Can Williams improve fast enough

[rollie mass]

Williams had a year of emotional growth learning how to be a pro.His name comes up as a potential rotation player next season.He certainly can block and alter shooters and his next season things may slow down.He needs to work on his offensive game and get stronger.
But my real concern is those knees that sap his motor.We need a young springy durable center..We need a power forward to replace Morris and a backup for Horford.
Clint Capella  would fill the bill but what would he take to get.

[gpap]

As long as he doesn't fall on his ass every time he tries to dunk.

[Chris22]

I would tell Williams to look at film of Dennis Rodman.

And the Celtics need to stop throwing Williams lobs. It's a risky play that if it fails usually results in the other team shooting a layup at the other end thanks to floor imbalance.

[PhoSita]

Well, I tried searching for centers in the last twenty years or so who had a rookie season similar to Timelord (low minutes, high FG%, decent rebounding rate).

Names that came up -- Deandre Jordan, Jordan Bell, Jeff Ayres, Ante Zizic. 

I suppose that bodes well but sort of unclear about how quickly we can expect him to become a regular part of the rotation.

[Kuberski33]

The problem with drafting centers as projects is that right around the time you finally develop them to a point where they can contribute, they become free agents.  And his offensive game isn't coming around anytime soon.

[SparzWizard]

Yeah if Brad Stevens gives him adequate playing time.

[Kuberski33]

Yeah if Brad Stevens gives him adequate playing time.

If you care about winning he can't play regular minutes.  He's a huge liability offensively because he can't do anything other than dunk.  Put him and Smart out together and the opposition only has to guard 3 guys.

[tstorey_97]

Yeah if Brad Stevens gives him adequate playing time.

If you care about winning he can't play regular minutes.  He's a huge liability offensively because he can't do anything other than dunk.  Put him and Smart out together and the opposition only has to guard 3 guys.

I'm with you guys on both of these.

I don't know what player would be William's "equivalent" in the league now. No outside shot and 34 seconds average per game to work on it. He shot from outside in G league as I remember.

[nickagneta]

Yeah if Brad Stevens gives him adequate playing time.

How about he shows through practice, Summer League and the pre-season that he has earned the right to be given minutes first. We saw last year with Hayward what can happen to a locker room when team mates feel you are getting undeserved minutes. Hayward was a former All-Star and people were slighted he was getting minutes over them. What happens when it's a 2nd year player that has shown nothing that he deserves minutes?

Williams is a project. He isn't going to develop fast. It will take a couple to three more years before he will be ready to contribute meaningful minutes in the Celtics rotation. I see him getting a ton of time in Portland next year. That's where he should have been all this year.

[hwangjini_1]

Well, I tried searching for centers in the last twenty years or so who had a rookie season similar to Timelord (low minutes, high FG%, decent rebounding rate).

Names that came up -- Deandre Jordan, Jordan Bell, Jeff Ayres, Ante Zizic. 

I suppose that bodes well but sort of unclear about how quickly we can expect him to become a regular part of the rotation.

good question. it took our very own perk 3 to 4 years to really become a viable starter. williams is a better player, so hopefully sooner than that.

[Spicoli]

This dude doesn't need to play offense. This team barely has enough shots to go around as it is. All they need him to do is block shots and clean up the glass. As long as he's doing those 2 things he should be seeing regular rotation minutes.

[gouki88]

Yeah if Brad Stevens gives him adequate playing time.

How about he shows through practice, Summer League and the pre-season that he has earned the right to be given minutes first. We saw last year with Hayward what can happen to a locker room when team mates feel you are getting undeserved minutes. Hayward was a former All-Star and people were slighted he was getting minutes over them. What happens when it's a 2nd year player that has shown nothing that he deserves minutes?

Williams is a project. He isn't going to develop fast. It will take a couple to three more years before he will be ready to contribute meaningful minutes in the Celtics rotation. I see him getting a ton of time in Portland next year. That's where he should have been all this year.

The thing that irked me more than anything was Brad would sort of hover between sending him to the G-League for proper time and keeping him on the end of our bench, so he ended up with a measly 5 G-League games (where he killed it) and 32 NBA games. I wished he had more time in Maine just to play

[Walker Wiggle]

This dude doesn't need to play offense. This team barely has enough shots to go around as it is. All they need him to do is block shots and clean up the glass. As long as he's doing those 2 things he should be seeing regular rotation minutes.

TP. I'd add that "play offense" isn't just shooting jumpers. It involves rolling to the rim off the pick and roll and being a threat to either finish the lob, or sucking in perimeter defenders and leaving shooters open; passing; setting picks; etc. Williams has shown ability to do each of those things. Give it time and see what he develops into. The hope is that in year 2 he can at least give you rotation minutes.

[footey]

This dude doesn't need to play offense. This team barely has enough shots to go around as it is. All they need him to do is block shots and clean up the glass. As long as he's doing those 2 things he should be seeing regular rotation minutes.

TP. I'd add that "play offense" isn't just shooting jumpers. It involves rolling to the rim off the pick and roll and being a threat to either finish the lob, or sucking in perimeter defenders and leaving shooters open; passing; setting picks; etc. Williams has shown ability to do each of those things. Give it time and see what he develops into. The hope is that in year 2 he can at least give you rotation minutes.

Agree. He has to show better progress offensively, hopefully in summer league.  He clearly has the capability of being a decent offensive player.

[jambr380]

Yeah if Brad Stevens gives him adequate playing time.

If you care about winning he can't play regular minutes.  He's a huge liability offensively because he can't do anything other than dunk.  Put him and Smart out together and the opposition only has to guard 3 guys.

I'm with you guys on both of these.

I don't know what player would be William's "equivalent" in the league now. No outside shot and 34 seconds average per game to work on it. He shot from outside in G league as I remember.

From what I recall reading about last year's draft, Williams actually does have a mid-range shot and he's also able to shoot over defenders on pull-ups in the post. I am not saying he has mastered this by any means, just saying he is not a total liability in this area. I believe his biggest problem was with his mechanics and I hope he has at least been able to clean it up a little bit over the past year.