Athletic’s Shams Charania released his latest work NBA trade throp drop monday morningand reiterated some points about the Boston Celtics’ involvement in Kevin Durant’s sweepstakes.
Smart is the Celtics franchise’s longest-serving player, emotional leader, and reigning Defensive Player of the Year. But Williams’ suspension speaks to how highly regarded he is on the roster and how important he was to Boston’s NBA Finals run last season.
Williams had a big run in 2021-22, averaging 10.0 points, 9.6 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per game, while clipping an impressive 73.6% from the floor. He landed his second All-Defensive on his team, anchoring him with one of the best defenses in the league. A year ago Wednesday, Williams signed his four-year deal worth up to $54 million. He’s already made it look like a massive bargain.
The 2018 first-round pick works in his classically defined archetype as a rim guarding center, two-way rebounder and lob finisher. Williams has already shown elite traits in the role.
However, Williams’ role also clouds viewers’ visualization of his next step. Williams, 24, has had a healthy season all year and has plenty of room to grow with the Celtics. But if he’s already good at what he does and Boston rarely asks him to do anything else, what will be the trajectory of his influence?
Fortunately, between Williams’ additional skills and improved functional areas, he can continue to take on more responsibility as a young big man.
Celtics fans have continually marveled at Williams’ pass flush in his first few seasons in the league. Included in 20%. And despite receiving few touches other than an end-of-play chance, Williams can be blinded by his vision.
I love watching Robert Williams pass basketball. Always making quick decisions like that for the Celtics, these are his two assists today. The one-handed mid-air redirect to Pritchard after the rebound is ridiculous. pic.twitter.com/bWf4V9Rf3a
— Kevin O’Connor (@KevinOConnorNBA)
February 26, 2022
When Boston utilized Williams as a passer, they often put him at the top of the arc or slightly off the wing. Attacking from here with Williams as quarterback allows Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown to get off the ball and focus on their strength and speed instead of ball handling and creation. The opportunity to be open with is opened.
It looks like Tatum is going the wide receiver option route in the clip above. On his two plays in the first, Jason slides down the screen to cut into the basket and Williams’ rifle passes for a layup. In the third clip, Tatum has Peyton using his Pritchard his flare his screen and he hits a three. The fourth clip is another flare screen, but Williams and Tatum both recognize open space, with the former driving the superstar into his layup. For proper measurements, the final clip is Brown forging a similar pin-down and cutting it into a basket.
With the “Time Lords” running the show, off-ball defenders have to key in on Boston’s dynamic duo, and he’s easy to read, like this to Grant Williams.
Having Robert Williams straight out of the arc is a great way for the Celtics to take advantage of Jayson Tatum off-ball. He cut three backs defenders and gave Grant Williams an open three . pic.twitter.com/Mw3K2qqorL
— Ethan Fuller (@ethman43)
May 4, 2022
Complaints here are not about Williams III. Rather, I hope the Celtics place him in these positions more often. He has a high overall turnover rate, but rarely gives the ball in these situations. Less pressure on Tatum and Brown as self-creators, and more players moving around the halfcourt in general.
There are also untapped intrigues with him in high posts. According to PBP Stats, Williams III has recorded his 84 elbow touches over his entire 2021-22 season. His 16.7% assist percentage is better than Memphis He’s the big man for the Grizzlies Stephen He was ranked second. Now some of these touches are just handoffs. But there are also times when Williams connects with the shooter on his roll short or directs traffic off his touch post.
Athletic Jared Weiss It detailed how Boston’s offense moves away from post-ups as the season progresses, and how it makes sense to add more backs with Williams involved. Given Williams’ vision and the success players get from circling him, I agree.
Individual scoring developments like midrange jump shots are the icing on the cake. Trevor Hass of the Celtics Blog writes: But head coach Ime Udoka has potential already in front of him as Williams’ pass hub. Adding a touch of tertiary options is easier said than done, but further consolidation of Williams could have serious implications for the often stagnant Celtics offense.
Defensively, however, Williams is responsible for improving his switching ability.
The 6-foot-9-inch center is an exceptional roamer and shot blocker. He hit hard in the stretch as Udoka and the coaching staff put him in a defensive position to succeed.Sporting his news writer Steven Know had a complicated breakdown
How the Celtics kept Williams out of the on-ball spotlight As much as possible, his work was about spinning and swatting.
It was great and proved successful enough to keep Boston within two games of the championship. It also required some luck and some heavy lifting from Al Horford, using his health to play some of the best switching defense he’d seen all season at 35.
Horford, now 36, can’t be expected to carry the same burden in the next title push, and the Celtics have only one other center in Luke Cornette’s rotation potential. You have to defend with ball screen coverage and switch to guard at certain points.
Last year didn’t go so well. Boston began switching from one to five on defense and changed it as the year went on. fulfilled.
As shown in the clip above, Williams is unable to move with the lateral quickness required to stop the drive at the root. He must rely on his length to catch up when he loses. No. Williams has also historically been a foul-prone perimeter player who bites pump fakes far too often, but he eased that temptation last year.
Williams improved in the moments when he needed to switch to isolation late in the season, I would argue.
Don’t expect Williams to become a unicorn-like defender and smother players across the court. If Williams can at least contain the drive and the defenders keep thinking about blocking threats, it’s a win for Boston. He already has a whole world of rim protection in his pocket.
Williams is already a high-end starting center, and that talent could help Boston return to the Finals. The season could be talking about a sub-all-star type center.
Robert Williams III only emphasizes that even after the Celtics enter June, there is still room for progress.
