It has been quite an interesting season for Grant Williams. He started out as one of the Boston sharpshooters in an offense that was cooking. He shot 44.4% from deep in December, but that number dipped to 36.5% in January, and 32.5% in February.
Suddenly, his playing time dwindled. There were a couple of DNP-coach’s decisions and a couple more games that could have been had Williams not come off the bench for garbage time.
“You can only control your approach and how you respond,” Williams said at the time of his first benching. “Joe (Mazzulla) and those guys have their reasons and their focus, so for me it’s just a matter of maintaining that perspective and understanding that it’s not necessarily on the floor that I need to prove myself, you just prove yourself in the work that you put in, working out, playing as hard as you can in practices … and continuing to stay ready in case your number is called.”
Ultimately, his number was called again, and he’s back to hitting the shots Boston needs him to make. He shot just under 40% from 3 again in March, but with a little bit of a twist.
He took 5.9 shots per game, last month, 4.1 of those being 3-pointers, leaving 1.8 2-pointers per game. That was about the same difference from February, but in November, December, and January, he was taking between two and three 2-pointers per game.
A lot of those were floaters and other shots that the Celtics maybe didn’t need. Since his return, he’s largely been cutting those out of his repertoire, basically sticking to 3-pointers and finishing dump-offs or putbacks around the basket.
“For a guy in my position, you just do what comes to you during the game,” Williams told Boston Sports Journal before the team left for tomorrow’s game in Philadelphia. “Sometimes that might permit the things you worked on that summer. I’ve had moments and glimpses this year of things that I've worked on in certain games where it's been necessary, while other games might just be the same role that you always have been in. So for me, it's just a matter of making sure that nothing is taken over the priority of winning. And that's something that I've kept in priority my entire season.”
Williams hasn’t just cut out some of the more ambitious shots from his profile lately, he has also cut out some of the on-court antics. Gone are the post 3-pointer celebrations and demonstrative confrontations with the officials in favor of a more subdued, business-like approach.
“I'm still myself. (I’m just not trying to be) a distraction in a way,” he said. “Still doing all the little things I'm doing. You still talk to the officials and still do everything, but it might not be as excessive … The best way I do it, is always just kind of speak to them privately on the side after a call is made and stuff like that. And you still have your natural reactions every now and again, but that's been tempered a bit.”
Williams has to prepare for an important role for the Celtics playoff run. He is a versatile defender who will likely remind everyone tomorrow night of his real value to this team. The Sixers are a team with tough matchups for Williams all over the floor, but he has handled those extraordinarily well.
But this might also be his last playoff run with Boston. There's a strong chance he’s back with the Celtics on a new contract, but restricted free agency does bring with it a question about whether he’s back next season. There may be a temptation to get a little selfish along the way and show teams that your bag is deeper than the role will allow, but Williams says he’s not focused on making any personal statements.
“I know I'm gonna be taking care of one way or the other, whether it's here or anywhere else after this year is done,” Williams told BSJ. “There's nothing more for me to prove. And I've just tried to continue to do whatever it takes to help this team win. That's always been my main focus and priority. It's never been my focus on what I can do to make myself look good because at the end of the day, everything I do is to help this team. Whether it's on or off the floor. I try my best to defend whatever player I'm asked to defend, shoot whatever shot I'm asked to take … it's always been about making sure that winning is the priority, and that's been my ultimate goal.”
Here’s the full 1-on-1 with Williams. It has been slightly edited for clarity.
BSJ: How's your arm?
Grant Williams: It's fine. Better.
BSJ: I want to talk everything you went through, getting some DNPs and stuff like that. How do you feel coming out of that right now?
GW: Just continue to put in the work in, continue to put in work that got you to be where you are now. That's kind of how you approach it. You can't really think too much about the woes of the season or the highs of the season. So for me, it's just been about just try and do what it takes to help this team win, whether that's on or off the floor.
BSJ: I’ve noticed that since you’ve gotten your role back, for the most part, you seem more businesslike out there. Is that an accurate way to kind of depict that?
GW: Yeah, I'm still myself. Just kinda, you're just doing your best to not be, I guess, a distraction in a way. I don't know. Still doing all the little things I'm doing. You still talk to the officials and still do everything, but it might not be as excessive or, quote, like observant as most. The best way I do it, is always just kind of speak to them privately on the side after a call is made and stuff like that. And you still have your natural reactions every now and again, but that's been tempered a bit, I feel like.
BSJ: Is that a message that the team sent you, or you got privately, or you just kind of came to it yourself?
GW: None of that. Team hasn't said anything about that. Came to it just on my own, just saying like, at the end of the day, you just got to do everything to control your outcome of playing. You can't allow any excuse to be made about why you're not on the floor.
BSJ: How hard is it to not let your contract situation play a role? You're obviously a restricted free agent. You want to show what you got out there. But the team has asked you to play certain roles. How hard is it to not get caught up in the business side?
GW: It hasn't been hard the whole season, you know? For me, I know I'm gonna be taking care of one way or the other, whether it's here or anywhere else after this year is done. So that's how I approach it the entire season -- is that I've proved myself in this league. There's nothing more for me to prove. And I've just tried to continue to do whatever it takes to help this team win. That's always been my main focus and priority. It's never been my focus on what I can do to make myself look good because at the end of the day, everything I do is to help this team. Whether it's on or off the floor. I try my best to defend whatever player I'm asked to defend, shoot whatever shot I'm asked to take. I'm actually encouraged to shoot more, which is funny because you look at a guy who's in his contract year, normally you got to have him stop shooting. But for me, it's always been about making sure that winning is the priority, and that's been my ultimate goal.
BSJ: You're a young guy, and you don't know how this business is gonna go. You'd be a Celtic forever and you could be gone next summer. How do you balance that ‘I'm gonna go and add to my game and try to be the best player I can be’ with ‘I know I need to do certain things to help the team?’ You’re a very team-oriented guy, but business is business. I know you just said you didn't mix business, but also in the summer you’ve got to add to your game and try to grow as a player, right?
GW: Yeah, but at the same time, I'm trying to look at it -- it comes out in spurts. If you look at any player, whenever you think about a guy growing up, you always say 'don't practice the move that you just learned the day before in the next game.' Those players are the ones who typically don't have the feel, don't necessarily understand, unless they have the freedom, you know? If you have the freedom to do so and you don't get taken out for it and all that sort of stuff. Joel Embiid can come out tomorrow and do some fade away, turn around with his left hand, and no one would look at him crazy. But for a guy in my position, you just do what comes to you during the game. And sometimes that might permit the things you worked on that summer. I’ve had moments and glimpses this year of things that I've worked on in certain games where it's been necessary, while other games might just be the same role that you always have been in. So for me, it's just a matter of making sure that nothing is taken over the priority of winning. And that's something that I've kept in priority my entire season.
BSJ: What was the hardest part about going through what you went through? Did you know going into games that you weren’t going to play or did it just kind of go that way.
GW: The hardest part probably was just, you know, you want to help the team win. And you can't really necessarily do that as much when you're off the floor. But you got to find ways to do that. For me, making an impact on the game has always been about the ultimate goal of winning. And so when you're not out there, it's tough to do that. And that was probably the more frustrating part and more difficult part. In regards to knowing whether or not you're gonna be playing or not, that's coach's job and role that I didn't see. So I've learned, especially in the years I've been with this team, in this league, you can only control what you can. So if you're trying to control the things you can't, you're gonna drive yourself insane and you're gonna derail the rest of the stuff that you're working on. So every day I've just focused on just making sure that I'm the best me I could possibly be for not only myself but for this team.
BSJ: What's been the best part? Is there a best part? Is there something you can look back at right now and say ‘you know what, I’m better for it?’
GW: Not really. You just kind of just, you come come, you take the blows as they go, you know? No fight is one sided. There's going to be a chance where you might get hit and stunned and you might as well be ready to get knocked out in any war you go into. So for me, I just make sure I don't get knocked out and I keep my head over water.
BSJ: Let me get a couple of questions about the CBA because that's now done. How do you feel those negotiations went from the player side? Were you satisfied with how they went?
GW: Absolutely. Very encouraged. We looked at the collective, we do a great job protecting everyone top to bottom. And it's super exciting just because of the fact that we're able to move forward and have great opportunities as businessmen, we're able to move forward and make the league better competitively as a whole. And it's exciting to just be able to incite that competitive bounce across the league.
BSJ: This is your first time going through it as part of the union. What was the collective bargaining agreement process like for you?
GW: It's definitely a unique experience. You don't know what to expect when you're going into it. You have to manage a bunch of personalities, but you also have to making sure that you prioritize certain details within the CBA because if you can't necessarily accomplish everything that you want to accomplish every single year, you know so you have to make sure you have an understanding what you need to accomplish now or more urgently in what you can accomplish down the line.