When the Celtics convened for training camp in late September, Ron Harper Jr. wasn’t even on the official roster.
Six months later, he’s now a real contributor for one of the NBA’s best teams.
Harper won a two-way contract out of camp, starred in the G League for the first half of the season and since early February has seen consistent playing time for Boston. He’s not a rotation lock when the Celtics are fully healthy, but entering Saturday’s matchup with the Washington Wizards, he’d logged minutes in 13 of the team’s last 16 games, including the first two starts of his NBA career.
The 6-foot-6 wing was an impact player in this week’s road losses to San Antonio and Oklahoma City, helping the Celtics remain competitive in both despite missing three members of their rotation. Harper scored a career-high 22 points Tuesday night against the Spurs — while playing against his younger brother, Dylan, the No. 2 overall pick in last year’s draft — and was a team-best plus-15 in Boston’s 104-102 loss to the Thunder on Thursday.
Harper also turned heads with his defense on Kevin Durant in the Celtics’ blowout win over the Houston Rockets on Feb. 4. Two days after that game, Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens called him “a stud” and “one of the best players in the G League.
Asked when it became clear that Harper was a player who could help the parent club this season, head coach Joe Mazzulla replied: “Really just throughout the entire season.”
“One, you trust our staff and our development team, and two, you trust the front office when they bring in guys that have a competitive character, who want to win,” Mazzulla said before Saturday’s game at TD Garden. “And you just watch the guys work. Ron has worked, and the way he plays in game against San Antonio or OKC is the way he plays in a stay-ready game. It’s the way he plays in G League games. It’s the way he plays in practice.”
Harper’s recent emergence has added another horse to the Celtics’ stable of young, high-energy wings. They now have eight legitimate options in that position group: starters Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Sam Hauser, and reserves Baylor Scheierman, Hugo Gonzalez, Jordan Walsh and Harper.
“(Harper) cares about winning, cares about competing,” Mazzulla said. “He executes the details very well in all settings, so his ability to think the game and compete is top-notch. He’s getting better and better.”
Bassey to sign 10-day
One of the stars of the Celtics’ Summer League squad is getting an opportunity with the big club.
Boston plans to sign veteran big man Charles Bassey to a 10-day contract, according to a report Saturday from HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto.
Bassey, 25, averaged 15.3 points, 11.0 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game on 70.4% shooting over three Summer League appearances for Boston last July. Since then, he’s bounced between four different NBA organizations, appearing in two games for Memphis and one for Philadelphia, plus stints with the 76ers’ and Golden State Warriors’ G League squads.
Most of the 6-foot-10 Bassey’s NBA experience to date came during his three seasons with the Spurs, for whom he appeared in 90 games with three starts between 2022 and 2025. He’s averaged 4.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and 0.9 blocks per game across 116 career appearances, shooting 62.6% with minimal 3-point volume (3-for-13).
Adding Bassey fills one of the Celtics roster spots that had been vacant since Dalano Banton’s and John Tonje’s 10-day contracts expired on March 1. He’ll provide frontcourt insurance behind starting center Neemias Queta and backup Luka Garza while veteran Nikola Vucevic recovers from the fractured ring finger he suffered in last Friday’s win over Dallas.
Vucevic underwent surgery and will be reevaluated in late March or early April, according to the team. The Celtics also have rookie center Amari Williams on their 15-man roster.
Boston, which sits just under the NBA’s luxury tax line, has leaned on familiar faces to patch together the back end of its roster. Banton previously played for the Celtics in 2023-24, and Tonje was on a two-way contract with Boston when he signed his 10-day (then re-signed on another two-way after that deal expired).
Brown: Blame Wiz for Bam’s 83
Four days before their visit to Causeway Street, the Wizards were on the wrong end of one of the best scoring performances in NBA history, surrendering an astonishing 83 points to Miami Heat big man Bam Adebayo. Only Wilt Chamberlain (100 in 1962) has scored more in a single game.
Adebayo and the Heat have faced criticism for how “unethical” his monster night was — he attempted a league-record 43 free throws in the game, and Miami intentionally fouled late to give Adebayo more possessions — but Brown said those gripes should be directed at the opponent.
“Shoutout to Bam, man,” Brown said this week on a Twitch stream. “No criticism whatsoever. I thought he came in and did exactly what he was supposed to do. That’s on them. … If anybody deserves the criticism, it’s the Washington Wizards.”
Unsurprisingly, Washington head coach Brian Keefe wasn’t interested in revisiting the Adebayo game before Saturday’s contest.
“Like I talked about in Orlando (on Thursday) night, we’re playing Boston tonight,” Keefe said. “We’re focused on Boston. We’re always on to the next thing. That’s something we talk about anyways. This is a great team, so my whole focus is on preparing our team for Boston tonight.”
The Wizards entered Saturday with a 16-49 record and a 10-game losing streak.
Off the rim
Vucevic was the only Celtic unavailable for Saturday’s game. Jayson Tatum and Derrick White both returned after sitting out Thursday’s loss in OKC. Baylor Scheierman, who sprained his ankle against the Thunder, was upgraded from probable to available before tipoff.