Boston Celtics: A positive outlook on Robert Williams in the G League

First round draft pick, Robert Williams, has not been given a lot of playing time for the Boston Celtics. Instead, he’s bounced back and forth from the G League to the NBA. Here’s a positive outlook of Williams playing for the Maine Red Claws.

The Boston Celtics drafted Robert Williams with the 27th pick in the 2018 NBA Draft. At the time, it looked to be one of the bigger steals of the draft. That can still be true, but the center has not been given the chance to flourish yet.

He was pegged to go in the lottery, but with some health and character concerns, Williams ended up slipping to the Celtics. Boston is trying to fix some of these issues. Soon after being drafted, he missed his flight and overslept his introductory conference.

Since then, he hasn’t had any slip-ups and purchased an apartment nearby the team’s practice facility. Despite not having any off-court or health issues since, Williams has had trouble cracking Boston’s rotation.

It’s hard to play consistent minutes as a rookie when the team he’s playing for is loaded with talent. He’s played in just nine of 24 games, averaging 3.7 minutes per contest. In that time he’s only registered 1.4 points, 1.2 rebounds and 0.7 blocks per game.

On Thursday, Dec. 6, the team announced that Williams would be headed back to the G League to play for the Maine Red Claws.

It’s hard for any fan to enjoy reading news like that. Anytime a team drafts a new player, it’s easy to get wrapped up in what “could be.” If Boston wants him to become a better player, he’ll have to be spend time in the G League.

The only possible route for him to get more minutes in the NBA is if Al Horford, Aron Baynes or Marcus Morris go down with injuries. Even then, it might be hard for him to play consistently. Instead, playing for Maine is the best option for him and the team.

It’s not the first time he’s bounced around between the G League and the NBA. He’s played in only two games for the Red Claws, but had success. In 24.9 minutes of action, he averaged 13.5 points, 9.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2.5 blocks per game.

What’s even more outstanding is the fact that he shot 84.6 percent from the field in those two games. He only averaged 6.5 attempts per game, but it was an efficient shooting percentage nonetheless. It shouldn’t be surprising since he gets most of his points at the rim, much like his draft comparison, DeAndre Jordan.

In his first game with the Red Claws, he posted 11 points on 5-of-5 shooting, to go along with 10 rebounds and three blocks.

Williams has the ability to one day become an elite rim protector and high-flying big man. He may never score 20 points per game, but people will live with that because he should have a high field goal percentage.

He has a lot of potential, but will never reach that if he’s never seeing regular floor court time. Getting garbage time at the end of games will not allow him to learn what he needs to. Playing consistently in the G League will hopefully allow him to become the player everyone hopes he will be.

It might be hard to stomach the idea of him bouncing back and forth between the NBA and the G League, but this is the best possible solution for both Williams and the team until he’s ready to contribute to an Eastern Conference contender.