Center Robert Williams has been diagnosed with a grade 1 left hamstring strain, the Trail Blazers announced in a press release (Twitter link). The 26-year-old big man will be reevaluated in about two weeks, per the team.
It’s a disappointing development for Williams, who has been plagued by injuries over the course of his NBA career, having played more than 35 regular season games just twice in six years. However, he has made a significant on-court impact when healthy, earning a spot on the All-Defensive Second Team in Boston in 2022.
After undergoing knee surgery last fall that ended his season early and limited him to just six appearances in 2023/24, Williams had been taking part in five-on-five scrimmages in recent weeks and expected to be ready for the start of the ’24/25 season. He was a full practice participant on Tuesday but evidently that’s when the hamstring injury occurred, as he sat out Wednesday’s practice with soreness.
Williams’ latest injury means he will be sidelined for the rest of training camp and will almost certainly miss Portland’s three preseason games as well, with the finale set for Oct. 18, exactly two weeks from today. Ordinarily that wouldn’t be a big story, since the regular season is what really matters, but Williams hasn’t played in a game in 11 months, and soft-tissue injuries can be problematic even in best-case scenarios.
What’s less clear is if Williams’ absence will extend into the ’24/25 regular season. The Blazers’ season opener is on Oct. 23, with six additional games running through Nov. 2, approximately four weeks from now. The team will likely want to err on the side of caution after how much time he’s missed the past couple seasons.
If Williams does miss some regular season games, rookie lottery pick Donovan Clingan is the most obvious candidate to receive backup center minutes behind Deandre Ayton. Big man Duop Reath is also in that mix.
The 27th overall pick of the 2018 draft, Williams is under contract for two more seasons. He’ll make $12.4MM in ’24/25, followed by $13.3MM in ’25/26 before hitting free agency.
I just want him to be healthy for an entire season.
RWIII is a beast, wish him the best.
And so it begins…
The Byron Buxton of the NBA.
A trade is coming? Or tanking is officially beginning! Get well soon Time-Lord!!
Wait, can a player be ‘out’ when he’s already on the injured list (?)
There’s just something about bigs and the BLAZERS.
Celtics could use him. Starting PF
Always liked him on my Celtics, was excited when he fell in the draft….but the same reason he fell in the draft has plagued him in the NBA: he can’t stay healthy. Unfortunately I don’t know if he will ever be able to…glad he got at least one good contract after his rookie deal.
I think the Bulls should try to organize a trade for one of those surplus centers, maybe with a third team involved and Vucevich going elsewhere, with picks going from Portland to facilitate the Booch dump, and maybe one of the Bulls’ surplus guards going to the third team. Not sure what the Bulls have that Portland would want, but honestly, anything to get the new US citizen off the roster and lower the age of the Bulls.