Grant Williams speaks out on Boston Celtics exit after sign-and-trade

Grant Williams‘ time with the Boston Celtics officially came to a close on Wednesday evening, when it was reported that he was headed to the Dallas Mavericks, via a sign-and-trade.

Williams reportedly signed a four-year, $53 million contract as part of the deal.

Shortly after being dealt to Dallas, Boston’s former No. 12 discussed the big move with The Athletic’s Jared Weiss. He detailed the waiting game and how he wasn’t sure he’d be suiting up in green next season.

“I had an understanding of that most of the way. I know how the numbers work out and yeah, they could have afforded to keep me,” Williams shared with Weiss. “But it’s one of those things where you’re really committing and after the prior year, I didn’t think it was realistic. Hey, Boston was trying to maintain their leverage. It’s one of those where you can’t be mad at them for it because it just shows they want you to be there in a way.”

Ultimately it seems as if the desire to keep Williams around dwindled after the front office swung a trade for Kristaps Porzingis last month.

“With the (Porziņģis) news, I was excited about it ’cause even if they did end up matching me, I would probably be playing less but my whole thing is about winning,” he told Weiss. “But the ability to come to a great team like the Mavericks and compete at a high level, and be involved to do things to show I can really pass and do more in the future, is really exciting for me.”

The 24-year-old did get into his thoughts about his new situation, sharing that he’s excited to play alongside such talented players like Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic.

“The talent on this team is absurd,” Williams gushed to Weiss. “Kyrie and Luka, being able to put two superstars of that nature, two top 10 players or whatever you want to say, Kyrie is one of the best point guards in the league still. As well as those young guys they have to grow and compete like (Olivier-Maxence Prosper), they drafted Dereck Lively. The Seth Currys, the vets in the world, they’re really talented.”

The Boston Celtics will miss Grant Williams… just not yet (hopefully)

As Williams’ free agency hung over the heads of the Boston Celtics all season, many questioned what the final deal would look like for the sharpshooting forward, whether it was in Boston or elsewhere.

Early in the season, there were reports that the C’s were interested in signing Williams to a contract similar to the one he’ll be under with the Mavs. The front office ultimately decided that they didn’t want to pay Williams to be the (likely) fourth big man in Boston’s rotation this year.

It’s a move the feels pretty near-sighted.

Yes, the Celtics have a frontcourt consisting of Porzingis, Al Horford, and Robert Williams III — three players that Williams doesn’t edge out of the rotation.

However, Horford will be turning 38 next June. So far during his second stint with the Celtics, he hasn’t showed a ton of regression, which is pretty fortunate. It’s difficult to imagine that Horford will dominate father time forever.

When the time comes for him to either retire or fall out of the rotation, Boston will most certainly miss Williams — who essentially served as Horford’s understudy for the past two seasons. Of course, the former Tennessee star wouldn’t perfectly replace the veteran big man. But, he would be able to replace his outside shooting ability and defensive versatility.