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BOSTON — Amid all the chao of Thursday’s NBA midseason tradeline deadline, the Celtics traded for two-way player John Tonje.
Tonje, who was drafted by the Utah Jazz 53rd overall in June, was in the middle of standout season with the Salt Lake City stars when he learned he was traded. He ultimately landed in Boston as part of the trade that sent Chris Boucher to the Jazz.
For Tonje, the Celtics mark a new opportunity, but also a reunion of sorts.
The 24-year-old doesn’t know a ton of people in Boston, but he does know one: Celtics guard Baylor Scheierman.
Tonje and Scheierman were AAU teammates in high school, years ago at the Omaha Sports Academy. That club no longer exists, but its legacy lives on: for the first time, the Celtics have two players from Nebraska.
When Scheierman found out that Tonje was coming to Boston, he immediately texted him to congratulate. The two reunited on Friday morning at the Auerbach Center, as Tonje got his first time of the new organization.
“We kept in touch a little bit throughout college — not like a whole lot,” Scheierman said. “But, so it’s cool to have someone from Nebraska, for sure.”
Plenty of people from Omaha were excited to see Tonje and Scheierman reunite.
“I had a bunch of people from back home blowing up my phone,” Scheierman said. “All my old AAU teammates. It’s cool that he’s that he’s here with us. He’s a talented player.”
Tonje appeared in 32 games for the Salt Lake City Stars this season, averaging 18 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game. That came on the heels of a big-time NCAA Tournament run with Wisconsin Badgers, in which he averaged 19.6 points and 5.3 rebounds per game. Before Wisconsin, he spent four seasons at Colorado State, and one year in Missouri.
But, before all of that, Tonje was another very talented Nebraskan basketball player, just like Scheierman.
“He can score in a variety of ways,” he said. “He’s a good defender. I think those are the two biggest things that stood out to me back in those days. I was completely different player and build back in those days, but I think those are the two things that stuck out the most, was just his physical maturity, it was just the ability to score.”
Tonje’s locker room at TD Garden sits across the way from Scheierman’s, and two will undoubtedly have plenty of time to catch up in the coming months.
But, for now, Scheierman has gotten a kick out of a pretty unlikely reunion that emerged amid the chaos of a busy trade deadline.
“It’s a cool thing,” Scheierman said. “Just for Nebraska to have two Nebraskans on the same team.”
