Chris Cenac Jr. is heading down to the G League, and the Boston Celtics are making the move with development in mind.
On Thursday, Boston announced that it has assigned Cenac to the Maine Celtics. The first-round pick has already seen a little NBA action this season, appearing in three of Boston’s first eight games, but his role has been limited by the depth chart in front of him.
Cenac sits behind Neemias Queta, Mitchell Robinson and Luka Garza in the Celtics’ rotation, which has kept his minutes hard to come by. The 19-year-old remains a promising long-term piece, but he is still very much a work in progress. As a freshman at Houston, he averaged 9.5 points, 7.9 rebounds and 0.5 blocks per game while shooting 48.5 percent from the field and 33.3 percent from 3-point range.
That rawness, especially on the offensive end, is part of why some people saw the No. 27 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft as a reach. Now, the Celtics are giving him a chance to slow things down, get regular run and stack meaningful game reps in Maine.
“He just has to be who he is,” Maine head coach Phil Pressey said. “He’s a versatile big man.
He can shoot a little bit. He’s pretty athletic.
Defensively, he can protect the rim.”
Cenac is expected to make his G League debut against the Westchester Knicks on Friday. The length of the assignment remains unclear, though Boston can bring him back whenever it wants. Players with fewer than three years of service can be assigned to the G League an unlimited number of times.
Boston had actually assigned Cenac to Maine on Wednesday before recalling him ahead of the game against the Milwaukee Bucks.
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