Celtics Stock Up/Stock Down: Rookies Impress In Summer League Win Over Hornets

The Celtics have won both their summer league games, and the rookies continue to show a few things, but it wasn't all great for Boston

Dillon Mitchell on the floor vs. the Charlotte Hornets at Las Vegas Summer League on July 12, 2026 | John Karalis

Las Vegas — The Boston Celtics ran away from the Charlotte Hornets in their second Las Vegas Summer League game, winning 87-75. They got off to another slow start, but their defense kicked in and held the Hornets under 20 points in each of the final three quarters.

Box Score

Here’s a look at whose stock is up and down after two games. 

Stock Up

Dillon Mitchell: 24 points (10-20 fg, 2-5 3pt), 8 rebounds (7 offensive), 2 assists, 6 steals, 2 blocks, +13

The defensive stuff is what we expect from him, and frankly, a lot of this production can be attributed to the sloppy nature of summer league. He’s supposed to get steals, and there are generally plenty of offensive rebounds to be had. At the same time, he played with the kind of energy to maximize all of that. 

Dillon Mitchell with the steal and two handed slam pic.twitter.com/Ot4i0TQhe0

— Danielle Hobeika (@DanielleHobeika) July 12, 2026

The three-point shooting is going to be the thing to watch with him. He has a bit of a sling shot to his form, which can make it a little tricky to dial in the power on shots. He also noted his work with Celtics assistant coach and Director of Player Development Craig Luschenat, and trying to shoot shots on the way up, rather than hang too long and lose some of the power he’s generating. 

“[We’re] just working on the jump shot and being confident in it,” Mitchell said after the game. “Kalkbrenner was guarding me, and he was just playing off. So they're looking at me every time, like, bro, shoot the ball.” 

If he can figure out his jumper, then he could end up as one of the steals of the draft. For now, the Celtics can count on him to be a high-energy guy who can play great defense. That will, at least, be something to unleash on guys in practice. 

John Tonje: 17 points (6-10 fg, 3-4 3pt), 5 rebounds, 1 steal, +14

The man can shoot, that's for sure. I’m not going to overreact to that, though, because the Golden Rule of Summer League tells us that hot summer shooting doesn’t mean a whole lot (right, Carsen Edwards?). But like Mitchell, I’d rather see a player do the things he does well than not. 

He did do some of the other stuff as well, attacking the rim, defending well, and getting in for a few rebounds. 

Chris Cenac Jr.: 2 points (1-7 fg, 0-2 3pt), 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block, +9 

The stats certainly aren’t why his stock is up, but the tough shooting isn’t going to hide that I liked the decisions he was making on the floor. I thought he played well for the most part, and I was really impressed by this stretch where he blocked a shot, ran a handoff, got it back, and fired it to the corner for a three pointer.

INSTANT impact by Celtics rookie Chris Cenac

Impressive block on Kalkbrenner going up for the dunk and an AMAZING pass to Hugo for a corner 3 after catching it on the roll

This guy has so much potential pic.twitter.com/cTc0B9tOZp

— NikNBA🏀 (@NIKNBAYT) July 12, 2026

That's just beautiful basketball. 

Cenac has the building blocks you’re looking for in a player at the end of the first round. He’s like a house with good bones that needs work. It will take a little time, and you have to be careful to get the work done correctly, but it’s easy to see the vision. 

He needs to work on his dribbling and shooting, both things that player development can fix.

“As long as he's competing and playing hard and protecting the rim, we can fix everything else,” head coach Amile Jefferson said after Cenac Jr.’s first game on Friday. “I'm really proud of … how he's attacked training camp for us, willing to do any and everything, and treating every rep like it's the last one.”

Milos Uzan: 13 points (5-11 fg, 3-6 3pt), 4 rebounds, 6 assists, +24

He’s on an exhibit 10 contract, but he’s working his way into the two-way conversation. The Celtics have two open two-way spots (Amari Williams is already signed), and three players in contention in Uzan, Mitchell, and Tonje. 

Uzan did a nice job running the show and playing with confidence.

Milos cookin' 👨‍🍳 pic.twitter.com/2NMi44giw2

— Boston Celtics (@celtics) July 12, 2026

I doubt he’ll sneak in and steal one of the two-way spots, but he could be a camp cut-and-stash in Maine. He has some potential. 

Stock Down

Amari Williams: 6 points (2-5 fg), 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 blocks, 5 turnovers, +6

I feel like it’s all or nothing with Williams sometimes. The four blocks were great to see, but he seemed tentative for most of the game. I don’t know if it was the Kalkbrenner matchup, but it was a disappointing afternoon for Williams after a good opener. 

He turns 25 this season, which puts him in a bit of an unfair spot. He needs more time to develop, but at his age, I’m not sure how much more time the team can put into him when he has so far to go. Of course, the same could have been said of Neemias Queta a few years ago, and he found his way. 

When he’s got it going, he can show exactly why he’s worth the investment. But there's too much of a gap between that and when he’s not playing well for me to be comfortable projecting him as a rotation player in the NBA right now.

Unchanged

Hugo Gonzalez: 14 points (3-10 fg, 3-9 3pt), 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals, 1 block, 5 turnovers, +17

More tough shooting, which kind of stinks to see. Maybe he’s still jet lagged after playing in Spain, which is nine hours ahead of Las Vegas. Maybe he’s still just struggling with his shot. It’s something that needs to be fixed, without a doubt, but he still played pretty well. 

He’s growing as a playmaker, and he did a little bit of everything, even if the turnovers were a little high. That's not surprising in this setting.