Tag: robert williams iii

Evaluating the fantasy potential of the Boston Celtics’ youth movement

Locked On Fantasy’s Josh Lloyd recently evaluated the Boston Celtics’ youth movement from a fantasy basketball perspective.

The Boston Celtics demonstrated they are a contender again with their performance over the 2019-20 NBA season so far, but how are the better players on the roster as far as fantasy basketball options?

Locked On Fantasy — hosted by Josh Lloyd — recently released a podcast focusing on Boston’s younger players for fantasy value, and while there’s no games in the 2019-20 fantasy basketball season while games are also suspended in the NBA, Lloyd still had plenty to say on Boston’s roster.

The obvious place to start is the massive step forward taken by forward Jayson Tatum this season.

His numbers have jumped considerably along with his real-world production, pushing the Duke product, “from a guy that’s never been a top 60 player in his first two seasons, to where he’s on the fringe of top 20 now and is going to be top 15 moving forward” — heady praise indeed.

He also notes steals have gone from a respectable 1 per game to 1.5 per contest, and his rebounds making an impressive leap from “5 or 6 to 7 or 8” per game.

That his 3-pointers have jumped from 1.3 per game to nearly 3 has been another boon, and the scoring — up to roughly 28 points per contest over the last 20 games from 15.7 per game — especially so.

That Tatum has boosted his trips to the charity stripe as well is an excellent sign the St. Louis native’s progress isn’t fools gold, according to Lloyd, nearly doubling from 2.9 to 4.7.

The Locked On Fantasy host doubts the 44.8% 3-point shooting clip will continue, but is confident 40% is sustainable long-term. Ultimately, this adds up to a top-15 player with potential to crack the top-10 for Lloyd.

The fantasy basketball podcast host notes fellow Celtics wing denizen Jaylen Brown has shaped into a quality fantasy option as well this season, jumping from 182nd to 57th, largely through increased usage (21.4% his second season to to 24.7% this season) and improved true shooting.

On the latter count, he improved from .547 to .589, with his free throw percentage jumping from 65.8 % to 73.6%. His rebounding went up from 4.2 to 6.4 per game as well, which hasn’t hurt his fantasy stock.

He could improve in a number of areas, yet still has become a very good player. Getting to about 80% from the line would bump Brown up “another 10 spots at least”, and increasing the volume of 3-point shots would also help.

As for the rest of the younger end of roster, there are no clear values yet, but a few have caught Lloyd’s radar.

Robert Williams III intrigues, but can’t stay on the court. Blocks (of course), steals and field goal percentage are areas to watch for Time Lord, but the health is clearly paramount.

If he can average 20 minutes per game consistently, a top-100 player could be in the making.

The other Williams — rookie forward Grant — has also caught Lloyd’s attention.

“[Williams] didn’t hit a three for what felt like the first two months of the season, but then did start to come on and start to hit them; [He also hits] half a steel half a block in 16 minutes; they’re not great numbers, but again, they do translate out to one per 30 minutes.”

According to Lloyd, “good [things] happen when Williams is on the court”, with outstanding defense for a rookie, and while his offense needs work, he believes the Tennessee product will be Boston’s “starting power forward of the future” with Paul Millsap-like production an absolute best-case outcome.

Two way point guard Tremont Waters is another Celtic that has the fantasy analyst’s attention with his ability to play within his role but also take on a bigger role when needed at the NBA level.

His G League stats with the Maine Red Claws were good too — 18 points, 3.2 boards, 7.3 assists and 2 steals per game at the developmental league level with a not-improbable outcome of a backup guard in the NBA good for around 20 minutes per game.

Javonte Green, Semi Ojeleye and Carsen Edwards are all singled out as poor fantasy options who may also find themselves out of the league if they don’t improve on both ends of the floor, and while forward Romeo Langford hasn’t played enough for a good evaluation, his defense at least is intriguing.

While the lion’s share of praise fell on the Jay Team, that Grant and Robert Williams (no relation) were cast in such a favorable light is refreshing after former Memphis Grizzlies executive John Hollinger shredded the younger end of a young roster in a recent piece.

While several Celtics still on their rookie deals have a lot of work to do if they want to remain in the league after those deals end, there’s some hope in Lloyd’s estimation for most — and some high potential ceilings to live up to for the rest.

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Ex-Grizzlies exec unimpressed with Boston’s 2019-20 rookies

Ex-Memphis Grizzlies executive and current analyst for The Athletic John Hollinger isn’t very high on the Boston Celtics’ 2019-20 rookies.

After the way their inaugural season went, it’s hard to blame The Athletic’s John Hollinger for his lack of enthusiasm for the Boston Celtics 2019-20 rookie class.

In their defense, they’ve been thrown on a top-five team on both ends of the floor and have been asked to make meaningful contributions in many cases that they simply weren’t ready to do at this stage of their career — and not many first-year players can stay on the floor long anyway.

Hollinger’s gripes are all legitimate ones, though it tends to read as someone who hasn’t spent the same degree of detail watching the class grow and adapt to what has been a fairly bumpy season for some.

Forward Grant Williams got the best review of any Celtics rookie, and while he was actually a significant part of Boston’s rotation, it didn’t exactly floor the former Griz front office member.

“Williams was the most effective in the regular season because he has a high basketball IQ and plays solid defense,” opined Hollinger. “Offensively, however, he’s a total zero, and his glaring weaknesses as a shooter and ballhandler are going to really hurt him in a playoff series.”

Hollinger doesn’t think Williams’ shooting will be coming along any time soon regardless of whether he’s put that terrible cold streak to start his pro career behind him or not.

But he’s not ruling out the Tennessee product getting to the point of being a consistent jump-shooting threat, either.

Guard Carsen Edwards, conversely, is cast as the stereotypical Summer League success story of smaller, trigger-happy gloves who can’t replicate the success they had in Las Vegas at the NBA level. “He’s very small and not really a point guard, so he has to rain fire to have value,” notes Hollinger.

The former exec grants the team’s highest pick — wing Romeo Langford — some slack for the myriad injuries incurred throughout the course of his Celtics tenure.

But he also picked on him for getting only six assists (and while he may have missed a lot of games, that is a low number) and his low rebound rate despite standing 6-foot-6.

He did not mention Langford’s impressive growth as a defender, especially late in the season where he handled some very difficult matchups in short stints — even LeBron James — effectively.

In fact, if he had his way, Hollinger would try packaging Langford with all three of Boston’s 2020 first-round draft picks in a bid to land Atlanta Hawks big man John Collins.

While he isn’t all the way off the island of Danny Ainge’s 2019 draft selections, it’s clear there is a common theme.

Defense matters little in Hollinger’s metrics on what the Celtics need from these prospects, and playoff playability — and shooting in particular — being the key for all three to claim a major role in this team’s success.

The Athletic analyst is big on Time Lord, the second-year center more commonly known as Robert Williams.

The Texas A&M product has had “unbelievable stretches of play this season” and “seems ready to take on a much larger role”, but ought to be a much bigger part of what Boston is doing going forward according to Hollinger.

A fair if not exactly glowing assessment of Boston’s incoming draft picks playing significant minutes at the NBA level.

But also a tough — but not insuperable — path for Langford, Edwards and Williams to traverse if they want a long career in this league.

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WATCH: the best of Robert Williams III’s return to action

Boston Celtics second-year center Robert Williams III was just rounding back into form before the shutdown after an extended absence ot injury.

We were just beginning to see Time Lord — as center Robert Williams III has been so dubbed — get back into the groove he had going on before injury knocked him out of action for several months of the 2019-20 NBA season.

Then, the coronavirus shut things down.

The Texas A&M product had begun to show off a nascent passing game and some away-from-the-basket offensive to go with his incredible hops and highlight-reel blocks.

Perhaps even more intriguing was his growth on defense and as a decision-maker, committing fewer of the defensive mistakes that would see him get benched in his rookie season.

While he’s still got plenty of rough edges in need of regular minutes to smooth out the kinks in his game, the steps forward made by the former Aggie ought to get Boston fans excited for his potential as a starter in the future.

And until that future arrives for those of us without the ability to warp time and space, watch the video above to see the best of Time Lord so far this season.

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Missing March Madness: Carsen Edwards, Timelord win in the first round

With no NBA or NCAA basketball, we’re looking back at how current Boston Celtics did in the big dance on the anniversary of the games.

As part of our efforts at the Celtics Wire to keep ourselves busy without any NBA or NCAA basketball, we’re taking a look back at the performance of current Boston Celtics during their college days.

While not everyone on Boston’s roster made it into the big dance due to back luck, injuries, or getting started on another continent, 12 of the team’s 17 players have had at least some experience with the collegiate game’s biggest event.

So we’re looking back on those games on their anniversaries, and March 16th has three games played in the big dance by current Celtics — a pair for guard Carsen Edwards and another for center Robert Williams III.

Let’s start with the Timelord, who saw his Texas A&M Aggies advance against the Providence Friars, who fell 73-69 to the Aggies.

Williams’ 13 points, 14 rebounds and 2 blocks helped make it happen on this day in 2018.

Rookie guard Carsen Edwards played in the NCAA tournament twice on this date, both victories for his Purdue Boilermakers.

The first of the two games was a win over the Vermont Catamounts in the round of 64 in 2017.

The Catamounts conducted themselves well as a 13-seed against 4-seed Purdue, but fell 80-70 as they were outclassed with the Boilermakers’ deep reserve of talent — and Edwards’ 12 points off the bench.

The second of the Texan guard’s March 16th Tournament games was against the Cal State Fullerton Titans in 2018, and by then Edwards was elevated to a starter.

Scoring 15 points for the Boilermakers, Purdue would crush the Titans 74-48 in the first-round win.

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Injury report: Jaylen Brown OUT vs. Indy: Robert Williams probable

Boston Celtics fourth-year shooting guard Jaylen Brown will remain out against the Indiana Pacers with a strained right hamstring, while second-year center Robert Williams III is probable with a sore lower back.

Boston Celtics starting shooting guard Jaylen Brown will miss another game due to his strained right hamstring and will not play in the team’s Mar. 10 contest with the Indiana Pacers, according to the franchise.

Brown, who injured his leg in the Mar. 3 loss to the Brooklyn Nets, has been taking a cautious approach with the injury due to the fact that hamstring strains are very easy to reinjure, and that Brown has had that injury in the past.

With the postseason just under a month distant, Boston has been playing exceptionally safe with the health of key players like the Georgia native, and teammate Kemba Walker’s knee, which saw the UConn product miss much of February as the Bronx native recuperated from the sidelines.

Second-year center Robert Williams III, who himself recently returned from a near-three month absence to a bruised hip, was listed by the team as probable with lower back pain after falling in Sunday’s 105-104 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Boston will likely need the frontcourt depth against the Pacers’ big man duo of Domantas Sabonis and Myles Turner, each of whom presents unique coverage challenges for the Celtics.

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Ready to return, Robert Williams III ‘wants to windmill’ on every dunk

Itching to get back on the court after an extended absence, Boston Celtics second-year center Robert Williams III wants to return to his high-flying ways.

Boston Celtics center Robert Williams III is nearly ready to return from an extended absence.

Waylaid by a bone bruise in his hip since early December, the Texas A&M product has been itching to get back in action.

Williams, however, has followed doctor’s orders and stayed entirely away from basketball activities until recently — something which has not sat well with the big man.

Given the go-ahead to gradually increase the intensity of participation in the sort of high-energy, extra-bouncy style of play the shot-blocking rim-runner has made a name for himself with, the Louisianian is expected to return to action on or around the first of March.

That date falls about a week ahead of one of the toughest remaining stretches of schedule left to Boston.

Starting on March 6th, Boston faces the Utah Jazz, Oklahoma City Thunder, Indiana Pacers and Milwaukee Bucks in less than a week’s time.

Luckily for Williams, the two games closest to his anticipated return are against the Brooklyn Nets on Mar. 3 and the Cleveland Cavaliers the following night — two teams with a diverse mix of bigs that the Celtics should beat regardless of how ready Time Lord is to return.

“There’s no limitations on anything I’m doing,” said Williams, reports the Athletic’s Jay King. “I want to windmill every time I dunk, but I’ve still got to be cautious a little bit, you know what I’m saying?”

The Shreveport native might want to get his feet wet against Brooklyn’s Jarrett Allen and now-Cavalier Andre Drummond before he breaks out those windmills in live-game action.

He’ll have some time with the team in the coming weeks to get up to speed on most of his conditioning, though.

Head coach Brad Stevens shared that the former Aggie will join Boston on their west coast road trip even though he won’t play, and will be checked yet again to be sure his healing has remained on track, relates NBC Sports Boston’s Chris Forsberg.

The second-year center has been looking good in practice according to Stevens, and with that comes fans’ rising expectations — despite the long absence.

If Celtics fans have been antsy for Time Lord’s return to action, they aren’t alone in daydreaming about how his skillset could help Boston.

 

Fans should temper expectations given Time Lord´s long break and likely imperfect conditioning. Still, just having another option to deploy against opposing team’s frontcourts will be a boon for the Celtics, even if only for short stints.

Though their frontcourt may be better off than many assumed to start the season, Williams’ unique skillset — particularly a nascent passing game he flashed before his injury — opens up new ways of playing on both ends of the court.

After so long away from the game, it seems being able to contribute to his team on either end of the court can’t come soon enough for the 22-year old big man.

And while it’s hard not to get too excited thinking about what a rejuvenated Time Lord could unleash on Boston’s opponents, it’s not hard at all to be happy to see him back on the court.

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Langford’s emergence, Timelord’s return key ahead of tough stretch

With center Robert Williams III poised to return after the All-Star game and rookie wing Romeo Langford making a real impact, Boston’s tough February is looking brighter.

The Boston Celtics might not have added anyone to the roster at the 2020 NBA trade deadline, but they might have some different players on the floor making unanticipated impacts anyway.

Boston’s deployment of rookie Romeo Langford for the most minutes of his career in the wake of a number of injuries Feb. 7 paid off unexpectedly well, with the Indiana native matching his career-high burn with the most points he’s scored yet at the NBA level.

His 16 points, 5 rebounds and three blocks were the strongest signal yet the Celtics may have made one of the sneakiest shrewd moves by gambling on the oft-injured wing in the 2019 NBA Draft.

More importantly, he’s not even the only player “joining” Boston who could have a significant impact on their fortunes just as the difficulty of the schedule starts to ramp up.

That honor falls to second-year center Robert Williams III, who has been out since December with a bone-bruised hip.

Timelord has had plenty of time off to get his bottom half in good order, and was already starting to turn heads with some unexpected passing chops and near-basket jumpers.

As the Celtics get ready to dive into one of the toughest stretches of the season, facing the Oklahoma City Thunder, Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Clippers and Lakers, Utah Jazz and Portland Trailblazers before a rematch with the Rockets to close out the month, they’ll need all the help they can get.

Only the Minnesota Timberwolves loom in what’s left of February as a sub- .500 team, so news Williams would likely return to 5-on-5 practice after All-Star week should be most welcome news for Boston fans.

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The Celtics may yet make minor improvements around the margins with buyout options should one seem a good mutual fit.

But, despite making no moves ahead of this year’s trade deadline, Boston may be “adding” young, capable talent that will help preserve their stars for the postseason even if they aren’t likely to see many minutes in the actual postseason.

And given those new options didn’t cost a single additional asset, that’s a pretty solid boost to a roster that will need it.

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WATCH: Robert Williams has a unique take on his favorite holiday movie

For Timelord, it may be that all holidays blur together. Whatever the reason, Robert Williams has an unusual take on favorite holiday movies.

When you’re able to manipulate the fabric of space and time the way Timelord can, you’re bound to have a different perspective on things, it seems.

Robert Williams III, as he’s better known as, had quite the interesting response to a question posed to him and his teammates:

What is their favorite holiday movie?

There were plenty of standards, like Elf, a favorite of forward Gordon Hayward and center Enes Kanter and This Christmas, beloved by swingman Jayson Tatum and rookie guard Carsen Edwards.

Wing Romeo Langford is a fan of The Grinch, and point guard Kemba Walker and big man Tacko Fall are into Home Alone.

Shooting guard Jaylen Brown is into Friday After Next as far as holiday movies go, but Williams is just…different.  Watch the video above to find out why that is.

In fairness, his favorite technically is a holiday movie, after all.

Injury report: Robert Williams III is still on the mend as he nurses a sore ankle

The Boston Celtics may be best served by holding Robert Williams III out against the Sacramento Kings on Sunday.

According to the Boston Celtics’ injury report, second-year center Robert Williams III has been listed as questionable against the Sacramento Kings on Sunday as he continues to nurse a sore right ankle.

After missing a contest against the Washington Wizards on Wednesday due to his ankle injury, Williams was nearly held out of Boston’s last game — a narrow victory over the Golden State Warriors — because of the same injury. Though he would suit up, he would play just 10 minutes — the second-fewest minutes of any player from either side — as he continued to deal with ankle soreness.

After Boston’s victory, Celtics head coach Brad Stevens would say that “[Williams] was available but kind of with an asterisk” (per The Athletic’s Jay King).

In the grand scheme, Boston will have bigger fish to fry than the Kings, who sit at 4-7 and are at the bottom of the Western Conference standings. While every game presents players and the team with a chance to improve, the best ability is availability and by taking precautions against aggravating his ankle injury, Williams could ensure that he’s able to stay on the court for a longer stretch down the line.

The big man is averaging 5.2 points (on 77.8% shooting from the field), 4.9 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.4 blocks in 15.3 minutes per game this season, all career-highs.

Injury Report: Robert Williams III, Daniel Theis downgraded to out vs. Wizards

With Boston Celtics centers Robert Williams III and Daniel Theis out, Celtics head coach Brad Stevens will have to rely on a pair of rookies to help protect the rim in their absence.

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Per an announcement from the Boston Celtics, centers Robert Williams III (right ankle sprain) and Daniel Theis (little finger sprain) won’t be suiting up against the Washington Wizards.

Theis was listed as questionable as recently as Tuesday and Celtics head coach Brad Stevens appeared hopeful that Theis could play after shootaround, per Boston.com. Though team doctors have held him out against Washington, Boston will face off against the hobbled Golden State Warriors on Nov. 15, a game in which he may return.

Williams wasn’t listed on yesterday’s injury report and Stevens said nothing after shootaround to indicate that he wouldn’t be playing. So, the injury seems to have occurred shortly before the team’s scheduled  7:30 p.m. ET tipoff.

Though Theis and Williams bring similar elements to the game in terms of their rim-protection and rim-running ability, they’re largely different players with Williams playing the part of an extraordinary athlete and elite shot-blocker (as well as finisher) and Theis being a heady pivot who can stretch the floor.

Without either center available, Celtics center Enes Kanter — who started in the season opener — may open the game in the starting unit with either Vincent Poirier or Grant Williams (or both) playing the five when he’s off the floor.