The Boston Celtics have been steamrolling through the Eastern Conference standings over the past few months, rising from as low as the 10th seed all the way to their current placement in the sixth seed thanks to their impressive 20-7 record since the start of January.
With a separation gap of just four wins between them and the top-seeded Miami Heat, the C’s have a high chance of leaping ahead of several teams in front of them within the standings between now and year’s end, and a lot of this optimism stems from the tremendous play from this ball club as a collective.
Yes, while Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown have proven to be the de facto leaders that we all penciled them in as being when coming into the year, it has been the steadily improving production from their supporting cast that has managed to spark their mid-season turnaround and, for some, said play may have even pushed their names into the “off the table” category when it comes to trade talks that are bound to take place this offseason.
With this in mind, today we at HH discuss 3 Boston Celtics players who have earned long-lasting tenures with the franchise:
Boston Celtics player No. 1) Grant Williams
Coming into the year, many–admittedly, including ourselves–were finding themselves questioning whether Grant Williams should be viewed as a long-term staple within the rotation or, simply put, a mere trade asset to be attached in a potential deal for someone else of greater potential.
Four months into 2021-22, we find that this inquiry can now be put to rest for, unless there’s a big-budget move creeping up on the horizon, the third-year big seems to be here to stay.
Despite being a smaller power forward (measures in at just 6-6), Williams has proven that he is capable of playing bigger than his size, especially on the defensive end of the ball where he can absorb contact in backdowns due to his rather muscular physique and has the ability to time an opponent’s shot attempt well enough to swat shots down at the rim when need be.
While he may not be the team’s biggest scoring threat, his presence on offense has also been undoubtedly felt all throughout the season, as the third-year pro finds himself serving as the C’s most trusty floor-spacer, converting his long-range attempts at a 43.7 percent clip.
Easily having himself the best season of his career, per 75 possessions the 23-year-old is posting 11.9 points, 5.1 rebounds, and just over a block per game while boasting a 63.4 effective field goal percentage.
Now, is Grant Williams a star in the making? No.
That said, every great team finds itself rostering several quality rotational talents and, based on his play this season, the big man could easily serve as such a commodity for the Celtics moving forward.