BOSTON – The draft seemed to be going according to plan and then … everything changed. At least in the minds of Boston’s front-office just a few picks past the lottery (top-14).
As one name after another was called, there was one – Texas A&M’s Robert Williams – that was inexplicably absent.
And that would prove a good thing for Boston which selected Williams with the 27th overall pick.
“Danny and Mike really started talking about him around 17 or 18,” Celtics head coach Brad Stevens said shortly after the pick was made. “He’s a really talented guy. There’s a lot of good players out there. Each pick we were hoping more and more he would be available at 27.”
Williams, SEC Defensive Player of the Year in each of his two seasons at Texas A&M, averaged 10.4 points and 9.2 rebounds along with 2.6 blocked shots per game.
But as Stevens pointed out, there’s more to Williams’ game than rebounding and blocking shots.
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“When you look at guys with size and how they can impact the game now, he’s got good feet, he’s a good athlete, he’s got a (7-6) wingspan and he plays way above the rim,” Stevens said. “The ability to block shots, the ability to alter shots, the quickness to catch up to guards shooting if they get a step and still be able to alter that … and then, if you can have four shooters on the floor and a guy like that rolling to the rim, you can just throw it up in the air and he can go and get it and finish.
Stevens added, “There’s a lot of things he brings to the table. Those are the things that translate sooner rather than later. As he continues to improve and improve his skills we’ll see where that goes. But for right now, he’s an elite athlete with incredible length.”