There was a lot for the Celtics brass to be excited about in Las Vegas this month when it comes to their rookie class. Boston put together a strong showing in summer league as a team, highlighted by the scoring of second-round pick Carsen Edwards over the course of five games. There will be a path for bench minutes for the former Purdue standout with a strong training camp but the road to contributing out of the gate may be even more realistic for a fellow rookie.
Grant Williams (13.0 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 36.8% 3-pt) asserted himself quite nicely as a standout defender and strong role offensive piece in summer league as well. In a revamped Celtics frontcourt that is now without its top two stretch shooting options (Marcus Morris, Al Horford) from a year ago, there should be plenty of opportunity at the power forward and center spots.
The expectation for now is that Jayson Tatum will be a de facto starter as a stretch power forward to begin the year but there is a clear chance for minutes behind him with the second unit. Semi Ojeleye will be in the mix for those reps but he will be joined by Williams as a more versatile offensive option at the power forward spot.
In a league that is shifting more and more to small ball late in games, there are going to be plenty of nights when Brad Stevens elects to downsize his lineups to help stick with stretch shooters and spread out his own offense. Boston’s collection of centers does not feature a lot of players that can stretch the floor and guard the perimeter well (Enes Kanter, Robert Williams). Vincent Poirier is an unknown commodity to this point but he projects to be a more traditional big based on his skillset with above-average mobility for his size.
Outside of Daniel Theis (who looked a step slow for a lot of last year) the small ball five-spot does not have a lot of depth in Boston at the moment, which leads to the question. Could 6-foot-6 Grant Williams eventually see some minutes at the position given his elite strength and defensive IQ? I posed the question to Brad Stevens earlier this month.
“I think that he could play that in certain lineups,” Stevens told BSJ. “You are going to have to be awfully big around him if you do that. He's never going to be a high-flyer and he's certainly small for a 4, let alone for a 5 as far as size goes. Length and strength, he's really good. He can hold his own on matchups and then rebounding as a group is really important when you consider that, so you have to be big around him.
The good news for Stevens is that he can prove a lot of that length for Boston on the wing still. A lineup of Walker/Brown/Hayward/Tatum gives the Celtics a stable of switchable lanky wings at the 2-4 spots and they can get even bigger there if Smart is at point guard. This downsized group will struggle against big frontlines on the glass but could make up for it on the offensive end if Williams emerges as an above-average 3-point shooter.
“We've looked at that some and certainly he plays more like maybe Al,” Stevens explained of Williams at the 5. “From the standpoint that he can be play from the top of the key and be a threat from behind the line and be a passer from up there and those type of things.”
The problem for the Celtics from a size perspective (which made bringing guys like Kanter and Poirier in a huge priority this offseason) is playoff teams in the East are playing big more than ever. The Bucks front line remains a monster with Giannis and the Lopez twins, while the Sixers frontcourt of Harris/Horford/Embiid will cause teams plenty of issues. The Raptors still have Gasol/Ibaka/Siakam/Anunoby and the Nets will almost certainly always stay big with DeAndre Jordan or Jarrett Allen.
Given those size mismatches, it’s fair to say we won’t be seeing too much downsizing by Boston against East playoff opponents simply due to necessity. However, as teams or at the bottom of the East go small, Grant Williams may provide an option on that front to maximize spacing for the Celtics offense at center.
The key for an undersized big running the show defensively is a keen understanding of schemes and adapting within the system. The early returns on that were promising in Las Vegas for a rookie according to assistant coach Scott Morrison.
“You can memorize the scout, which some guys will do, but the ideal situation is you have a good common sense about you to navigate that area,” Morrison told BSJ. “Then you also have enough retention to know who was who, even if you haven't seen them before. Taking the scout and being able to tweak it on your own, as to know what spot you have to be in, how hard you have to close out, things like that. I think he has a good shot of being a great defender in terms of the system. Also, he's shown an ability to play guys 1-on-1 in the post that are a little bigger than him because he's strong. He's kept some guys in front in well on switches. If he can switch and be vocal, he's going to be an asset on defense.”
Finished watching Grant Williams' (@Grant2Will) minutes against the 76ers, and he does so much that goes beyond the box score.
From perfect rotations, to tags and talking on defense, he does so much that goes beyond scoring. Quick video below of some clips that stood out below! pic.twitter.com/GkNnb5AE4n
— Spencer (@SKPearlman) July 7, 2019