There were points last season where Grant Williams didn’t even play. Caught in the rip current of the short turnaround, Williams came into the season ill-prepared for the wing role the Celtics needed from him after the Tristan Thompson signing.
Williams’ offseason conversation with Ime Udoka has been well documented. The coach demanded Williams slim down and shoot 40% on 3-pointers, and Grant has done both.
Williams is now up to 44.4% from deep, which is third overall in the NBA, a half percentage point behind PJ Tucker.
So, mission accomplished right? Williams listened to his coach, he hits 3-pointers now, everyone can smile, end of story.
Except, it’s turned into more than that.
Yes, Williams has become a dangerous 3-point shooter. He’s one of seven players who have taken 40 or more corner 3’s making more than 50% of them. His 50.5% is one of the best marks in the league, Williams is best among those higher volume corner 3-point shooters.
Williams is one of 20 players who have taken 97 or more corner 3’s, and he’s the only one shooting better than 50% on them.
But that shooting has allowed Williams to expand his game. Where he started as simply a catch-and-shoot option for Ime Udoka, Williams is now using the threat of his shooting to do more.
“I think obviously when he first game in, he did more so what he was asked: come in, be an energy guy, screen, rebound,” Jayson Tatum said. “He’s shot the ball extremely well and expanded the game. I think he’s obviously a key part of our team in what we’re trying to do moving forward, and just to have another guy that can make plays off the dribble, especially driving close-outs and things like that, everybody feels comfortable with Grant doing that because we see the work he puts in.”
The catch-and-shoot 3’s Williams was making earlier in the year have given him the confidence to hunt his own shot more. No longer is he simply standing and waiting in the corner to either shoot or give it up.
His proven ability to shoot means he can add wrinkles to his 3-point barrage, like faking when a guy closes out to set up a side-step 3.
Williams is starting to hunt for his long-range shots in transition. This play, in particular, stood out not just because he faked a guy out into an open 3, but that he even thought to do it at all.
"To some extent, it's a simple game for him,” Udoka recently said. “Catch-and-shoot. Now that he's the threat that he is, teams are starting to run him off and try to make him make decisions. From there, you're asking him to be a basketball player and make the right read.”
The right read has increasingly become calling his own number, and that has increasingly included attacking those closeouts.
The concept is simple. A good shooter catches the ball, a defender is either out of control or off-balance, and the shooter puts the ball on the floor to make a play. In its simplest version, it looks like this.
That was as easy as it gets. The Nets were in transition with no one at the rim and Williams, because he’s a big threat from deep now, required LaMarcus Aldridge to be up on him. From there, a little fake was just enough to get Aldridge off-balance and Grant got an easy layup.
More often than not, though, there will be a defender waiting for Williams somewhere, and that's where the expanded game is showing itself. First, he’s been able to finish through contact.
And because he’s able to make these finishes, he’s an even bigger threat. Anyone is dangerous in the paint because those are just higher-percentage shots, but Williams is now disrupting two levels of defenders, which opens up passes.
Williams is doing a good job finding not only little dump-offs like that to Robert Williams, but finding his shooters out on the perimeter. Williams is able to be a factor in these lineups where he subs in for Al Horford because of the Horford-esque things he can do. He’s using the space created by his shooters to attack and collapse a defense, and then finding those shooters for good looks.
“Make the right shot and drive and attack and find your outlets,” Udoka said. “That's what we preach to everybody else and obviously because of your shooting ability, guys are trying to get him off and so he's making the right read most of the time. Sneaky athletically a little bit and can finish in there with some strength. But he makes the right read most of the time. Just not complicated, keep it simple and play your game."
Williams’ in-season evolution has been extraordinary and very valuable, but it’s not exclusive to the half court. Williams has proven to be pretty good in transition as well.
He’s not only good at finishing in transition, he’s becoming smarter about drawing fouls as well.
Williams saw a charging defender flying in to try to block his shot so he timed his jump to fly into that defender to get the extra free throw. Williams may have lost some weight, but he’s still a big, strong dude who can absorb some contact and still finish.
The cherry on this sundae came against the Nets, when Grant pulled off this Tatum-esque move.
“That play that he had on the fast break where he slowed down, went for two, stuck his hands out, got the and-one and the layup, I’ve got nothing bad to say about that. That was nice,” Tatum said. “I mean, he shocked himself. He didn’t even know how to react. He just started smiling. But I mean, that shows the evolution of Grant. He’s been working on his game.”
He’s right. Williams couldn't help himself. He was like a kid who lands his first kickflip. He had that “oh my God, I did it! Did you see me do it?” kind of look on his face.
It’s sort of the same look Celtics fans have on their faces, especially the ones who begged for Williams to be traded this offseason. Williams has not only silenced his critics, he’s flipped a few of them into fans because become a knock-down shooter who uses the threat of his 3’s to do a lot more for himself and the team on the floor.
Williams had to earn his time this season, but he’s done that and more with his on-court evolution.