What is Robert Williams’ Full Potential?
So Robert Williams III has been a somewhat injury prone Celtic over the first two years of his young NBA career. This season was especially rough, as lots of fans expected him to make a name for himself in the rotation. These injuries could prove to be a real issue for Williams, who’s game depends on his agility and explosiveness. However, the NBA has seen vastly different sides to the story in terms of injuries derailing the career of an NBA big man.
On one side of the coin, there’s guys like Greg Oden and Nerlens Noel. Both suffered major injuries in the first few years of their NBA careers. In Oden’s case, he never lived up to his full potential, especially being the #1 pick in the draft. Noel has managed to turn himself into a half-decent rotational piece in Oklahoma City, but for a while it looked like his career would be that of another bust.
On the other side of the coin, you have the likes of Joel Embiid and Blake Griffin. Both were very injury prone in their first few years in the league, and some would argue they still are to this day. Despite that, each managed to become All-Star caliber big men and lead their teams to the playoffs many times. Do I think Williams can be as good as these two? Probably not, but I do see a different, very effective role for him with the Celtics moving forward.
As the NBA transitions into a time where spacing is everything, you may not think there’s a big place for Williams in the league. I would disagree. As you look around at the better teams in the league, many of them have their version of the classic big man. A guy that can sit in the paint, catch lobs, and block shots. For example, there’s JaVale McGee in Los Angeles, Rudy Gobert in Utah, Mason Plumlee in Denver, all are guys who are unable to stretch the floor, but still play a solid role on their teams. Now obviously one of those three sticks out as a much better player than the others, but the point is that none of them can shoot threes and are still solid NBA players.
The way I look at it, Robert Williams should be able to play like a DeAndre Jordan or Tyson Chandler type guy. Both made All-Defensive teams at the peak of their career, Chandler was an elite anchor to the Mavs’ defense, and Jordan was a super explosive, extreme athlete who caught lobs better than anyone. That’s the role I see for Williams on the C’s. While I think Theis is currently the best center on the Celtics, Williams has the potential to be. Not only that, I honestly believe that Williams has the potential, athleticism, and motor to be one of the best defending centers in the league. He’s also not a terrible playmaker for a big man, averaging a whole assist in a very limited role with the Celtics this year. If he gets more playing time, I think he could average 2 or 3 assists a game, which isn’t bad for a rim rolling center.
So overall, do the injuries concern me at all? Of course. Whenever a player is hurt for so long in such a short time it’s easy to get worried. However, we’ve seen big men overcome early career injuries and go on to have solid careers. It’s just a matter of can Robert Williams be the next? I think he’ll be fine.
