Time Lord Has Always Needed More Playing Time
Robert Williams, known by many Celtics’ fans as Time Lord, has shown flashes of greatness ever since the beginning of last season. Most notably on November 9th of 2019 last season, he racked up 11 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists and an incredible 6 blocks in just 22 minutes off the bench. His playing time remained quite inconsistent until the NBA Bubble seeding games when he shot 22/26 (84.6%) over the course of 5 games and averaged 10.4 points and 4.0 rebounds in a mere 13.0 minutes per game.
These flashes obviously weren’t enough to convince the Celtics’ coaching staff and front office that he deserved a larger role however. Daniel Theis continued to start and play the bulk of the minutes over him and the front office elected to add free agent big-man Tristan Thompson during the off-season, creating a very crowded front-court. In 2020-2021, all three centers had been performing well, but something was very clear. The ceiling for the Celtics’ productivity (both on offense and defense) was higher with Time Lord on the court. In late February, despite only averaging 15 minutes a game, Williams led the Celtics this season in four of the most important categories:
Offensive Rating: 130.2 (1st)
Defensive Rating: 102.4 (1st)
True Shooting Percentage: .731 (1st)
Win Shares Per 48 Minutes: .227 (1st)
Daniel Theis’ Trade Provided an Opportunity
At the trade-deadline Boston did make a bit of a splash and added veteran sharp-shooter and scorer, Evan Fournier, from the Orlando Magic. This was a great addition to the struggling Boston bench, but perhaps the even bigger trade that was rarely talked about was dealing Daniel Theis to the Chicago Bulls in a three-team trade. Boston acquired Moe Wagner (who has been waived) and Luke Kornet. While Kornet is notably worse than Daniel Theis, this was a case of addition by subtraction. Theis’ departure allowed Robert Williams to slide into the starting five and get the much-needed playing time he deserved.
Following the deadline, Celtics’ coach, Brad Stevens, addressed how Williams was prepared to take on a bigger role:
“I think that he’s made a lot of strides,” Stevens said. “He does a lot of good things, and he can fill up a stat sheet. I think that there’s things that he will just continue to improve upon and his best days are still far ahead, as much as the glimpses that he shows. But those glimpses have become a lot more consistent, and his effort has been terrific. He’s a competitive guy.”
Robert Williams received his first career start against the Milwaukee Bucks on March 26th and absolutely stuffed the stat-sheet. He played 27 minutes, which was the most in his career for a non-overtime game and while he only scored 7 points, he impacted the game in every other department. Time Lord added 9 rebounds, 6 assists, 5 blocks and 2 steals in a beautiful 122-114 win at the Fiserv Forum Arena.
Williams Has Allowed Boston to be the Best Version of Themselves
Boston is now 8-2 with Robert Williams starting at center. He is averaging 11.1 points, 8.3 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 1.4 blocks in 23.9 minutes per game in April. While he should still be getting more minutes as the season progresses, just this small uptick in minutes from about 17 minutes per game up to 24 minutes a game has allowed the Celtics to reach a new level.
Since the trade-deadline the Celtics have slowly became one of the most consistent and balanced teams in the NBA. They are posting a 114.8 offensive rating (good for 9th in the NBA) and a 107.5 defensive rating (good for 5th in NBA). The Utah Jazz and Phoenix Suns are the only other teams who are also top 10 in both offensive and defensive rating.
The Boston Celtics are not likely to be a true contender this season, but what once looked like a lost season full of dysfunction, has looked much more promising. The future appears to be brighter with Time Lord finally getting the playing time he deserves.