Amari Williams made 2 things painfully obvious at Celtics Summer League

When the Boston Celtics selected Kentucky center Amari Williams 44th overall in last month’s draft, it didn’t take long for the fanbase to get excited about his unique skillset. Williams, a 23-year-old big man from England, might be the best passing center in the 2025 draft class, while also being a strong rebounder and defender.

Williams, a super senior who spent four years at Drexel before finishing his collegiate career at Kentucky, showed flashes of upside in Vegas, for sure. It would be silly not to lead with his vision. It was exactly as the prophets (the draft/college basketball experts) predicted.

Williams made it clear that he sees things at an elevated level, especially for a seven-footer.

I’ll let the film do the talking here.

Some of these passes are superstar-level dimes where Williams reads the opposing defense and lets their rotations decide for him. It’s like he’s letting them cut off the first and second options and then making the third read. Impressive, yet not surprising, stuff from the UK native, who grew up playing as a guard.

The 23-year-old can clearly be an impactful defender, too. His defensive stats won’t jump off the page when viewing his averages in Vegas, but he plays with great positional awareness. In the opener against the Memphis Grizzlies, Williams swatted away a pair of shots and snagged a steal. His three stocks gave proper indication of his impact that day. There were several possessions where Grizzlies players converted on tough finishes even when Williams cut them off and made things difficult in the paint.

His impact doesn’t stop there. Williams has real potential as a switchable big man, a skill that would open real opportunities for him with the Celtics, or other teams around the league, for that matter.

“Traditional centers, where they don't switch, I think he can,” Summer League head coach Matt Reynolds told Hardwood Houdini’s Bobby Krivitsky last week. “He can do some switching. He's got long arms, got good instincts, active hands. So when you know he's in position to guard the ball one-on-one, I think he can do that, whether it's against speed or size.”

Williams is an elite passer but still needs to improve as a finisher to be an effective NBA player

Offensively, Williams is pretty limited. He’s not the type of big who can create for himself out of the post, which was on display in Vegas. He struggled where he was asked to do more than just catch and finish in the paint. In Thursday’s game against the Los Angeles Lakers, Williams even missed a few catch-and-finish chances en route to a 3-of-10 outing.

His efficiency has always been somewhat of a concern. It’s rare to see a player of his size miss around the rim as often as he will at times. In college, he shot 56% from the field, while being asked to create a great deal of Kentucky’s offense. In Summer League, he shot just 44% (weighed down heavily by the aforementioned Lakers game). If he’s going to become a rotation player for the Celtics, Williams will have to become more comfortable as a finisher. 

The pathway is there for his skillset; it may just take some extra reps up in Maine with Boston’s G-League affiliate for him to develop into an NBA rotation player. Although the Celtics center rotation is so thin this season, Williams could sneak his way in if he blossoms rather quickly.