Boston Celtics: Robert Williams must be patient

Robert Williams must be patient in his rookie season with the Boston Celtics

After being drafted, there was a lot of hype around Robert Williams. He was seen as a steal of the draft, with the kind of physical talent that could have made him a lottery pick. There were, however, reasons that he dropped, and we have already seen some of why.

There have been multiple occasions now where Williams has overslept, missing the opening press conference and a flight that took him out of a summer league practice. That alone made some people sour on him, but lower those expectations could probably be good for him.

In the end, all the outside noise really does not matter, and it is about how the Boston Celtics feel about him. No matter what happens before the season starts, the one thing Williams needed from the beginning is patience.

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We have seen it with every single rookie on this team, playing time is a process. For Williams, however, he has to be even more patient. Williams is not the prospect that Jayson Tatum or Jaylen Brown are, and he has more competition ahead of him.

Keep in mind, the two of them needed the Celtics to suffer overwhelming injuries in order to get top roles. Right now, Williams is no where near that, and there is a tremendous amount of competition that will need opportunities early on.

Williams has a lot of potential and his defense should make sure to get him some minutes. This season, however, it would be unrealistic to expect a significant role. He needs to come in and establish the kind of trust that has been shaky early on.

The standard of that trust is also going to be very high. The Celtics have players they truly believe in here, and establishing enough trust to have a significant role could easily take more than a rookie season for Williams.

Williams needs to make sure he is not a liability on offense, no matter how limited he is. He needs to prove that he is capable of switching all over the court and being a play maker on defense. He needs to establish that while not slowing anything around him down, and making it clear that his defense is more valuable than what the likes of Daniel Theis or Semi Ojeleye will be able to offer.

Williams will need time to establish all of this, and Brad Stevens never likes to rush things with his rookies. Williams is a special athlete, and can be a part of the future of this team. Right now, however, patience is the most important thing, because it will allow him to develop in a way that will establish the trust he needs in the future.

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