According to Noa Dalzell of SB Nation’s Celtics Blog, Charles Bassey wants to remain in the NBA despite drawing interest from overseas. Dalzell said that Bassey, coming off a strong 2025 Las Vegas summer league performance, wants to sign with the Celtics.
“They go to the playoffs every year,” Bassey said in Las Vegas. “So, obviously, just learning from those guys, it’s great for me. I went to the playoffs one time. But it’s been good, man… I’m just going to learn a lot from those guys.”
Free Agent Rumors: Charles Bassey, Shabazz Napier, Carsen Edwards, and Onrulup Bitim
Bassey was very efficient in these three games in Vegas as he impacted each game on both ends of the floor. The 6-10 big posted an incredible 1.7 points per shot as he averaged 15.3 points, on 70.4% shooting from the floor and 1.000% shooting from the charity stripe (8-8). He nearly registered a double-double in all three games and finished with 11.0 boards and 2.0 blocks per contest.
Prior to joining Boston’s summer league squad, Bassey appeared in 113 career games, with most occurring with the San Antonio Spurs over the last three seasons. He saw limited action this past season with the Spurs, averaging 10 minutes over 36 contests.
Will The Boston Celtics Sign Charles Bassey?
While Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens has praised Bassey by noting he’s been on the team’s ‘radar’ for some time now, as Justin Quinn of Celtics Wire pointed out, it doesn’t look like a deal is anywhere close to being done. The Celtics do have an open spot on the 15-man roster, but the Cs are likely to enter the season with 14 players on standard deals as they are $1.9 million from being hard-capped.
“For now, expect the Celtics to leave that spot open. They may fill it in-season, when a prorated deal will fit in under the second apron,” Brian Rabb of MassLive said. “Boston may also consider further moves to shed salary, as they are currently $9.9 million above the first apron and $17.9 million above the luxury tax.”
Bostom could use some frontcourt depth. The Celtics don’t really have a true starting center with Kristaps Porzingis in Atlanta and Luke Kornet with the Spurs. Thus leaving Xavier Tillman Sr., Neemais Queta, Luka Garza, and Georges Niang to anchor the four and five spots. Two of the Celtics on minor league contracts, Miles Norris and reportedly Amari Williams, are frontcourt players.
Here is the thing: Bassey has been more of a practice player or deep bench guy throughout his career. His summer league production has indeed not translated to the NBA, at least yet. However, he is still 24 and has been hampered by injuries.
The Celtics have also been linked to other free agents, Ben Simmons and Kenneth Lofton Jr.
Bassey
Three Former NBA Players Won’t Return To Bayern Munich
Former first-round pick Shabazz Napier headed back to the NBA?
According to Dario Skerletic of Sportando, Napier will once again hit the open market after declining his player option. Napier is coming off a solid season with German club Bayern Munich, where he was named the 2025 Bundesliga Finals MVP.’
“After an unforgettable 2025 BBL Finals MVP season with Bayern Munich, Shabazz Napier officially enters free agency,” Napier’s agency BDAI tweeted on July 29. “Deeply grateful to the incredible fans & organization for their unwavering support, Napier led Bayern to a EuroLeague Top 8 & BBL title.”
Bayern Munich has become a powerhouse in the German BBL and a regular EuroLeague contender. Bayern posted a 55-28 record this past season. They claimed the BBL regular season title and then defeated Ratiopharm Ulm in a best-of-five series (3-2) to claim their second straight domestic title. Additionally, Bayern posted its first winning record in Euroleague (19-15) since 2020-21, though they fell to Paris Basketball in the final play-in game, failing to make the league’s playoffs for the third straight year.
Napier served as Bayern’s reserve point guard behind former NBA second-round pick Carsen Edwards. The 6-1 guard averaged 10.0 points, 2.9 assists, 2.2 rebounds, and 1.2 steals in 2o minutes a contest. He made 1.7 threes a game while shooting 44.1/39/91.
Napier, who played well in the Euroleague, stepped up his production in the BBL Finals. He scored 74 points, including 15 in Game 5, as he scored in double-figures in each contest while also making 10 of 29 attempts from beyond the arc.
Will Shabazz Napier Return To The NBA?
Napier was selected with the No. 24 pick in 2014 by the Charlotte Hornets, though he moved to the Miami Heat in a draft-day trade. He spent six seasons in the NBA, though he has been out of the league since 2019-20. The 34-year-old did appear in 19 G-League games with Mexico City Capitanes during the 2022-23 campaign, where he averaged 17.3 points and 4.6 assists with shooting splits of 44.1/39.1/83.9.
While Napier has shown improvement as a shooter and has proven he is a NBA-caliber player, he would only possibly a training camp deal. Defense and ball-handling are concerns as he posted a below 2-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio over the past two seasons. So, he is expected to garner interest from European teams looking to bolster their backcourt.
Carsen Edwards and Onuralp Bitim
Napier is not the only former NBA player who won’t be returning to Bayern Munich. According to BasketNews, Edwards and Onuralp Bitim are the others who won’t return to Munich.
Like Napier, Edwards declined his player option with Bayern. The 2019 NBA second-round pick has appeared in 72 career NBA games, though he has played overseas the past three seasons.
Edwards had an excellent campaign in 2024-25. The 2024 German Finals MVP was an all-Euroleague first team selection this past season. Overall, he averaged 18.6 points, 2.8 assists, and 1.0 steals with shooting splits of 43.5/35.2/91.8 in 60 games. He topped the 30-point mark six times this past season.
Edwards is a scoring lead guard who has shown that he has the chops to put the ball in the basket in the Association. But he is slight in stature at 5-11 and is not a great shooter, ballhandler, or playmaker. So, expect the 27-year-old to remain in Europe.
Bitim returned to Europe after appearing in 23 games for Chicago in 2023-24. The 26-year-old didn’t sign with Bayern until this past November and appeared in just 31 contests. He wasn’t part of Munich’s regular rotation this past season and only appeared in three BBL playoff games. Expect him to remain in Europe.
Photo Credit: © Scott Wachter, Imagn Images
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