Boston Celtics: 3 Cs who could benefit from Tristan Thompson’s absence

With Tristan Thompson expected to miss a majority of training camp, and possibly more for the Boston Celtics, there are a few players who could actually benefit from his absence.

Though the 2020 offseason didn’t necessarily go the way many Boston Celtics fans had hoped, the team’s front office did manage to piece together a few savvy moves that could wind up exceeding expectations.

One of said moves is the signing of veteran big man Tristan Thompson, who’s presence helps bolster Boston’s mediocre center rotation, which was a glaring issue for the franchise all of last season.

Unfortunately, however, his presence is currently unavailable, as he’s in the midst of recovering from a nagging hamstring injury and is expected to miss the majority of this year’s training camp.

While the hope is that Thompson will be able to get back in time for the C’s season opener against the Milwaukee Bucks, there is no guarantee that this will be the case.

With this, Brad Stevens is sure to see what he has on the roster during training camp to concoct emergency routes in which he can take should Thompson not be able to suit up as early as many are hoping.

Oddly enough, the 29-year-old’s absence could actually stand to benefit a few players currently on the roster.

Here are 3 that the Houdini believes could fall into this specific category:

Player who could benefit from Thompson’s absence No. 1) Grant Williams

Out of all the team’s rookies from the 2019 draft class, Grant Williams easily proved to be the most effective for the Boston Celtics.

Especially during the NBA Bubble, this sentiment was undeniably true. As Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports noted, Boston was noticeably better during the bubble with him on the court and held a definitive winning record when he logged close to 20 minutes during the entirety of the 2019-20 campaign:

"Some of Boston’s best minutes inside the bubble came with Williams on the floor and there were a lot of positives for him to build off — not the least of which was shooting 58.8 percent beyond the 3-point arc (10 of 17 overall)… An encouraging stat: The Celtics were 21-5 in the 26 regular-season games in which Williams played at least 17 minutes."

We have opted to place Grant Williams here on this list for two very specific reasons: should Tristan Thompson miss time, minutes will have to be filled in the frontcourt, and, with this, the 22-year-old could feasibly find more time playing at both the four and the five, should Stevens want to experiment with a super small-ball lineup (especially if he can improve upon his 3-point stroke).

Tabbed by many as the youngster who will help the Celtics the most in 2020-21, more minutes for Williams will likely be a result should Thompson miss extended time.