Boston Celtics: 3 surprise breakout candidates for 2020-21

Surprise breakout candidate for the Boston Celtics No. 2) Grant Williams

Next on the docket, we have the most effective rookie from last year’s draft for the Boston Celtics in Grant Williams.

Coming into the 2020-21 campaign, many are expecting the power forward to take sizeable strides forward in his progressions, with Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston going as far as to suggest that he will prove to be the most impactful youngster for the Cs this year.

"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). Might Williams elevate to a starting role, playing more power forward in traditional two-big lineups? Williams has the versatility to switch onto perimeter players and having a more traditional center alongside would limit the amount of times he’s giving up size against big 5s. Still, his offensive game must develop or teams will simply challenge him to hit shots and put more attention on Tatum and Brown. An encouraging stat: The Celtics were 21-5 in the 26 regular-season games in which Williams played at least 17 minutes."

Though his rookie year statistics may not have been the most outwardly attractive — 3.4 points & 2.6 rebounds on 41 percent shooting from the floor — he proved to be interested in doing all the little things that don’t always show up on the stat sheet and, simply, served whatever role his team needed him for in order to win.

With a full year under his belt, and with added confidence, we could see a real jump for the University of Tennessee product and, on top of that, even a starting nod by season’s end.