Robert Williams, who has been one of the league’s breakout stars this year and in the conversation for a first-team All-Defense nod, has reportedly suffered a torn meniscus in his left knee and could miss several weeks.
The news is a tough blow for a team whose defense is built partly around Williams roaming as a help-defender to block shots and deter drives. Also, his threat as a roller on offense has opened up lanes and kick-outs for 3-pointers, making him one of the most valuable players on the Celtics roster.
The team has yet to make an official announcement for a timeline, so there is still a lot up in the air. Not all meniscus tears are the same, and some can be treated without surgery and others require some level of intervention to heal.
“A meniscus tear will not heal on its own,” said sports medicine doctor and BSJ contributor Dr. Jessica Flynn. “ We can sometimes get the knee to quiet down with some rehab and maybe offseason surgery or just live with it with some minor symptoms if we strengthen all around the knee.
“Or is it something that would just be shaved down? They shave out the tear and sort of recontour the meniscus so that it's less likely to tear again. It's always better if we can repair it in a younger patient because that means you're not taking out some of the cartilage, but it's not often possible. So the recovery is very different.”
Depending on the severity, a torn meniscus can take a few weeks to a few months to heal. This is obviously a wide swath of schedule that changes a lot of what the Celtics might do to try to make up for the loss of Williams.
The playoffs begin in about three weeks, beginning Saturday, April 16. The most optimistic timeline for Williams' return would potentially have him back at some point in that series, which would be a 3-4 week timeline that involves rehab and strengthening. If this is the case, Williams will likely have offseason surgery.
If they determine he needs surgery, then the question will be how large the tear is.
“There are some tears that we just know need surgery,” Dr. Flynn said. “If they're really big or if they're causing mechanical problems where the knee is locking up, we know those need surgery. But there are some that are smaller that we don't necessarily have to jump to surgery for. So it may be the case where they decide to give them some time but the MRI is really the most important thing.”
The recovery time from a surgical procedure could be anywhere from 4-8 weeks to season-ending.
The good news, Dr. Flynn explained, is that whenever Williams returns to the floor, there should be no impact on his athleticism.
“I'm not worried about explosiveness or anything like that,” she said.
As we wait for the official word on the course of action, the Celtics will have to figure out how to make up for losing him. At first blush, it is a serious blow to Boston’s chances. However, Boston does have other options to try to minimize the loss of Williams.
First, this adds significant importance to Al Horford staying healthy and giving Boston significant playoff minutes. According to Cleaning the Glass, lineups with Horford on the floor and Williams off it are +12.9 overall. The issue is that the two of them together are +22.1, and that 10 point drop off could be what wins and loses playoff games.
The acquisition of Daniel Theis now looms as a potentially pivotal one. While obviously not the threat Williams is, Theis can play a similar role and he has proven he can anchor a good defense in Boston. This a different defense than Brad Stevens played, though, so these next few weeks will be important for getting Theis up to speed.
It’s also important to remember that while Boston starts with two bigs, they don’t play that way the whole game, so there are some adjustments the Celtics can make to work other guys into roles to make up for the Williams loss. For example, Jayson Tatum slid down a spot to cover Karl-Anthony Towns on some possessions and he did it effectively. While you don’t want to overload your MVP candidate and take too much away from his offense, it’s something he can do in spots against certain forwards.
Grant Williams has played small-ball 5 before and can slide back into that in some situations. Jaylen Brown can slide into that role for stretches as well.
This is a tough loss for Boston and it takes away a significant piece of Boston’s recent success. There is some hope, if this is a small tear, that coming back a month from now will put Williams back into the mix during the first or second round of the playoffs. That's not a guarantee, but at least for now, the possibility still exists.
