On Wednesday night, the Boston Celtics lost to the San Antonio Spurs by a score of 110-106. Coach Brad Stevens played a remarkable 13 players, giving everyone reasonable playing time except for Tacko Fall and Tremont Waters.
It seems as though Stevens is searching for answers on his bench, as many players have spent years in the Boston system and have earned more playing time. However, with a team that is looking to ultimately contend for a championship, a rotation will have to be settled on later in the season.
The Boston Celtics have players on their bench that deserve more minutes
Some of these players deserve more minutes, but it’s going to be hard for them to see more action without unforeseen circumstances. Interestingly, in the 2020 NBA season, depth has become extra important due to COVID-19 absences, so everyone on their team will get their shot. It’s what they make of it that matters.
Here are three players that deserve more playing time on the Boston Celtics:
Boston Celtics that deserve more playing time: Robert Williams
Robert Williams has seen limited playing time this year, mainly due to the Celtics’ offseason acquisitions. With adding Tristan Thompson to the team, Boston attempted to add veteran leadership in the frontcourt. Throughout his career, he has started in most situations, and he most certainly signed with the Celtics with that in mind.
Although Thompson hasn’t been everything GM Danny Ainge has wanted so far this year, he hasn’t been terrible, and helps sure up the interior defense and rebounding for the Cs. After Tristan, Daniel Theis has earned his fair share of minutes after last year’s surprisingly encouraging campaign.
The German product stretches the floor for the offense while scoring efficiently from inside the arc as well. He has averaged over nine points in each of the last two seasons while playing under 25 minutes and is a good complementary big man on both sides of the floor for the Celtics’ star power. This year, he has had even better offensive production, shooting a ridiculous 75.3% from two-point range, a career-high.
Then comes Williams, who has shined in his career – when healthy. In only 12 games so far, he has averaged 5.9 points and 6.1 rebounds per game while shooting 72.1% from the field. 2.5 of those rebounds are offensive, keeping missed shots alive for second chance opportunities. Furthermore, he has the best offensive rebound% in the league at 17.6% and has one of the best block rates in the league at 5%. That block rate puts him in the 98th percentile of bigs in the NBA.
He also gets his hands in the passing lanes, placing in the 94th percentile for bigs in steal% at 2.2%. All of these hustle stats are encouraging for a player who looked lost on the court early in his career and has seemingly improved each year until being derailed by injuries. After already battling COVID-19 in January, hopefully, Timelord can have a healthy season the rest of the way.
He has become one of the best finishers at the rim, with his FG% and points per 100 shots placing in the 99th percentile of bigs, respectively. His offense has gotten to a state where if he is involved in the pick-and-roll, the ball-handler can throw a lob anywhere near the hoop and Williams will finish it.
Coach Stevens needs to find a way to play him more than 15 minutes a game.
He may even be the best big man on the team.