In the course of the ultimate 12 months of his tenure with the Boston Celtics, Grant Williams steadily fell out of favor with the fanbase. And to a level, with head coach Joe Mazzulla as effectively.
On March 1, Williams noticed his first wholesome scratch in almost two years after being a relentless face within the Celtics rotation below each Brad Stevens and Ime Udoka. And because the playoffs bought underway, Williams’ lower in enjoying time continued.
Williams, only one 12 months faraway from showing in each 2022 postseason recreation, began the 2023 playoffs with two DNPs. He picked up three extra all through the remainder of the run and did not earn constant minutes.
A scuffle with Jimmy Butler and struggles driving to the rim prompted Celtics followers to activate Williams all through the season. By the point he was traded to the Dallas Mavericks, most followers had been glad to see him go, although Boston bought nothing again in return.
With Williams gone, the Celtics should change his output. Stevens introduced in a slew of wings and forwards who will assist with that, however none can do it alone.
For all his faults, Williams matches the mildew of the proper NBA function participant, particularly of the three&D selection. He shot roughly 40% from three-point vary for 2 straight seasons and was one in all Boston’s most versatile defenders, able to guarding wings, forwards, and among the NBA’s greatest massive males.
In the course of the common season, Williams was the Celtics’ major defender on Joel Embiid and Nikola Jokic and their secondary defender on Giannis Antetokounmpo, Pascal Siakam, and LeBron James, all whereas being some of the efficient nook three-point shooters within the NBA. There merely aren’t many gamers within the league able to taking up each of these duties.
As an alternative, the Celtics should change Williams’ manufacturing by committee this 12 months.
Offensively, Sam Hauser and Svi Mykhailiuk will probably be tasked with changing his three-point taking pictures. Hauser ought to obtain a lot of the minutes in that function, as he was elite from past the arc final season. Mykhailiuk also can chip in with some minutes if want be.
On the opposite finish, Lamar Stevens, Boston’s latest addition, will seemingly have to switch Williams’ protection. Stevens emerged as a top quality rotation piece for the Cleveland Cavaliers final season, who completed with the most effective defensive ranking within the NBA. Oshae Brissett and Jordan Walsh also can assist on this space, however neither are fairly as robust or adept as Stevens on that defensive finish.
In keeping with Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe, the Celtics can even look to Stevens to switch among the toughness and grit Williams and Marcus Good delivered to the desk.
However previous that, Kristaps Porzingis, oddly sufficient, can even have to assist change Williams’ defensive play, as Stevens, Brissett, and Walsh aren’t versed in guarding massive males. And with Al Horford being 37 years previous, anticipating him to protect the likes of Embiid, Jokic, and Antetokounmpo all through the common season is an enormous ask.
With the addition of Porzingis, Williams seemingly wouldn’t have acquired a ton of playoff minutes on this present Celtics crew. However there’s extra to basketball than the playoffs.
Boston must get by way of the common season first, and with out Williams’ inside protection and elite three-point taking pictures, they’ll have to search out different sources of manufacturing in these areas. And sadly, they don’t have any singular participant who can present that.
When Hauser or Mykhailiuk are in to nail some threes, the protection will undergo. When Stevens, Brissett, and Walsh enter the sport to choose up the slack on protection, Boston’s three-point taking pictures will take a success. And once more, not one of the forwards the Celtics signed can guard the publish in addition to Williams.
And on high of all of the on-court questions, not one of the gamers Boston introduced in can change the management Williams offered to the Celtics. The Athletic’s end-of-season tell-all revealed as a lot.
Together with Good, Blake Griffin, and others, Williams helped his teammates perceive defensive coverages once they had been confused after timeouts. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown went to Mazzulla to personally ask for Williams to get extra minutes. He was an essential chief and locker room presence who was well-respected by his teammates.
Williams is much from a flawless participant. He has his flaws, as does each NBA function participant. However changing him will probably be tougher than most understand, because the Celtics will try to take action by committee, and there’s no excellent resolution.
