Tag: robert williams iii

Double big lineups might be back in Boston, with a top analyst hearing Al Horford to play the 4

Can the fan-favorite big man still play as a forward?

For much of the 2020-21 NBA season, fans of the Boston Celtics struggled to endure watching the infamous “double big” lineups pairing emerging center Robert Williams III with veteran big men Daniel Theis and Tristan Thompson in various iterations and levels of effectiveness.

And while Williams’ helped make some of those combinations more functional than others, Celtics fans were not particularly fond of the throwback lineup, to the point it may have eased the pain of moving on from Theis at the 2021 trade deadline — and was practically celebrated in some corners when the Celtics traded away Thompson this offseason.

If you happen to be among those fans you may not be so crazy about what the Athletic’s Jared Weiss has to say about their plans for old friend Al Horford in 2021-22 with regards to Timelord in the lineup. “I expect him to play the four for the most part,” explained Weiss. “That’s generally what I was hearing.”

 

WATCH: The Boston Celtics take a risk with Robert Williams III’s contract extension

Why did the Celtics gamble on Timelord’s health? This video helps explain why.

The Boston Celtics took a calculated risk with a four-year, $54 million extension for rising Boston big man Robert Williams III, with the Texas A&M’s history of missing games to injury the primary concern.

But on the flip side of that coin, Timelord’s space-warping capabilities on both ends of the ball impact games like few players in the league can. Did the Celtics make a good bet, or will this gamble come back to bite them in the end? Celtics Blog’s Keith Smith is joined by fellow “NBA Front Office” podcast co-host Trevor Lane on a recent episode to discuss why Boston made the offer, and how it changes the team’s future.

Watch the clip embedded below to get all the details you could need regarding Timelord’s extension, the Celtics’ team-building possibilities, old friend Rajon Rondo’s situation, Kevin Garnett’s jersey retirement and more.

This post originally appeared on Celtics Wire. Follow us on Facebook!

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Woj: Robert WIlliams III agrees to 4-year, $54 million contract extension with Celtics

Timelord’s time has arrived in Boston.

Boston Celtics starting center Robert Williams III has reportedly agreed to a four-year, $54 million extension according to ESPN NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski. The 23-year-old big man has continuously improved each season of his career while slowly making strides in his health and availability as well.

This on the heels of the $77.1 million Marcus Smart contract extension of the same duration shows a high degree of confidence in the internal development of the team, with Timelord likely seen as a key part of it moving forward. The deal places Williams among the top half of centers in the league in terms of compensation while still looking like a very solid value at an average of $13.5 million per season, providing a hedge against injury for both sides.

Should a blockbuster deal necessitate the painful decision to move on from the Texas A&M product, the deal should be an easy one to move based on his ability to warp opposing teams on both end of the court with his elite athleticism and savvy passing.

The Louisiana native averaged 8 points, 6.9 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 1.8 blocks in 18.9 minutes per game in 2020-21, career highs across the board.

This post originally appeared on Celtics Wire. Follow us on Facebook!

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Celtics embedded media award Marcus Smart, Timelord team’s Defensive Players of the Year

The internal team award honors the duo for their defensive consistency and excellence in 2020-21.

The Boston Celtics two-man panel of embedded media continued with their internal team awards this week by naming Marcus Smart and Robert Williams III as the Celtics’ Defensive Players of the Year, the sole tie in any of the awards being handed out by Taylor Snow and Marc D’Amico.

“This season’s Defensive Player of the Year was such a toss-up that we have declared co-winners in Marcus Smart and Robert Williams,” writes Snow. “Williams stuffed the box score nightly with absurd defensive statistics, while Smart continued to impact the team like he has year-in and year-out with his relentless hustle and gritty, winning plays.”

And while it might have been a bit of an off-year for Smart due to injury, both he and Timelord were indeed Boston’s best defenders over the course of a season that saw the Celtics take a step back on that end of the ball.

This post originally appeared on Celtics Wire. Follow us on Facebook!

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Boston’s Robert Williams III wins Celtics.com’s ‘Sixth Man’ honor for 2020-21 campaign

The hyper-athletic big man has really refined his game.

The two-man panel behind Celtics.com’s 2020-21 season team awards has chosen Robert Williams III as the Boston Celtics’ player most worthy of their “Sixth Man” award, with Timelord garnering the internal honor after putting “forth on a record-setting season while emerging as a rising star,” according to team reporter Taylor Snow.

The Texas A&M product led the team in field-goal percentage (72.1%), blocks per game (1.8), rebounding percentage (20.2 %), block percentage (8.6%), and player efficiency rating (25.7) — the latter rating good enough for eighth-highest in the NBA in 2020-21. Any time one is a peer of the likes of Nikola Jokic, Joel Embiid, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Zion Williamson, Jimmy Butler, Stephen Curry, and Kawhi Leonard, you have to be doing something right on the court.

Williams set a number of records with the Celtics last season, and with better health and conditioning may yet be poised to set more.

Battling through injury to end his season and finding ways to help his team is just one aspect among many the embedded media with Boston chose the Louisiana native as the club’s Sixth Man of the 2020-21 season.

This post originally appeared on Celtics Wire. Follow us on Facebook!

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WATCH: The best of Robert Williams III’s dunks with the Celtics in 2020-21

Timelord’s vertical spacing wreaked havoc on opposing teams in 2020-21.

While Boston Celtics starting big man Robert Williams III took some big steps forward with his overall game in the 2020-21 season from passing to things as simple as improving his availability with better overall health, one of the most fundamental aspects of his offensive package became an even more lethal part of his arsenal to unleash on opposing teams.

That of course would be his trademark high-flying slam dunks, which Williams regularly let loose on lobs and putbacks, drawing in the defenses of Boston’s opponents to prevent an easy make and a painfully emphatic poster from demoralizing their players.

Celtics YouTube chronicler Tomasz Kordylewski put together a highlight clip of all of Timelord’s best flushes from the 2020-21 NBA season that we’ve embedded below for your viewing pleasure.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27UC_2R4YTo

With more rest, improved health, and a new head coach to maximize his skillsets in 2021-22, we may well see Williams take his game a step futher.

Not a development likely to be very popular with the other 29 teams in the league.

This post originally appeared on Celtics Wire. Follow us on Facebook!

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WATCH: The best of Boston’s Robert Williams III’s blocks in 2020-21

Timelord’s timing is better than ever around the rim.

Boston Celtics starting center Robert Williams III blocked more shots per game in the 2020-21 NBA season than in either of his two prior seasons in the league, earned through more playing time as the Texas A&M product has evolved into a fearsome presence for opposing teams on both ends of the court.

Timelord’s timing has only gotten better with seasoning in the league, producing a career-high 1.8 blocks per game with the Celtics last season. That he’s done it while hitting career highs in scoring (8.0 points per game), rebounding (6.9 boards per contest) and assists as well (1.8 per game) in 2020-21 is all the more impressive.

Watch the best of Williams’ blocks last season in this supercut created by Celtics YouTuber Tomasz Kordylewski embedded below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdKsINvNfPE

We’ll soon see Timelord back on the court with hopefully healthy hips and toes to take his game to even more lofty heights than the airspace he occupied last season.

This post originally appeared on Celtics Wire. Follow us on Facebook!

WATCH: The best of Boston’s Robert Williams III’s blocks in 2020-21

Timelord’s timing is better than ever around the rim.

Boston Celtics starting center Robert Williams III blocked more shots per game in the 2020-21 NBA season than in either of his two prior seasons in the league, earned through more playing time as the Texas A&M product has evolved into a fearsome presence for opposing teams on both ends of the court.

Timelord’s timing has only gotten better with seasoning in the league, producing a career-high 1.8 blocks per game with the Celtics last season. That he’s done it while hitting career highs in scoring (8.0 points per game), rebounding (6.9 boards per contest) and assists as well (1.8 per game) in 2020-21 is all the more impressive.

Watch the best of Williams’ blocks last season in this supercut created by Celtics YouTuber Tomasz Kordylewski embedded below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdKsINvNfPE

We’ll soon see Timelord back on the court with hopefully healthy hips and toes to take his game to even more lofty heights than the airspace he occupied last season.

This post originally appeared on Celtics Wire. Follow us on Facebook!

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WATCH: How many NBA cities can three Boston Celtics name in 24 seconds?

It’s probably harder than you think, under pressure.

You might think it an easy thing for a professional basketball player with multiple seasons in the league to be able to name the cities of the team theirs has played against, but it seems the exercise is harder than it looks.

A trio of Boston Celtics tried their hand at the exercise in a fun new clip produced by the team, with big men Tacko Fall and Robert Williams III joining guard Carsen Edwards in competing to see who can recall the most in 24 seconds. All three do okay (note to Boston’s production crew — “Golden State” is not a city), but one of the trio is a cut above the others, even if you discount a particular questionable answer.

Watch the clip embedded below to see which of the three is most geographically inclined when it comes to recalling the home towns of the teams they play.

This post originally appeared on Celtics Wire. Follow us on Facebook!

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Boston Celtics 2020-21 individual players grades: Robert Williams III

Just how good was Timelord this season, taking into account how much time he missed?

Now that the 2020-21 Boston Celtics season is firmly in the rear-view mirror, it’s possible to spend some time taking stock of how each player did with the opportunity he had.

To that end, we are grading every player who put in time on the basketball court for the Celtics this season, including all 15 members of the regular roster, both two-way players and the players the team cut or traded away. That’s 21 players altogether, and today’s focus is starting center Robert Williams III. The hyper-vertical big man has struggled to stay on the floor due to injury throughout his pro career, but has also started to flash some truly transcendent play this season.

Let’s assess his performance in the 2020-21 NBA season.