The Boston Celtics have finished their NBA Summer League with a loss to the Orlando Magic. It was former Badger John Tonje's last guaranteed game for the Celtics, as he was playing on a summer league contract. He knew he needed to go out with one final bang, and he did just that. He stuffed the box score with stats in basically every single category. Finishing with 14 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, and 1 block.
He did this in just 19 minutes of action as the Celtics were committed to playing everyone on the bench. And he even added a nice highlight reel dunk to the mix off an assist from Tucker DeVries. Watch that below:
Oh My Tonje 🤯 pic.twitter.com/fbNhf1Qyel
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) July 18, 2026
John Tonje forced the Boston Celtics to make a roster decision after his stellar NBA Summer League
Related: The NBA chances for each Wisconsin Summer League player after a week in Vegas
Tonje was impressive in four of the five games. The only dud game he had was when the Celtics played back-to-back, and the whole team was flat in that one. Tonje impressed the Celtics so much that the NBA Summer League head coach and regular-season assistant coach Amile Jefferson gave a strong statement about his future. Jefferson called him a leader, and someone he could trust, and that he's "absolutely an NBA player."
You can tell Jefferson trusted Tonje as the former Badger had the second-highest minute total in the five games at 120 (second only to Milos Uzan at 130). Tonje also led the team in total scoring at 74 points and 14.8 per game. He was also second on the Summer League team in steals.
Tonje is forcing the Celtics to make a tough decision. Boston has one more regular roster spot left, and it appears that may go to Dillon Mitchell, the second-round pick of the Celtics. Mitchell didn't play today, and the reason was "rest," a decent sign for Mitchell to be the last addition to the roster.
Though Tonje made them think about giving it to him. Even if Tonje doesn't get the final spot, the Celtics still have multiple two-way contracts available. There would be no reason for Tonje not to get it at this point, especially considering how Jefferson views the guard.
The other option, and this is important for Tonje, since the Celtics only signed Tonje to a Summer League contract, there's no reason Tonje even has to wait for Boston to make a decision. His agent can start shopping him around right now. Tonje can jump to any of the other open spots out there, and he's truly one of the true free agents in the Summer League that actually showed off. There will be interest from other teams, and Tonje can use that as leverage.
This is all good news for Tonje. While other former Badgers are thinking about pivoting to another option (overseas), Tonje is assuredly going to have another year in the NBA, hopefully on a regular contract, but at least in the G-League or a two-way.
Add us as a preferred source on Google