Former Boston Celtics center Robert Williams III was just sent down to the G League for recovery and reconditioning purposes. Michael Scotto of HoopsHype reported the news. Williams, who will be joining the Portland Trail Blazers’ G League squad, the Rip City Remix, for the time being, has only appeared in 26 games since leaving Boston after the 2022-23 season.
At his peak with the Celtics, Williams was a Defensive Player of the Year candidate, finishing seventh in the race, and earned an All-Defensive Second Team nod. He anchored an elite Celtics defense that helped lift that squad to the NBA Finals in 2022. But injury issues have constantly hindered him.
And they still are to this day.
What happened to Robert Williams?
In the best season of his career, the 2021-22 campaign, Williams appeared in a career-high 61 games for Boston. He averaged 10.0 points, 9.6 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 0.9 steals, and 2.2 blocks while shooting 73.6% from the floor. He also played a career-high 29.6 minutes.
The problem is, the 61-game benchmark he set for himself that year has never been touched. And it hasn’t even been close. The year before, he played 52 games, but outside of that, Williams has never played more than 40 games in a single season since being drafted in 2018.
Though he was a huge part of the Celtics’ defense in 2021-22, it wasn’t enough to save him from the trade block. He was eventually a casualty of the Celtics’ hug trade cash-in during the 2023 offseason.
Williams was sent to the Trail Blazers in the deal that saw Jrue Holiday join the Celtics. Alongside Williams, Malcolm Brogdon and two first-round picks were shipped out.
Holiday went on to help the Celtics win the NBA Championship in 2024 before being traded back to the Blazers this past summer in exchange for Anfernee Simons (in what was largely a money-saving move).
Despite this being his eighth NBA season, Williams is still only 28 years old. He still has plenty of time to grow and improve as a player. But he simply cannot stay on the court.
Joining a G League team for reconditioning is relatively normal. Kristaps Porzingis did it for a day last season during his injury recovery process. But it’s still not a great sign.
Williams’ inability to stay on the court has prevented him from piecing together an effective NBA career with what is clearly a very useful skill set.