The Maine Celtics have unveiled their 2025-2026 roster, and there’s one notable omission: former St. John star RJ Luis.
Luis was on a two-way contract with the Celtics at training camp and joined the Celtics’ G League affiliate after being waived by the Celtics.
But now, Luis is not on the official Maine Celtics roster, which was announced Thursday afternoon.
Sources told CelticsBlog that the reason that Luis was waived was not due to his on-court play, but because he is undergoing surgery that should keep him out for a considerable amount of time.
How RJ Luis ended up with the Celtics
The Celtics traded for Luis in August, in the trade that sent recently-acquired Georges Niang and two second-round draft picks to the Utah Jazz (and consequently lowered their payroll substantially).
Luis, who went undrafted in June, had signed a two-way contract with the Jazz after the draft, and thus slotted into one of the Celtics’ three two-way slots. He didn’t suit up for Summer League action due to a knee injury, but was active for the Celtics’ training camp and preseason. He appeared in three preseason games, scoring 6 points in just 8 minutes of action.
But, he was waived toward the end of preseason, and the Celtics subsequently signed fellow training camp player Ron Harper Jr. to their third two-way contract (alongside rookies Max Shulga and Amari Williams).
The injury for which he’s undergoing surgery remains undisclosed at this time. But the former St. John’s star missed time due to a groin injury in his senior season and sat out for the entirety of his Summer League with the Jazz with a knee injury.
13 players made the Maine Celtics training camp roster
The Maine Celtics officially announced their 13-man roster on Thursday, ahead of Friday’s season opener against the Greensboro Swarm.
In addition to waiving Luis, the Celtics waived Omar El-Sheikh, Vance Jackson, and Nicolas Timberlake.
Most of the Maine Celtics roster comes in with some prior experience with the Celtics organization.
Aaron Scott, Hayden Gray, Kendall Brown, and Jalen Bridges were on the team’s Summer League roster and spent time in Boston for training camp. Kameron Warrens and Hason Ward, meanwhile, were on the Maine Celtics last season. Ron Harper Jr. has spent the last two training camps with the Celtics, while Max Shulga and Amari Williams spent both Summer League and training camp with Boston after being drafted in the second round in June.
