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‘A lot of Donte DiVincenzo’… Boston Celtics player hails Minnesota star as his NBA inspiration

Originally posted on NBA Analysis Network
By Aaditya Krishnamurthy | Last updated Jul 17, 2025 5:43 PM ET

One Boston Celtics star has modeled his game after watching a lot of highlights of Donte DiVincenzo.

The Boston Celtics find themselves in a strange, unexpected rebuild year. After Jayson Tatum’s horrific Achilles injury, the Celtics aren’t going to be competitive next season.

In his absence, Jaylen Brown will be tasked with leading the Celtics as their best player. Brown spoke recently about his frustration with the Celtics, so perhaps this new role might make him feel better.

The Celtics moved on from key stars this offseason. The most notable being Kristaps Porzingis, whom the Celtics traded to the Atlanta Hawks.

But they may have found his replacement, as Charles Bassey has impressed the Celtics fanbase with his play in the Summer League.

However, another name representing the Celtics in Las Vegas is Max Shulga, who is trying to earn a spot on the team, and doing so by trying to emulate Donte DiVincenzo.

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Max Shulga says he studied Donte DiVincenzo’s game before coming to the NBA

Max Shulga, the Ukrainian star who was the #57 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, spoke about his time with the Boston Celtics in a recent interview.

When discussing the players he watched before coming to the NBA, Shulga named Donte DiVincenzo as the archetype he wants to fit for the Celtics.

“I’ve been watching a lot of Donte DiVincenzo, he shoots open threes, he plays defense. He can play-make, create his own shots. create for his teammates, I’ve been watching a lot of him.”

Unfortunately for Shulga, he just hasn’t been able to perform well in that role. In the three games Shulga has played for the Celtics in the Summer League so far, he has scored just 18 points in total.

To make it worse, Shulga’s three-point shooting, an aspect he admires a lot about DiVincenzo, has been weak, going 1-9 in three games, converting just 11.1% of his attempts from deep for the Celtics.

Boston Celtics not done tinkering with their roster

Shulga is unlikely to earn any major minutes with the Celtics’ main team on the back of his Summer League performances. As such, President Brad Stevens may have to look elsewhere for reinforcement.

The Celtics plan to trade away Anfernee Simons, whom they landed in the Jrue Holiday trade. Perhaps they can use his $27.7 million salary to bring back some cheap impact players.

Whatever players they land, don’t expect the Boston Celtics to be a championship team next season. With Jayson Tatum out for a whole season, the Celtics don’t have the tools to be a contender.

This might actually be a blessing in disguise for the Celtics. Regardless of how their season went, their incredibly expensive roster was becoming untenable.

With Tatum out, and several players gone, the Celtics can now learn about the new players they’ve landed and give them ample time to develop and gel into the system.

Once Tatum returns for the 2026-27 NBA season, the roster could be strong enough to compete again.

This article first appeared on NBA Analysis Network and was syndicated with permission.

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