Boston Celtics second-year forward Grant Williams gave an assessment of his team after practice on Sunday, speaking with the media about the changes in the roster and team chemistry with a franchise who found unexpected success rooted in the relationships the Celtics forged with one another in 2019-20.
The Tennessee product saw about as tumultuous of a rookie campaign as could reasonably be imagined with the pandemic, hiatus and Disney bubble restart, and acquitted himself well as a player despite it. Heading into the coming season more than a year older than at the start of the last, Williams took stock of this iteration of the team.
Brad Stevens: Pritchard back at practice, finger issue not serious https://t.co/EE502ZNfaK
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) December 13, 2020
“We’ve had some minor changes in terms of probably four guys; we’ve lost the four guys we gained, and luckily we had a lot of great guys as well.
“We miss Brad [Wanamaker], we miss Enes [Kanter]; we miss guys that we had that camaraderie with last year. But Tristan is funny — he’s a great dude, in terms of being a great vet as well as Jeff [Teague], who might be a little bit more on the quiet side, but you know that he’s competitive and also a guy that will be there for you. It doesn’t seem like he’s too focused on himself; it’s more focused on winning on the team.”
“And then the rookies,” Williams added, “they’re good nerdy kids so they’re kind of just here here for the run and smiling every chance they get.”
Tristan Thompson explains that pro-Celtics tweet from 10 years ago https://t.co/GCBu2igIbU
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) December 13, 2020
From the sounds of things, the new additions are meshing quite well into the existing team chemistry ahead of the start of the 2020-21 campaign, which will help leverage lessons learned by the returning team to use with the veteran leadership and novel skillsets brought on by the four new players.
Given the hectic pace of an abbreviated league calendar and the continued rehabilitation of both Kemba Walker and Romeo Langford, Boston will need to lean on such familiar relationships to weather a brutal start to their next run at an NBA title.
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