The Boston Celtics are coming into this year’s campaign as true threats to take home the 2023 Larry O’Brien Trophy and, to some, they are even viewed as the clear favorites to do so.
Now, while their status as the league’s most recent NBA Finals runner-ups certainly has a considerable impact on why they are viewed so highly amongst fans and analysts alike, perhaps an even more influential factor in their status is because of their incredibly strong roster.
Looking at the C’s core heading into the season, there are truly just a small number of weak spots present, for their main areas of concern from last year (second unit scoring and secondary playmaking) were all addressed this summer what with the signing of Danilo Gallinari in free agency and the blockbuster deal for Malcolm Brogdon.
From their starting wings to their backup guards, when observing the makeup of this year’s Boston Celtics, it’s hard not to notice that they are seemingly stacked in the talent department, and, rightly so, it appears that they are getting the proper amount of recognition from the media because of this.
However, even with the rather frequent praise that the club’s crop of ballers receive from an overall standpoint, we at HH believe that, from an individual perspective, there are some who just aren’t receiving nearly enough attention and acknowledgment for their production and impact that they provide to the lineup.
With this mindset, we are most certainly not the only ones out there who believe this to be true, and the folks at Bleacher Report even took things a step further by specifically pinpointing one player on the roster that, to them, is actually the most underrated member of the Celtics.
That player: Robert Williams III.
Citing his impeccable production on both ends of the floor from a numbers aspect to the mere eye test, writer, Zach Buckley, believes it to be unfair that even though the former 27th overall pick literally stacks up with some of the best bigs in the game today in a myriad of areas, he still does not garner anywhere near the attention that the bigger names are receiving for their similar efforts:
"While the playoffs provided a big enough platform for a formal introduction of Robert Williams III to casual fans, he still isn’t quite getting his due.For instance, did you know the Shamrocks actually won his 158 Finals minutes by a healthy 30 points? The problem was they were pounded by 54 points over the 130 minutes he couldn’t play. Or how about this one: Did you know Williams trailed only Nikola Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Rudy Gobert with 0.262 win shares per 48 minutes during the regular season?So, while you might regard Williams as pretty good or even better than people think, objectively speaking, he sits several stories above that. Even if he doesn’t hit all of the traditional markings of a star, he is at least an all-caps STAR in his role. He’s a disruptor on defense, a sneakily creative passer on offense and a shot-swatting, lob-crushing, glass-cleaning pogo stick around the basket."
This past season, Williams proved himself to be one of the most impactful players on the Boston Celtics and served as a major part of their historic midseason turnaround.
Through 61 games played (a career-high), the put forth his best year of play to date, posting 10 points, 9.6 rebounds, and two assists a night on an unbelievable 73.6 percent shooting from the floor.
Of course, his most notable attributes came on the less glamorous side of the ball, for, despite sharing the floor with the 2022 Defensive Player of the Year in Marcus Smart, there’s an argument to be made that the big man was the true backbone of the team’s top-ranked defensive unit, as he finished things off sporting a 102 defensive rating, a defensive box plus-minus of 3.1, and swatted away a whopping 2.2 shots a night (all of which ranked first on the C’s out of those who played over 800 minutes).
The one real minus that comes with someone like Williams is his checkered injury history, one that has plagued him since his days at Texas A&M and, likely, will continue to do so moving forward.
Without a doubt, this is something that bothers every Boston Celtics fan out there.
Having said that, when fully healthy the 24-year-old is unequivocally one of the most productive centers in the association and, this past season, proved that he can absolutely be a starting five on a championship-aspiring squad.
Though guys like Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown receive the bulk of attention and praise when it comes to this Boston Celtics team, Robert Williams III is right up there with them when it comes to being an integral part to their 2021-22 successes and, heading into 2022-23, we’re expecting more of the same from him.
If you don’t already know just how good and impactful Time Lord is, keep your eye open for some big things from the talented center this coming year.