Biggest Celtics rival could trade for former Boston DPOY candidate

Immediately after the Boston Celtics won an NBA Championship this past season, the race to take them down began. In free agency, the Philadelphia 76ers added Paul George to play alongside Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey, and the Orlando Magic brought in Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to give their lineup some shooting. But neither team is the Celtics’ biggest rival this upcoming season. That would be the New York Knicks.

New York made a blockbuster trade this summer, snagging Mikal Bridges from the Brooklyn Nets to form a Villanova-heavy core. But they may not be done quite yet, as they still have a fairly weak center position.

But they could be looking to fix that issue.

Knicks could want to trade for former Celtics DPOY candidate Robert Williams

According to Brian Windhorst on ESPN’s NBA Today, Portland Trail Blazers big man Robert Williams could hit the trade market this year, and the Knicks may show some interest. (H/t Matt John of Heavy.com)

“I would say Robert Williams from Portland. I would say any team looking for a center is going to watch Robert Williams closely this year,” Windhorst said. “I think the Knicks will be among the teams monitoring him. So as the season goes along.”

Williams only appeared in six games for the Trail Blazers last year, as he had to have season-ending surgery to fix a torn right knee ligament.

Boston traded Williams to Portland in the deal that landed them Jrue Holiday last offseason. Before he was moved, Williams was a Defensive Player of the Year candidate with the Celtics in the 2021-22 season. He made an All-Defensive team and had a real shot to win DPOY if he didn’t miss significant time that year.

Now, he could be a target for the Knicks, who are well-positioned to be the best team in the East outside of the Celtics next season.

Last year, they made it to the second round of the playoffs without Julius Randle. Jalen Brunson emerged as a borderline top 10 player in the league, and he will undoubtedly be looking to help the Knicks improve even more next season.

Adding a guy like Williams to play center next to Mitchell Robinson and Precious Achiuwa would be a smart decision, even though both he and Robinson have dealt with a ton of injury problems.

If both can stay healthy, the Knicks’ center rotation would be a force on defense.