win gave the team the season tiebreaker over Charlotte, in addition to the tiebreakers it already held over Toronto and Orlando.
With the Sixers just a half-game behind the Hawks and Raptors for a top-six playoff spot, those edges could turn out to be massively important at season’s end.
We have more from around the Atlantic Division:
- Maxey was able to return to the Sixers quicker than anticipated from the tendon injury in his finger that was supposed to sideline him for at least three weeks, thanks in large part to his diligence in the rehab process, Gina Mizell writes for the Inquirer. “I’ve been working my tail off,” Maxey said. “And I want to be there for my team, so I was there.” As Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN adds, the team knew the importance of the game in terms of standings, which prompted Maxey to push himself to play his best ball despite the lengthy absence. “I let the game come to me at the beginning,” said Maxey. “Everybody was like, ‘Dude, all right. We know you just got back. Come on, let’s play.’ And I was like, ‘I got you.‘”
- Jaylen Brown is out for Sunday’s game against the Hornets on Sunday with left Achilles tendinitis, per the Celtics (via Twitter). Derrick White, who was listed as questionable with a right knee contusion, has also been downgraded to out (Twitter link). In their place, Jordan Walsh and Payton Pritchard will start alongside Sam Hauser, Jayson Tatum, and Neemias Queta, Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe notes (via Twitter).
- Charles Bassey, on his second 10-day contract, has only made two brief appearances for the Celtics entering Sunday’s game, but he already feels comfortable with the organization, Noa Dalzell writes for CelticsBlog. “When the coach says, ‘Okay, there’s optional stuff, but you don’t [have to] come in’, everybody still shows up,” Bassey said. “That just helps the team grow, and helps build connection with the team. Guys are just coming in ready to work every day, regardless if it’s optional — you got to show up. They’re always in the gym, they’re always in the practice facility, so they put in the work. Me coming in and seeing that, it’s fun.” Bassey observed that playing for Boston’s Summer League last July helped familiarize him with the teammates and coaching staff, which has allowed for a smoother transition than might otherwise have occurred.
Celtics Re-Sign Charles Bassey On 10-Day Contract
12:00 pm: Bassey’s new 10-day contract is now official, per NBA.com’s transaction log.
9:30 am: The Celtics intend to re-sign big man Charles Bassey to a second 10-day contract on Wednesday, reports Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe (Twitter link).
Bassey’s first 10-day deal expired overnight, dropping Boston’s roster count to 13 players on standard contracts. The team has already reached the 28-day limit this season for operating below 14 players, so a roster move was necessary to get back to that NBA-mandated minimum before Thursday, as we outlined earlier today.
The 53rd overall pick in the 2021 draft, Bassey spent his first four NBA seasons with the 76ers and Spurs, appearing in 113 games and averaging 4.3 points and 4.3 rebounds in 11.1 minutes per contest from 2021-25. However, despite a strong Summer League showing last July in Las Vegas, he was unable to secure a regular roster spot at the NBA level this season and has bounced around among several teams in between G League stints.
Bassey signed a 10-day hardship contract with the Grizzlies in October, inked a pair of 10-day deals with Philadelphia in January and February, and will now complete a second 10-day pact with the Celtics, providing the club with some frontcourt depth while center Nikola Vucevic recovers from a finger injury.
Bassey has appeared in just five total NBA games this season, including two during his first 10 days with the Celtics. The 25-year-old logged a total of four minutes of garbage time in games against Golden State last Wednesday and vs. Minnesota on Sunday. In 20 total regular season outings at the G League level with the Santa Cruz Warriors and Delaware Blue Coats, he has averaged 20.5 points, 12.5 rebounds and 2.1 blocks in 29.9 minutes per game, with a .606/.426/.654 shooting line.
Bassey’s new 10-day contract will run through April 3 and will carry a cap hit of $131,970, moving the Celtics to within $161,084 of the luxury tax line.
As of April 4, a rest-of-season minimum contract for a 14th man – whether that’s Bassey or someone else – will count for $118,773 against the cap, leaving Boston a little breathing room to sign a 15th man at the end of the season without becoming a taxpayer.
Roster Move Required For Celtics
The Celtics will need to make an addition to their 15-man roster on Wednesday following the expiration of Charles Bassey‘s 10-day contract overnight.
With Bassey no longer under contract, the Celtics are carrying just 13 players on standard deals. Teams aren’t permitted to have fewer than 14 players on standard contracts for more than 28 days during the season, and Boston has already reached that 28-day limit for 2025/26. The team had just 12 players on its 15-man roster from February 5-18 and again from March 1-14.
The Celtics have plotted out their post-trade-deadline roster moves carefully in order to ensure they keep their team salary below the luxury tax line. They currently have enough breathing room below that tax threshold to sign a 14th man to a rest-of-season, minimum-salary contract and then to add a 15th man (likely two-way player Ron Harper Jr.) on a minimum deal at the end of the regular season.
However, that doesn’t necessarily mean the Celtics will complete a rest-of-season signing today. Doing another 10-day deal would give them the flexibility to reassess their roster needs on April 4 and make a decision on a rest-of-season commitment at that time.
Boston’s roster move today could be as simple as bringing back Bassey on a second 10-day contract, though the big man – signed to provide frontcourt depth with Nikola Vucevic sidelined – didn’t see much action during his first 10 days with the club. He logged a total of four minutes of garbage time in games against Golden State last Wednesday and vs. Minnesota on Sunday.
Checking In On Celtics’ Cap Management
The Celtics completed a pair of signings on Sunday, adding center Charles Bassey on a 10-day deal and promoting Max Shulga from his two-way contract to the standard roster.
The moves get Boston back to the NBA-mandated minimum of 14 players on standard contracts. Teams are only permitted to carry fewer than 14 for up to 14 days at a time and up to 28 days over the course of the season. The Celtics had reached both of those limits, having carried 12 players since March 1 following a separate 14-day stretch with just 12 players in February.
The Celtics are carefully managing their cap situation in order to avoid going back into luxury tax territory after shedding significant salary ahead of the trade deadline in order to duck below the tax line. Since the deadline, Boston has made the following four signings, along with their accompanying cap hits:
- Dalano Banton (10-day contract): $131,970
- John Tonje (10-day contract): $73,153
- Max Shulga (two-year contract): $212,145
- Charles Bassey (10-day contract): $131,970
Total: $549,238
The Tonje and Shulga signings were the keys to the Celtics’ plan, since both players were 2025 second-round picks being promoted as draft-rights players from two-way contracts to their first standard deals. That means their rookie salaries weren’t subject to “tax variance” like a rookie free agent’s would have been.
Although the minimum salary for a rookie comes in well below that of a veteran, the NBA doesn’t want teams prioritizing rookie free agents over vets solely to reduce or avoid tax penalties. So if the Celtics had signed a rookie free agent in place of Tonje, that player would’ve earned the same salary on a 10-day deal ($73,153), but for tax and apron purposes, he would’ve counted as if he were a veteran ($131,970). The same goes for Shulga, another drafted rookie — signing a rookie free agent in his place would’ve cost the Celtics $382,712 for tax and apron purposes.
Having used their full allotment of 28 days below 14 players, the Celtics will have to remain at 14 for the rest of the season, which means that as soon as Bassey’s 10-day contract expires, they’ll need to either re-sign him or add a new 14th man. That will happen on March 25, with 19 days left in the season.
As of March 25, a rest-of-season contract for a veteran would carry a cap hit of $250,743. As Yossi Gozlan of CapSheets.com notes, Boston is currently $293,054 below the tax line, so the team will have enough breathing room to keep that 14th spot filled without going into the tax.
Whether the Celtics actually sign a player to a rest-of-season contract on March 25 or opt for another 10-day deal remains to be seen, but it wouldn’t be a surprise if they take the latter route. Going 10 days at a time results in the same daily cap hit as a full-season contract while giving Boston additional roster flexibility late in the season. Bassey is a logical 14th man for now, with center Nikola Vucevic sidelined due to a finger injury, but if Vucevic looks ready to return late in the season, the Celtics may prefer to use that 14th roster spot on a guard or forward.
Meanwhile, another Celtics two-way player, Ron Harper Jr., is a candidate for a late-season promotion, but there’s no rush to get him converted to a standard contract right away. On his two-way contract, Harper can be active for up to 50 games and he’s only at 32 so far — with just 15 regular season games left on Boston’s schedule, he won’t reach that limit even if he plays in all of the team’s remaining contests.
With all that in mind, here are the likely roster moves for the Celtics from here on out:
- Re-sign Bassey or bring in a new player on another 10-day contract on March 25, when Bassey’s first 10-day deal expires.
- Sign Bassey or another player to a rest-of-season contract on April 4, when that second 10-day deal expires.
- Promote Harper into the empty 15th roster spot on one of the last days of the regular season in order to ensure he’s eligible to play in the postseason.
The Celtics won’t be able to back-fill Shulga’s or Harper’s two-way slots in this scenario, so they’d finish the season with just 16 players under contract instead of 18. But their 15-man standard roster would be full for the postseason and they would’ve done it without becoming a taxpayer. That represents their first step toward resetting their repeater clock after having spent the past three seasons paying luxury tax penalties.
Celtics Sign Charles Bassey To 10-Day Contract
March 15: Bassey has officially signed his 10-day contract with the Celtics, according to the team (Twitter link).
March 14: The Celtics intend to sign free agent center Charles Bassey to a 10-day contract, league sources tell Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link).
This will be the fourth 10-day contract Bassey has signed in 2025/26. The five-year veteran spent 10 days with Memphis on a hardship deal early in the season and completed a pair of 10-day agreements with Philadelphia in late January and early February.
Aside from his three appearances with Memphis and Philadelphia this season, Bassey has spent most of 2025/26 in the G League. In 20 total regular season games (17 with the Santa Cruz Warriors and three with the Delaware Blue Coats), he has averaged 20.5 points, 12.5 rebounds and 2.2 blocks on .606/.426/.654 shooting in 29.9 MPG.
Bassey was selected by Philadelphia with the 53rd pick in the 2021 draft. He was waived after one year with the Sixers and signed with San Antonio, where he played for the past three seasons.
Injuries were an issue for Bassey during his time with the Spurs — his 2022/23 season was cut short due to a non-displaced patella fracture, then he suffered a season-ending ACL tear in December 2023. The 25-year-old appeared in 36 games in 2024/25, averaging 4.4 points and 4.2 rebounds in 10.4 minutes per night.
The 6’10” big man was a standout with the Celtics during Summer League play this July, averaging 15.3 points and 11.0 rebounds per contest in Las Vegas while shooting 70.4% from the field across three outings.
The Celtics had only been carrying 12 players on their standard roster the past two weeks in order to execute an intricate plan to move below the luxury tax line. They’ll need to sign another player in addition to Bassey, notes Yossi Gozlan of The Third Apron (Twitter link).
Bassey will earn $153,330 over the course of his 10 days with Boston, which will carry a cap hit of $131,970.
Sixers Hope To Be Active On Buyout Market
The Sixers are in position to add two players on the buyout market, with Chris Boucher, Lonzo Ball and Haywood Highsmith among the potential targets, writes Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer (subscription required). Pompey cites Khris Middleton as another possibility if he agrees to a buyout with the Mavericks.
Philadelphia currently has two players holding 10-day contracts, with Charles Bassey on his second and Patrick Baldwin Jr. on his first. Both will expire during All-Star weekend, giving the team two open roster spots.
In addition, Paul George has already served five games of his 25-game suspension for taking a banned substance, so he can be moved to the suspended list, allowing the Sixers to add another player until he returns in late March.
However, finances will factor into the decisions. Philadelphia is currently $1.57MM below the tax line and $3.75MM away from the first apron. The team can add two rest-of-season minimum-salary contracts without moving into tax territory, according to Pompey.
Boucher and Ball were both traded to Utah on Thursday and waived by the end of the day. Boucher, a 33-year-old big man, appeared in just nine games with Boston before being dealt. He spent five seasons playing for Sixers head coach Nick Nurse in Toronto.
Ball, a 28-year-old guard, played 35 games for Cleveland this season, mostly in a reserve role. Pompey notes that he could provide backcourt depth after Jared McCain and Eric Gordon were both traded last week.
Highsmith, a 29-year-old forward, was waived by Brooklyn to open up a roster spot for a three-team deal. He hasn’t played yet this season after undergoing surgery on a torn meniscus in August, but he’s nearing a recovery and is attracting interest from several playoff teams. Pompey points out that Highsmith began his career as a two-way player with the Sixers in 2019.
Middleton, who was sent from Washington to Dallas in the Anthony Davis trade, is the biggest name on the list. There’s been speculation that the 34-year-old swingman may become available, but there have been no reported buyout talks and he plans to make his Mavericks debut Tuesday night.
The Sixers could fill one of their open spots by promoting forward Jabari Walker to a standard contract, Pompey adds. Walker reached his 50-game limit on a two-way contract last week and has been inactive for the team’s last two contests.
“He’s been a tremendous next man up type contributor,” president of basketball operations Daryl Morey said of Walker. “We hope to have his services going forward, but we do have to weigh optimal use of our sort of scarce two roster spots, and against the other opportunities as well. So that’ll be written over time, whether or not we do that conversion there.”
Sixers Sign Charles Bassey To Another 10-Day Deal
The Sixers have signed Charles Bassey to another 10-day contract, according to the NBA transactions log.
Bassey signed his first 10-day contract. Bassey, who was originally drafted in the second round by the Sixers in 2021, has yet to appear in a game with Philadelphia this season.
Bassey, a 25-year-old center, was averaging 19 points and 11 rebounds per game with Santa Cruz in the G League. Following an outstanding Summer League performance with Boston, he signed an Exhibit 10 deal with Atlanta in September. The Hawks waived Bassey prior to the start of the season, and he inked a 10-day hardship contract with Memphis in late October. He appeared in two games during that time, but was let go when the contract expired.
Bassey provides some temporary frontcourt depth on Philadelphia’s roster, which is in a state of flux.
Sixers Sign Charles Bassey To 10-Day Contract
JANUARY 26: Bassey’s signing is official, the Sixers announced (via Twitter).
JANUARY 24: Charles Bassey will sign a 10-day contract with the Sixers, sources tell Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).
The move will give Philadelphia 15 players on standard contracts and will enable the team to continue using two-way players Dominick Barlow and Jabari Walker. Both were on the active roster for Saturday’s game against New York, bringing the Sixers to their 90-game “under-15” limit for the season.
Although a player on a two-way contract can be active for up to 50 regular season games, teams can’t use their two-way players for more than 90 combined games if they’re carrying fewer than 15 players on standard contracts.
If Bassey signs on Monday, Barlow and Walker can continue playing on two-way deals through February 4, which takes them to the eve of the trade deadline. In that scenario, Bassey’s 10-day contract would cover the team’s next six games.
Sources tell Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter link) that the Sixers are trying to get Bassey to Charlotte so he can sign his contract before Monday night’s game. A massive storm that’s covering much of the United States is complicating travel plans.
Bassey, a 25-year-old center, is averaging 19 points and 11 rebounds per game with Santa Cruz in the G League. Following an outstanding Summer League performance with Boston, he signed an Exhibit 10 deal with Atlanta in September. The Hawks waived Bassey prior to the start of the season, and he inked a 10-day hardship contract with Memphis in late October. He appeared in two games during that time, but was let go when the contract expired.
This will be Bassey’s second stint with the Sixers, who selected him with the 53rd pick in the 2021 draft. He was released after playing 23 games as a rookie and spent the next three seasons in San Antonio.