The Boston Celtics have signed rookie Dillon Mitchell to a two-way contract, according to the team. The signing ended a saga in which there was a real possibility that Mitchell could decide to return to St. John's for a fifth year of college basketball.
Mitchell was awaiting an NCAA ruling on his eligibility, and, according to college basketball reporter Adam Zagoria, St. John's was willing to keep a spot open for him. He could have made a lot more money in college than in his first year in the NBA.
Tounde Yessoufou, who transferred from Baylor to St. John's this summer, reportedly signed an NIL deal worth around $6 million. Meanwhile, Mitchell's new two-way contract with the Celtics is worth just $678,882. Had Mitchell made around the same amount as Yessoufou, he could be making almost 10x the money he is now.
The NCAA's new rules state that players have five years of eligibility. It's that simple. You can play college sports for up to five years after you graduate high school, and after that, your eligibility is cut off. For overseas players, the clock for that window begins the year after your 19th birthday (or immediately after college enrollment).
By those rules, Mitchell would be allowed to re-join the Red Storm for his final season of college ball. He spent two seasons at Texas, one at Cincinnati, and one at St. John's before declaring for the 2026 NBA Draft.
Had Mitchell returned to college, the Celtics could have lost their rights to him. As Bobby Manning of CLNS Media noted, they would have been able to tender a qualifying offer, but he could have declined it and returned to St. John's anyway. Boston would have retained his rights up until the 2027 NBA Draft, which Mitchell could have entered.
However, the NCAA recently sent out a memo regarding its eligibility rules. Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports posted it to social media. It clarified that players who departed from college to pursue professional opportunities would not be allowed to return to the NCAA. That would include Mitchell.
Returning to college would have made sense for Mitchell. He could have made significantly more money next season, and if he played well, he could have been a first-round pick in 2027. That would have earned him more guaranteed money.
Instead, he'll spend next year with the Celtics, likely with plenty of time logged in Maine. But based on his performance at Summer League in Vegas this summer, the Celtics should be thrilled to be able to keep him in-house.
Mitchell may have been Boston's biggest riser in Vegas. Not only did he show flashes of a 3-point shot -- a skill he did not show in his final year at St. John's -- but he also dominated in all the areas most analysts expected him to.
His rebounding was top-notch, he had a knack for steals, and his defense proved to be what everyone expected. Mitchell has all the tools to contribute at the NBA level right away, but he has some serious competition in front of him.
Boston's wing/forward rotation is stacked with young talent. Hugo Gonzalez, Baylor Scheierman, Jordan Walsh, and Ron Harper Jr. will all be competing for minutes next season. And they'll already be behind Jayson Tatum and Paul George (and maybe even Sam Hauser, at times).
Still, at 6-foot-8, Mitchell's physical tools may already put him at the forefront of that pack. But his offensive game still lags behind Scheierman, Gonzalez, and maybe even Harper, and he doesn't have experience playing against NBA-level talent like Walsh.
With a player development team led by Craig Luschenat, who also happens to train some of the Celtics' top 3-point marksmen (Payton Pritchard, Hauser, and Scheierman), Mitchell has a chance to thrive in brand new areas. And that's on top of what he already brings to the table.
That's why the Celtics should be glad Mitchell decided to stick with them. He may not have had a choice, but regardless, his being in Boston will be good for his development, especially within the Celtics' system.
Mitchell's two-way contract fills two of Boston's three slots. Amari Williams is taking up the second at the moment. John Tonje recently signed a two-way contract with the Portland Trail Blazers, so he is out of the running for the third.
Milos Uzan enjoyed a successful Summer League campaign with the Celtics in Vegas. He seems like a potential frontrunner for the final spot. Uzan and Tucker DeVries are both on Exhibit 10 deals with the Celtics right now, meaning DeVries could be another option for Boston to consider. That is, unless another, currently unknown option appears.