The Celtics had to wait until pick No. 27 to make their first selection in Thursday’s draft. However, they might have still found themselves a lottery-level talent.
Danny Ainge, you’ve done it again.
Even without a lottery pick, the Boston Celtics once again left the NBA Draft feeling as though they added a talent that could impact the team immediately after taking Texas A&M center Robert Williams with the 27th pick.
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Heading into the draft, Williams was expected to be a lottery selection by many draft experts. Sports Illustrated had the 6’9″ big man going 13th to the Los Angeles Clippers in their final mock draft, as did Bleacher Report.
However, players such as Moritz Wagner, Landry Shamet and Anfernee Simons went higher than most anticipated, and just like that, the Celtics were on the clock with Williams available.
As Aron Baynes heads into unrestricted free agency with what could be too steep of a price tag and Greg Monroe joins him after a failed experiment with the Celtics, Boston was in need of a versatile big who could protect the rim. Williams provides the skill set necessary to fill this role.
He’s a vaunted shot blocker well known by the likes of Collin Sexton and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, lottery picks who had to deal with Williams guarding the paint in the SEC last season. He led the conference with 78 blocks in his sophomore season of 2017-18 while finishing second in blocks per game in each of his two collegiate campaigns (2.5 and 2.6 blocks per game, respectively).
One thing that kept Monroe off the floor during the postseason was his inability to switch onto guards on defense. Williams doesn’t have that problem. He has quick feet and is capable of sticking with perimeter players all the way to the rim.
In today’s pick-and-roll obsessed NBA, Williams’ capacity for guarding players from all five positions is a critical skill, one that Brad Stevens will take full advantage of. This will help Williams earn playing time, as a big man who can keep a guard in front of him and disrupt both jumpers and drives is a valuable commodity. His 90.2 defensive rating in 2017-18 was the best in the SEC, exemplifying his value on that end of the floor.
Williams is also an aggressive rebounder, leading the SEC in defensive rebound percentage (26.8%), total rebound percentage (18.9%), rebounds per game (9.2) and total defensive rebounds (206). especially on the offensive side of the ball. The Celtics made great strides in rebounding a season ago, finishing eighth in the league with 44.5 rebound per game a season after coming in 27th in rebounds per outing.
Adding Williams to their core will only strengthen their ability to get boards on the defensive side as well as on the offensive glass. He is a freak of nature who is extremely difficult to keep off the offensive boards, something his SEC counterparts experienced first-hand the last two seasons.
Williams is liable to sky for an offensive board an hammer it home on any missed shot, regardless of who is underneath the rim. He is not the type of player to get an offensive rebound and pass it out to his teammates, a la Tristan Thompson. Rather, he is going to make you pay for allowing to him to sniff the board, flushing it on his opponents with reckless abandon.
Finishing in the paint is a bright spot in Williams’ offensive game. There were plenty of instances last season where he used his large frame to body smaller defenders in the post, getting in position for a rim-rattling flush against an undersized opponent. While his ability to get by on size alone could be restricted in the NBA ranks, his ability to run the floor and finish on the fast break will carry to the next level.
Many of Williams’ most eye-opening finishes came in transition over the past two seasons. The guy can fill the lane with the best of them and has quick hands in the open court, allowing him to catch and finish with ease. Williams sports tremendous cardio for a center, beating his opponents down the floor often to capitalize on open lanes to the rim.
If you’re a guard who likes to run, you have to be excited at the mere thought of playing next to Williams. Similar to Clint Capela, all guards have to do on the fast break is toss it in the general direction of Williams and he will locate and slam it home, making the guard look like he just dropped a dime.
One knock on Williams during his college tenure was his lack of consistency. He would have games of 20 points and 14 rebounds on on 10-of-13 shooting, numbers he put up in a loss to Arkansas on February 17, and follow that up with games of 11, five and three points in the subsequent outings.
Sometimes, Williams would fade away on the offensive end, shying away from the ball and watching as his teammates attempted to create offense. In the NCAA Tournament, however, Williams unveiled his full arsenal. In a first round win over Providence in which he posted 13 points and 14 rebounds on 6-of-9 shooting, he knocked down a midrange jumper, made post moves and finished on jump hooks and threw down vicious jams.
In the ensuing outing against North Carolina, a seven-seed over two-seed upset that sent Texas A&M to the Sweet Sixteen, Williams was less involved on the offensive end, taking just three shots. But, he made all three, including a few nifty post finishes going to both his right and left.
This is just a tease of what Williams could be bringing to the table as a Celtic. In this draft workout video, Williams showcases a one-foot fadeaway jumper similar to the move Joel Embiid has schooled boatloads of defenders with. I’m excited to see if Williams can further his repertoire heading into the season and if he is comfortable experimenting with new moves in Summer League.
That is, if the Celtics can track him down. Williams was scheduled to hop on a media conference call following the selection last night he was nowhere to be found.
A bit of an awkward start to the Robert Williams tenure. Cs had hoped to have him on a media conference call last night and that didn't happen. Scheduled one for today and it's been postponed because they can't get a hold of him.
— Adam Himmelsbach (@AdamHimmelsbach) June 22, 2018
Next: Pros and cons of trading for Kawhi Leonard
The call was rescheduled to this morning, but Williams was still MIA. For Williams’ sake, hopefully all is resolved and he can begin his career on the right foot.