Robert Williams suffered a torn meniscus during the Boston Celtics’ blowout win over the Minnesota Timberwolves, per Shams Charania of The Athletic. Williams will be out at least several weeks and could miss even more time depending on the severity of the injury.
The Williams injury is a pretty tough blow at an inopportune time to a player who has played his best season yet. He is a candidate for defensive player of the year and is instrumental to Boston’s league-best defense, which has keyed their midseason resurgence.
Although Williams is hailed for his incredible defense, his offensive skillset will be sorely missed as well. His athleticism provides the team with a constant lob threat and it gives the Celtics a reliable option when their driving lanes are closed off. Williams is also an incredible offensive rebounder with 3.9 offensive boards a game, which ranks fourth in the league.
With all of this in mind it begs the question, where do the Celtics go from here? Luckily for the Celtics, Ime Udoka has a few different options to choose from.
The first option would be to put Grant Williams into the starting lineup. Grant is usually the first option off the bench when starters are out, so he has experience filling this role already. Although he will not be able to dominate the defensive end like Rob can, Grant has proven that he can hold his own against other big men despite being an undersized four. He also provides a different dimension to the team’s offense with his 42.1 percent shooting from deep this season.
The second option would be to put newcomer Derrick White in the starting lineup. White has played great minutes for the Celtics since his arrival at the deadline, and a backcourt of him and Marcus Smart is a nightmare defensive matchup for anyone. He can also provide the team with another ball handler who can chip in as a playmaker.
The third and final option would be to put Daniel Theis into the starting lineup. This would fit well with the Celtics preference to start double bigs but would leave them with little depth behind them. Theis can hold his own defensively and has a solid shot blocking ability around the rim. He is also shooting over 36 percent from three-point range since rejoining the Celtics and could help open the floor up for Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.
None of these options will be able to replicate the impact that Rob Williams has on the team, but they have a chance to make up for it in a variety of different ways. They will have roughly two weeks to adjust to life without Rob before the playoffs start.
The Celtics also have Al Horford dealing with personal issues.
There is a chance he returns for the playoffs in the best case scenario but Boston needs to prepare as if he was out for the rest of the season.