The Boston Celtics continue to shell out cash this offseason under the new guidance of Brad Stevens. After paying Marcus Smart, the Celtics have now signed center Robert Williams to a surprising extension.
According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, the Celtics are giving him a four-year deal worth $54 million despite the fact he only has 13 starts in his young NBA career.
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. pic.twitter.com/gUQHzLWcCJ
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) August 20, 2021
This might be a surprise, but the talent and potential are definitely there for Williams to run the show in Boston. If he plays well, then the annual value could be a gigantic steal for Stevens and the Celtics.
$13.5M AAV for Robert Williams feels extremely reasonable for Boston. If he can stay healthy (a major if!), he’ll outplay that amount by a good margin.
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) August 20, 2021
Williams played 32 games his first year and 29 in his sophomore campaign, but the 2020-2021 NBA season saw him get more run. The Celtics reserve played in 52 games and averaged 8.0 points with 6.9 rebounds.
Nonetheless, the Celtics have locked up Smart, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, and now Robert Williams for quite some time, and new head coach Ime Udoka will have some continuity in Boston for the next few seasons as they try and recover from a bit of regression.
Truth be told, this could be a huge steal for the organization if Williams pans out as they think he will, but if not, this contract will be highly questioned as Brad Stevens just started running the show.