The Boston Celtics wasted absolutely no time filling their 14th roster spot after trading Chris Boucher and the 2027 Denver Nuggets second-round pick to the Utah Jazz. About an hour after the trade was reported, NBA Insider Marc Stein shared that Boston plans to sign two-way center Amari Williams to a full-time roster spot on a two-year, $2.7 million deal.
Amari Williams has agreed to a two-year, $2.7 million deal with the Boston Celtics, his agent George S. Langberg of
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) February 5, 2026
GSL Sports Group tells @TheSteinLine.
Williams was the 46th pick in the 2025 NBA Draft.
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As soon as reports of the Boucher move surfaced, many quickly moved on to the question of what was next for the Celtics. They had to do something else because they were down to just 13 players on the roster. Per league rules, teams must have at least 14 players on the books heading into the season.
Because the Cs made a mid-season deal, they would’ve had a two-week grace period to add an additional player.
Amari Williams was a smart, reasonable signing for the Celtics
Truthfully, Williams made plenty of sense. The 46th overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft has played the most minutes of Boston’s two-way players, himself, Ron Harper Jr., and Max Shulga.
To this point, the former Drexel and Kentucky big man has appeared in 13 games for the Celtics. The opportunities were more available to him than the other two-ways, because of Boston’s thin frontcourt rotation.
Only Neemias Queta and Luka Garza had concrete places in Joe Mazzulla’s rotation. Both Boucher and Xavier Tillman Sr. found themselves on the outside looking in of the head coach’s trust tree.
The most notable example of this came just over two weeks ago in Brooklyn. Both Queta and Garza fouled in overtime against the Nets, and it was Williams who had his name called to check in.
It’s clear that Boston’s front office and player-development staff see something in the big Englishman. He’s got good size at nearly seven feet tall, great passing vision, and a wingspan that enables him to make opposing players think twice when driving to the rim.
There’s still plenty of room for him to grow as a scorer and rebounder, but the tools are there.
Though his moment against the Nets was memorable, Williams has spent the majority of his time in the G-League with the Maine Celtics. In 21 appearances, he’s averaged 18.3 points, 11.7 rebounds, 4.9 assists, and 1.6 blocks per game while shooting 61.3% from the field.
If that production is any indicator of what kind of player he could blossom into for the Celtics, then they may have found a real rotation piece down the line.