Boston Celtics: 4 burning questions heading into 2021-22

Boston Celtics question No. 2) Who will start at center?

Over the past several years, perhaps the biggest weak spot within the rotation for the Boston Celtics has been at their starting center position.

Seemingly since the departure of Al Horford back in the summer of 2019, the Cs have been looking for a reliable replacement at the five to help man the middle. Though they’ve gone about and experimented with many different options (Daniel Theis, Tristan Thompson, Enes Kanter, etc.), ultimately they have yet to find a player they feel confident in rolling out night after night.

Now, with Horford making his way back to town, many are under the impression that the coaching staff will fill the 6-9 shaped hole down low that has been there over the past two years with the man who ultimately created it, but there’s one thing on the Houdini’s mind: did we forget about Robert Williams?

Listen, we’re absolutely not trying to suggest that Horford would be a poor option to have at center in the C’s starting lineup this season — though the folks at B/R certainly think he could be.

In fact, should he be able to produce at a similar rate that he did last season (14.2 points, 6.7 rebounds, 3.4 assists, on 39 percent shooting from deep), there’s no question that his playstyle would benefit the rest of the team’s core rather well.

However, what we are trying to say is that Williams played rather well during his time as a starter last season and, with this, should absolutely be in a fair competition to try and snag the starting pivot spot.

Through 13 outings played in the starting unit, the third-year big man went about and posted solid per game averages of 9.5 points, 8.3 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and 1.7 blocks on a whopping 70.5 percent shooting from the floor.

On top of this, in the starting role, he also managed to boast an offensive rating of 146, a defensive rating of 104, and a box plus-minus rating of +7.2 all while guiding Boston to an impressive record of 10-3.

His excellent play wound up benefiting him financially this offseason, as he wound up signing a four-year, $54 million extension with the organization.

While he rightly deserved an extension offer from the Celtics, he is equally as deserving of an opportunity to snag the starting center role for this season.

Though Enes Kanter is also now back with the franchise, ultimately we expect this position will mainly be a battle between both Horford and Williams.

The question is, who will wind up earning it?