Danny Ainge came out and talked about how impressed he is with Robert Williams
A lot of people are getting excited about rookie Robert Williams, and it has not just been outside noise. It was easy for fans to fall in love with a special athlete with lottery talent that fell in the draft.
What is more promising, however, is how both Brad Stevens and now Danny Ainge are talking about him. First, Brad Stevens went on about his potential to contribute as a rookie, despite the fact that he is raw and on a championship contending team.
Now, Danny Ainge is talking about how immediately impressed the Celtics were with him. Ainge talked about the first time he saw Williams play, and this is what he had to say (Via Providence Journal):
"We’re just like: ‘Who is this guy?’ ” Ainge said. “He wasn’t the guy who we were there to watch. He was just one of the guys who was coming off the bench at Texas A&M and caught our attention right away with three or four spectacular plays. Not just a big dunk. It was blocking a shot on the perimeter, blocking it at the rim, getting the rebound above the square. Very, very impressive at first sight"
Clearly, no one on the Celtics thinks that Williams is your regular 27th pick. When you are picking late in the first round, it can be hard just to expect them to stay on the roster. With Williams, it looks like the Celtics believe in his ability to be a part of the future of this team.
People can see how many different things he is capable of doing, and the Celtics need all of those things.
On top of everything, you do not get the sense that this is just empty talk from the Celtics. They are normally quite honest and real with their players, and they would gain nothing from over praising a rookie who could be under some pressure now.
The Celtics have a lot of reasons to be excited next season, and very few could have anticipated that the 27th pick in the draft could end up being one of the most exciting parts.
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Expectations should still be tempered, because it will always be a process. If, however, Williams is as good on defense as both Ainge and Stevens are talking about, then he will be able to have an impact a lot quicker than most rookies should be able to on the Celtics.