Timelord signs 4 year $54M extension

[johnnygreen]

Per Adrian Wojnarowski:

Boston Celtics center Robert Williams has agreed on a four-year, $54M contract extension, his agent
@KB_radbury
 of
@Rep1Sports
 tells ESPN. Williams’ deal puts his salary in top half of league’s centers despite only 13 career starts.

[MattyIce]

per espn

[Roy H.]

It's a gamble, but probably a decent one.  It's slightly over MLE money, for a guy who isn't all that far off from Jerome Allen (5 years, $100 million)

[18isGREATERthan72]

I think this is great. This could at best become an extremely cost controlled contract for an elite talent if Rob fulfills his potential, and at worst it becomes a very solid trade chip.

Keep in mind, it's in the top half of Centers for pay, but less than half the Centers in the league are starters.  For a starting Center, I think this is very reasonable.

[tonydelk]

Per Adrian Wojnarowski:

Boston Celtics center Robert Williams has agreed on a four-year, $54M contract extension, his agent
@KB_radbury
 of
@Rep1Sports
 tells ESPN. Williams’ deal puts his salary in top half of league’s centers despite only 13 career starts.

Wow I was not expecting this.  If he can stay healthy it will be a good contract for the team and him.

[Celtics2021]

Solid deal.  I thought the Celtics would wait until closer to training camp.  One thing that seems different between Ainge and Stevens is timing.  Ainge seemed to like to wait until the last minute to get deals done, but Stevens seems willing to make the deal happen if it's good enough.  We saw this in the Kemba trade (making it in June rather than waiting until the draft/free agency), getting the Smart extension done now rather than dragging negotiations to save a few million, and now Time Lord.  No judgment on which method is better, but it does seem to be a difference.

[johnnygreen]

When he was on the floor last season, the team looked totally different. If healthy, he is a game changer as a defender and rim roller (love the chemistry he has with Smart). At $13.5M per season, it seems reasonable based on what he can potentially bring to the table. Also, the contract could become useful in a potential trade.

[A Future of Stevens]

That is fantastic. If he stays healthy, it is a steal. If he is plagued by injuries, its an overpay. It just signals the office is betting on the player. Isn't a terrible optic to give off.

[jbpats]

High risk/High reward.

It's either going to be a steal of a contract or another Hayward situation where he is injured 50% of the time.

If he can stay healthy this is a helluva deal for us, but that's a big if.

If he stayed healthy this year and continues to progress his game like we've seen and went into the open market we wouldn't have been able to afford him.

I like the move.

[Celtics2021]

High risk/High reward.

It's either going to be a steal of a contract or another Hayward situation where he is injured 50% of the time.

If he can stay healthy this is a helluva deal for us, but that's a big if.

Not nearly as big of an issue when your oft-injured player takes up 8% of your payroll rather than 25%.

[BMark]

There are probably incentives in this contract, similar to Embiid's first contract.

[pearljammer10]

Great move. However, still worried about making additions to land us a star. They must have complete faith in Jayson Tatum at this point.

[Celtics2021]

There are probably incentives in this contract, similar to Embiid's first contract.

There might be some, but they won't be similar to Embiid's contract.  His incentives were based on the rookie-supermax, whereas TL is getting about one-third that amount.

[Tr1boy]

Per Adrian Wojnarowski:

Boston Celtics center Robert Williams has agreed on a four-year, $54M contract extension, his agent
@KB_radbury
 of
@Rep1Sports
 tells ESPN. Williams’ deal puts his salary in top half of league’s centers despite only 13 career starts.

thats it??

[Celtics2021]

Great move. However, still worried about making additions to land us a star. They must have complete faith in Jayson Tatum at this point.

For what it's worth, having TL under contract opens up another path to trading for a star next summer, as he now has a useful outgoing salary.  Probably isn't Plan A (that's developing him and turning him into a key player), but it's likely on the list of options the Celtics would consider.