Chris Cenac Jr. doesn’t sound interested in easing into anything.
On the eve of his Summer League debut in Las Vegas, the Celtics’ first-round pick said Boston’s message to him has been straightforward: keep it simple, trust his game and let the action come to him. That’s exactly the approach the 19-year-old plans to bring Friday night at Cox Pavilion when he takes the floor as an NBA player for the first time.
"Just go hoop; play my game. Don't try to do too much," shared Cenac after Friday's shootaround. "Just let the game come [to me]."
For Cenac, the debut carries the buzz of a lifelong dream, but also the edge of a player who feels he slipped farther than he should have in the draft. The Celtics selected the former Houston Cougar with the 27th overall pick, and that slide is clearly still sitting with him.
"I feel like I was one of the sleepers in the draft," he told Joseph Duarte of the Houston Chronicle after finally hearing his name called and getting to make the walk from the green room to the podium. "In four or five years, I can't wait until people are making those re-drafts and saying I was a sleeper and I should've been drafted way higher."
That chip is only part of what Boston is getting. Cenac arrived in college as a consensus five-star recruit ranked No. 7 in his class, then chose to challenge himself in Kelvin Sampson’s demanding program. The bet on himself is the through line here, and it’s the same reason the Celtics are investing in him now.
What he wants to show in Summer League goes well beyond a highlight reel. At 6-foot-11, he can move, run the floor and bring athletic pop, but he also wants to put his rim protection, perimeter shooting and passing on display. He said he wants to show the full package.
After taking part in the Celtics Shamrock Foundation's 'First Assist' community event a day after arriving in Boston, Cenac was asked what he hoped to exhibit in Las Vegas. His answer was as direct as the rest of his week.
"Everything."
He added, "Just be aggressive, play hard, show everything that I'm capable of doing."
Friday night against the Toronto Raptors, Celtics fans will get their first look at that in Boston green.
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Thomas, who spent time at Kilgore College before moving on to Cincinnati, steadily sharpened his game there and became a much more dangerous threat from deep. For a Celtics roster that always values guards who can stay in front of people and space the floor, this is the kind of summer-league audition worth tracking closely. [Read more 🡒]
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The Celtics summer league opener offered the kind of early glimpse fans are always hunting for, and rookie Chris Cenac Jr. delivered plenty to unpack in Bostons overtime win over Toronto. In his debut, Cenac put together a double-double with 14 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks, giving the Celtics a frontcourt presence that showed up on both ends and helped steady a game that needed late composure.
Dillon Mitchell also flashed his value with activity on defense and in transition, while Hugo Gonzalez, Amari Williams and John Tonje each had moments that suggested this roster has more than one player worth tracking. For a first summer outing, Boston got the bigger-picture result it wanted, but the more interesting part is how quickly Cenac is making it feel like the Celtics may have found a rookie who can matter in more ways than one. [Read more 🡒]
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Paul George and draft picks came back in the trade, giving Boston a different kind of flexibility and a chance to spread its resources across more than one star path. Browns value was never the issue so much as the price of keeping him long term, and for a team trying to stay deep, adaptable and competitive, that was the line the Celtics finally chose to draw. [Read more 🡒]