Boston Celtics: 3 rotation trends after first two preseason games

Grant Williams is outplaying Juan Hernangomez

There was starter hype for Juan Hernangomez coming into the 2021-22 season, but Juancho has actually been outplayed by a familiar face.

Grant Williams, now in his third season with the Boston Celtics, is stroking the deep-ball efficiently once more after a breakout 2020-21 campaign and is proving to be a keeper after HH saw him as expendable this past summer…particularly after Hernangomez arrived.

While Williams probably won’t start with Al Horford not missing a beat from his last stint with the Cs, he can conceivably surpass Hernangomez in the rotation after collecting more minutes (and points) on Saturday against Toronto.

Williams has been playing beside the Cs core of Marcus Smart, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, and Robert Williams for the entirety of his career. Hernangomez is making the adjustment as we speak, while having several guys (Horford too) with experience with Boston’s core to compete with.

If Williams’ stroke continues to be red hot, there won’t be a need to see if Brad Stevens’ vision of the Spaniard fitting in with the ‘Jays’ offensively is true or not. Instead, it could be Juancho that finds himself on the trading block before long.