Boston Celtics: 5 reasons Robert Williams was a good pick
3. Positional need
At No. 27 in any draft, the main goal for any franchise is to just grab the best player available. It doesn’t come often when you’re able to get the best player available and fill a glaring position of need.
There are a lot of good players that were still available in the draft, but there will never be a time where you can grab a lottery prospect that late in the draft. Some players that went a few picks behind Williams include Jacob Evans, Dzanan Musa and Omari Spellman.
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You can easily see that out of the next few picks, Williams was the best available. The Celtics could possibly lose Aron Baynes and Greg Monroe to free agency this summer. Next season Marcus Morris is going to be a free agent as well, so the Celtics could use some help in the frontcourt, particularly on the glass.
If Williams develops into one of the better rim-runners and interior shot-blockers in the league, the Celtics would have more flexibility in trading one of their starters or key players off the bench. I’d imagine if everyone is healthy, they’d like to run the Kyrie Irving–Jaylen Brown–Gordon Hayward–Jayson Tatum–Al Horford lineup.
That’s what they did do for the first game of the regular season. That lineup is going to be pricey in the next few years. They could look to unload one of those players and keep Williams because he will be cheaper for the time being and he does have the ability to become special, but no matter what happens, if he gets minutes at the 5 alongside Al Horford at the 4, this team could be deadly.