Boston Celtics: B/R’s Al Horford, Grant Williams replacement FA options

By nature of losing three straight to the Golden State Warriors to close out the 2022 NBA Finals, the Boston Celtics are now the subject of countless pieces across the web (this site included) aimed at improving the roster enough to get over the hump/compete with an increasingly competitive Eastern Conference.

Bleacher Report was no different. B/R writer Paul Kasabian listed his 2022 Celtics free agents, FA targets, and draft needs after their NBA Finals loss, and a trio of free-agent power forwards that included Jeff Green, Taurean Prince, and Thaddeus Young was listed as preferred options from the FA market.

Interestingly enough was his reasoning for why Boston needed to think about adding a 4 off the free-agent market.

Kasabian invoked 2023 agency, specifically Al Horford’s unrestricted go of it and Grant Williams’ restricted free agency:

"“Looking ahead, it could behoove the Celtics to add some frontcourt size. Al Horford is entering the final year of his contract, and Grant Williams is a restricted free agent after the 2022-23 season.”"

Grant Williams is among the Boston Celtics’ top trade pieces

Al Horford is all but guaranteed to be back in Celtics green in 2022-23, and it’s not likely Cs President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens is going to put Grant Williams on the trading block after he increased his 3-point efficiency to over 41% on three attempts per game.

Williams’ salary is just $4.3 million, so if a deal were to happen that’d be worth Stevens’ while, it’d likely be aggregated with a larger salary like Daniel Theis or Derrick White’s in a deal for a starting-caliber wing.

Williams’ development under Ime Udoka–which also included a lower turnover rate and better efficiency as a cutter at the rim–make it a difficult proposition to part ways with the sharp-shooting true power forward.

It’s not impossible, but it isn’t terribly likely at this point. If he does survive the 2022 offseason and 2023 trade deadline, restricted free agency could be a different story.