After all the recent talk surrounding Aaron Gordon, and the talk in recent months over other potential targets to use their traded player exception on, the Boston Celtics‘ trade deadline activity wasn’t perhaps what Celtics fans were after. Nonetheless, the team did make a couple of moves, and in the process freed up flexibility within its frontcourt.
For Boston, one bright spot of this underachieving season has been third-year center Robert Williams‘ development. Williams’ numbers are up across the board, and he’s made his mark on the defensive side of the floor, proving to be Boston’s most effective big man on that end. Williams is averaging 7.7 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 1.8 blocks per game on 17.4 minutes per game.
The Boston Celtics’ trade deadline activity isn’t perhaps what all fans were hoping for, but it will give the team’s frontcourt a chance to reset.
The 23-year-old got his first start of the season Friday night as the Celtics visited Milwaukee for their second game with the Bucks in three days. After falling a Daniel Theis 3-point attempt short of victory on Wednesday, the Celtics got revenge Friday as Williams recorded an impressive stat line which included six dimes and five denials.
Daniel Theis turned into a very important player over his almost four seasons with the Celtics. The fans loved him, and he always seemed to leave it all on the floor. What dealing the German big man does though is shift minutes in Williams’ favor, which can only be a positive thing if you’re a Celtics fan. Boston obviously got back Moritz Wagner from Washington in the three-team deal that sent Theis to Chicago. But he shouldn’t command as many minutes as Theis was getting (24.5 per game).
The Celtics will now operate with a trio of Williams, Wagner, and Tristan Thompson covering the center spot. But, it’s pretty clear now that Williams is the guy for that spot for the long-term. He’s a guy who’s on the same timeline as Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown and fits the Celtics’ system. He can stop opposing offenses around the rim and provide an outlet for fastbreaks, whilst being versatile on the offensive end.
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He’s good in the pick-and-roll game and has shown to be really effective setting screens at the top of the key. This is important when you have a guard like Kemba Walker, who gets a lot of usage out of these kinds of situations. Williams has also proven to have good chemistry with rookie guard Payton Pritchard out of pick and roll action.
With Tatum, Brown, and Williams, the Celtics have an excellent young core. This season hasn’t gone in the direction that the organization was aiming for, and might be too late to completely change that narrative now, but there’s no need to panic for the team’s future. It’s in very good hands. There’s a lot of talent in the east right now, and the Celtics would’ve needed to be at their best with the group of players that they have in order to compete. That just hasn’t been the way it’s gone though.
Whilst it’s clear that the Celtics’ window is far from passing, intelligent moves need to be made in order to take advantage of Danny Ainge’s draft selections. Trading two second-rounders for excellent scoring help in Evan Fournier is something that shows positivity but is also something that comes a bit late for this season.
Also, this uses the TPE, a weapon the Celtics haven’t really used in the most effective way they could’ve. Fournier and Wagner are positive additions to this team and the moves that Boston made will also give other draft choices in the likes of Romeo Langford and Aaron Nesmith to get more time on the floor to progress, in hopefully the same direction as Williams is.