A recent Celtics draft pick could soon be headed overseas after emerging as a transfer target for one of Europe’s most successful basketball clubs, according to a new report.
If the move materializes, it could reshape the young prospect’s development path while giving him an opportunity to compete for championships at one of Europe’s most successful clubs.
The player is Max Shulga, the Kyiv, Ukraine, native who spent last season buried on the Boston Celtics bench but thriving in the G League after the Celtics made him a second-round draft pick, 57th overall, last year. Real Madrid’s interest, first reported by AS and confirmed by journalist Ãscar Herreros, comes as the club overhauls its roster following the dismissal of coach Sergio Scariolo.
Real Madrid has won a record 11 EuroLeague titles, according to the league’s official team page, to go with 38 Spanish domestic league championships and 29 cup trophies, a haul built by legends from Drazen Petrovic and Arvydas Sabonis to Luka Doncic. Another Celtics draft pick from 2025, Hugo Gonzalez, joined the Real Madrid developmental system at age 10 and played on the club’s senior EuroLeague team in 2024-25 before being drafted by the Celtics.
Max Shulga’s Locally Trained Status Is the Real Draw
Shulga was born in Kyiv but moved to León, Spain at age 11, later developing at the Basketball School of Excellence in Torrelodones before heading stateside for college. That background lets him count as a “locally trained” player under Spanish roster regulations that require teams in the Spanish ACB to field at least four such players. For Real Madrid, that quota designation, paired with actual NBA pedigree, makes Shulga valuable.
He arrived in the U.S. by way of Utah State before transferring to Virginia Commonwealth, where he closed his college career averaging 15.0 points, 5.9 rebounds and 4.0 assists as a senior and won Atlantic 10 Player of the Year. Orlando took him 57th overall in the 2025 NBA Draft, then shipped his rights to Boston.
The Celtics started Shulga on a two-way contract before converting him to a standard deal, but playing time behind Boston’s crowded backcourt never materialized. He appeared in just 11 NBA games, averaging 3.3 minutes and 0.6 points, with a single start.
Where Shulga actually made his case was in Portland, Maine. Assigned to the Maine Celtics, he averaged 15.7 points, 4.4 rebounds and 6.7 assists, running an offense stacked with NBA-caliber teammates including Ron Harper Jr. and John Tonje. Boston still declined his qualifying offer at the end of June, making him an unrestricted free agent.
Why Boston Never Found Room for Shulga
“The thing that I was most impressed with was him handling the pressure. He doesn’t get sped up,” said Brad Stevens, Boston’s president of basketball operations, as quoted by Hardwood Houdini‘s Bobby Krivitsky. Stevens made those remarks after Shulga’s Summer League debut last year, but the praise never translated into a rotation spot, and the front office ultimately moved on.
Shulga is currently playing for the Golden State Warriors at NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, auditioning for any franchise still watching. His shooting profile made him a known commodity across the Atlantic well before Boston picked him. He shot 41 percent from three-point range on more than five attempts a game during the 2023-24 season, according to Eurohoops.
Real Madrid, still filling out a roster that already includes incoming addition Jaime Pradilla and ongoing talks with Mikael Jantunen, appears ready to bring Shulga back to the continent where his career began. Nothing is finalized. But for a player who barely cracked Boston’s rotation, a return to Spain now looks like his most realistic path back to relevance.
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