The Boston Celtics have signed free agent wing Ron Harper Jr. to an Exhibit 10 contract, as reported by Keith Smith of Spotrac.
Harper is a 6’6” wing who went undrafted in 2022 coming out of Rutgers University. From there he signed two-way contracts with Toronto in back-to-back years. He’s entering his fourth season in the NBA, though most of his time has been spent in the G-League thus far. He is also the brother of Dylan Harper, who was selected by the San Antonio Spurs with the #2 pick in this year’s draft.
An Exhibit 10 allows Boston to bring Ron in on a non-guaranteed, one-year deal for the minimum so that he can essentially try out for the team in training camps. If the Celtics decide to waive him before the start of the regular season – which will likely be the case given that Boston only has one open roster spot remaining, and tends to keep at least one available heading into a new season – then he can still be designated as an affiliate player, thus allowing Boston to retain his G-League rights.
Harper signed a similar deal back in July of 2024, and was waived in October of the same year, just before the start of the regular season. He then joined the Maine Celtics, with which he averaged 22.8 points, 4 rebounds, and 2.5 assists in 4 games.
Later in the season, the Detroit Pistons signed him to a two-way contract, and he spent the majority of his time with their G-League counterpart, the Motor City Cruise. With them, he averaged 17.4 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 2.9 assists while playing just under 33 minutes per game.
Across the entire season, Harper was fairly efficient, shooting 44% from the floor, 39% from three, and 86.8% on free throws. Not only that, he did it on high volume – 13.5 field goal attempts per game with 8.9 of them being from three-point range.
If Harper is waived by Boston before the start of the regular season, he can receive a bonus of up to $85,300 by spending at least 60 days with the Maine Celtics.
