Boston Celtics Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Robert Williams Expected To Return In 4-6 Weeks

March 30th, 2022 at 9:46am CST by Luke Adams

9:46am: The Celtics have provided an official update on Williams, announcing that he underwent a successful partial left knee meniscectomy and confirming that he’s expected to return in about four-to-six weeks (Twitter links).

7:41am: Robert Williams underwent surgery this morning on the torn meniscus in his left knee, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, who reports that the Celtics big man is expected to return within about four-to-six weeks. There’s optimism his return could fall on the shorter end of that timeline, Wojnarowski adds (via Twitter).

While Williams will, of course, miss the rest of the regular season, there’s a chance he could play again in the postseason, especially if Boston advances to the second round. The Eastern Conference Semifinals will begin between April 30 and May 3, which is at least a month away.

As we noted when Williams was first diagnosed with a torn meniscus, the recovery timeline for the injury can vary significantly depending on the severity of the tear and how it’s treated. Jaren Jackson Jr. missed most of last season due to the injury, while James Wiseman and Collin Sexton are on similar timetables this year. However, the injury costs some players only weeks rather than months — for instance, Didi Louzada is nearing a return after undergoing meniscus surgery in early February.

A four-to-six week projection is even more aggressive than Louzada’s timeline, but it’s not out of the question. If Williams is able to make it back for the Celtics and play anywhere near the level he was at prior to the injury, it would provide a significant boost to the team’s chances of making a deep playoff run.

The Celtics have the NBA’s best record since the start of February and Williams has played a major role in their recent success, anchoring the league’s top-ranked defense and emerging as a strong candidate for an All-Defensive nod. He has averaged 10.0 PPG, 9.6 RPG, and 2.2 BPG with an impressive .736 FG% in 61 games (29.6 MPG) this season.

Williams is under contract for four more seasons beyond this one, so the Celtics will take his long-term health into account as they determine if and when he’s able to play this spring.

Celtics’ Robert Williams Has Torn Meniscus, Will Have Surgery

March 28th, 2022 at 5:10pm CST by Luke Adams

5:10pm: Williams will undergo surgery on his injured knee, coach Ime Ukoda told Jared Weiss of The Athletic (Twitter link) and other media members. Williams will explore surgical options this week.

12:19pm: The Celtics have officially confirmed that Williams has a torn lateral meniscus in his left knee, announcing in a press release that they’ll provide an update later this week on his treatment and recovery.

10:51am: Celtics big man Robert Williams, who underwent further testing on his injured left knee today, has suffered a meniscus tear and will miss, at minimum, several weeks, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter).

Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link) was the first to report the team’s fear that Williams had torn the meniscus in his left knee. The 24-year-old sustained the injury on Sunday.

The treatment plan and recovery timeline for a meniscus tear varies from player to player, since the injury can be treated both surgically and non-surgically, depending on the severity — some players who suffer the injury are only sidelined for weeks, while others miss months. According to Wojnarowski, further evaluation on Williams today will help determine how long he’ll be sidelined.

With just two weeks left in the regular season, it’s possible we won’t see Williams again in 2021/22, especially if Boston doesn’t win a playoff series or two.

It’s a brutal turn of events for Williams and for the Celtics, who have looked like the Eastern Conference’s best team over the last couple months, winning 24 of their last 28 games.

The Celtics currently hold the No. 1 seed in the East and Williams has played a major role in their recent success, anchoring the NBA’s top-ranked defense and nearly averaging a double-double, with 10.0 PPG and 9.6 RPG on the season. He has shot an eye-popping 73.6% from the floor and emerged as a strong candidate for an All-Defensive nod.

With Williams sidelined, Boston will lean more heavily on Al Horford, Daniel Theis, and Grant Williams in the frontcourt. The team is signing forward Juwan Morgan to a 10-day contract using its open roster spot, but that deal will expire before the season ends, so that 15th spot could be used next week on a big man, if necessary.

Williams, who signed a rookie scale extension with the Celtics last fall, will be under contract for four years and $48MM (with another $6MM in incentives), beginning in 2022/23.

Jayson Tatum, Devin Booker Named Players Of The Week

March 28th, 2022 at 2:37pm CST by Luke Adams

Celtics forward Jayson Tatum has been named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week, while Suns guard Devin Booker has earned Player of the Week honors in the Western Conference, the NBA announced today (via Twitter).

Tatum won the award for a second consecutive week and a third time in March. It’s his fourth total Player of the Week award in 2021/22, which leads all NBA players. Booker is right behind him — this is the third time in ’21/22 that he has been named a Player of the Week.

In three games during the week of March 21-27, Tatum averaged 32.0 PPG, 5.0 RPG, and 5.0 APG with a scorching-hot .582/.500/1.000 shooting line in 33.7 minutes per contest. The Celtics won all three games to extend their winning streak to six.

Booker and the Suns also had a perfect week, with victories over Minnesota, Denver, and Philadelphia. Buoyed by a 49-point outburst against the Nuggets, Booker averaged 37.3 PPG and 6.3 APG in those three games (36.4 MPG), with a shooting line of .581/.429/.829.

The other Eastern Conference nominees this week were LaMelo Ball, RJ Barrett, Joel Embiid, Darius Garland, and Trae Young. Deandre Ayton, Desmond Bane, Luka Doncic, and Nikola Jokic were nominated in the West (Twitter link).

Celtics Sign Juwan Morgan To 10-Day Contract

March 28th, 2022 at 1:37pm CST by Luke Adams

1:37pm: Morgan’s 10-day deal with the Celtics is now official, the team announced in a press release. It’ll run through April 6, covering Boston’s next five games.

Morgan may have a chance to play right away, as Brown and Tatum have been ruled out for the Celtics’ game in Toronto on Monday.

10:30am: The Celtics have agreed to sign forward Juwan Morgan to a 10-day contract, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Morgan was in camp with the Celtics in the fall, but was waived before the regular season began and subsequently joined the team’s G League affiliate in Maine. He earned a 10-day call-up from the Raptors in December when Toronto was hit hard by COVID-related absences, but has otherwise spent the 2021/22 season in the G League.

Morgan has appeared in 20 regular season NBAGL games for the Maine Celtics this season, averaging 12.1 PPG, 5.6 RPG, and 2.8 APG on .509/.340/.730 shooting in 25.9 minutes per contest.

A former Big Ten standout at Indiana, Morgan went undrafted in 2019 and caught on with the Jazz, first signing an Exhibit 10 deal with Utah and then agreeing to a multiyear deal with the team. In 51 total regular season games with Utah and Toronto across three seasons, the 24-year-old has averaged 1.5 PPG and 1.2 RPG on 52.5% shooting in just 6.0 MPG.

The Celtics have an open spot on their 15-man roster, so no corresponding move will be required to sign Morgan, who will earn $95,930 on his 10-day deal. He’ll provide some forward depth in case the club wants to rest Jaylen Brown (right knee soreness) and/or Jayson Tatum (right patella tendinopathy) for a game or two.

Celtics Notes: Williams, Tatum, Brown, Seeding

March 28th, 2022 at 7:51am CST by Luke Adams

Celtics big man Robert Williams will undergo further testing on his left knee after spraining it in the second half of Sunday’s victory over Minnesota, writes Tim Bontemps of ESPN.

“Don’t know exactly what happened,” head coach Ime Udoka said after Sunday’s game. “He said it wasn’t even a specific play that he remembers, but came out of the game, had some pain, obviously went back to get checked out and was in quite a bit of pain, and he’ll get scanned in the morning and we’ll know then.”

The Celtics are in Toronto on Monday night for the second game of a back-to-back set and Williams didn’t make the trip, says Bontemps. While he’ll be out for that game, it’s unclear how much longer the 24-year-old may be sidelined. As Udoka indicated in his postgame comments, the team will know more after assessing the results of today’s scans.

Here’s more on the Celtics:

The Celtics, who now hold the top seed in the Eastern Conference, are 24-4 since being below .500 on January 21. During those 28 games, Jayson Tatum has averaged 29.9 PPG, 7.3 RPG, and 5.0 APG on .505/.414/.892 shooting. “I wish I could start the season like this and then I’d be the MVP. But I guess it’s the most important time of the season,” Tatum said on Sunday, per Jared Weiss of The Athletic. “I guess just finding my rhythm, but it’s the best time to find your rhythm, when you’re playing your best going into the postseason. I don’t really have an exact answer.”
As dominant as the Celtics have been as of late, health problems could be a concern for the team. In addition to Williams’ knee injury, star wings Jaylen Brown (right knee soreness) and Tatum (right patella tendinopathy) are battling nagging issues of their own. As Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe writes, the club may have to decide in the season’s final two weeks whether it makes more sense to get Brown and Tatum a little rest or to push hard for the No. 1 seed and home-court advantage.
Addressing that dilemma on Sunday, Udoka offered insight on which way the team is leaning: “I’m not really worried about [seeding]. Our [concern] is winning, health and playing the best basketball at the right time. It’s too much closeness to try to maneuver and manipulate things to pick an opponent. As far as resting, that’s the main thing. We’ve got some guys who got some nicks now and we have to be smart about it. If we can get guys one [game off] is what we’re looking at now.”
Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston poses four questions that he believes the red-hot Celtics still have to answer down the stretch and in the postseason.

And-Ones: Molinar, All-Defense, Most Influential Players, Collison

March 25th, 2022 at 1:01pm CST by Luke Adams

Mississippi State guard Iverson Molinar announced on Twitter today that he is declaring for the 2022 NBA draft while maintaining his NCAA eligibility.

Molinar, who recently completed his junior season with the Bulldogs, led the team in both points (17.5) and assists (3.6) per game in 2021/22. He also chipped in 3.1 RPG and 1.2 SPG in 34 appearances (34.1 MPG).

Although he showed the ability to hit outside shots during his first two college seasons (.419 3PT%), Molinar’s three-point percentage dropped to just 25.2% this season. Still, ESPN ranks him at the No. 64 player on its big board for 2022, so he has a chance to be a second-rounder if he keeps his name in the draft.

Here are a few more odds and ends from across the basketball world:

Using a series of new advanced metrics, Kirk Goldsberry of ESPN.com (Insider link) identifies the top candidates for the NBA’s All-Defensive teams for 2021/22. Goldsberry’s list includes a pair of Celtics (Marcus Smart and Robert Williams), two recent Defensive Players of the Year (Rudy Gobert and Giannis Antetokounmpo), and a rookie (Herb Jones), among others.
Michael Scotto of HoopsHype polled 52 current and former NBA players, asking them to name the five most influential players in league history. Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Allen Iverson, Kobe Bryant, and Magic Johnson were the leading vote-getters, according to Scotto, who also shared the rest of the top 10 and outlined which other players received votes.
As expected, the South Bay Lakers have officially added veteran guard Darren Collison to their roster (Twitter link). A report earlier this week indicated that Collison was joining Los Angeles’ G League affiliate.

Details On Malik Fitts' Contract

March 22nd, 2022 at 7:44am CST by Luke Adams

Malik Fitts‘ new two-year contract with the Celtics is, as expected, worth the minimum salary and is non-guaranteed for next season. Fitts will receive a partial guarantee of $50K if he’s still under contract beyond September 1, tweets Keith Smith of Spotrac.

Karl-Anthony Towns, Jayson Tatum Named Players Of The Week

March 21st, 2022 at 2:40pm CST by Luke Adams

Timberwolves big man Karl-Anthony Towns has been named the Player of the Week for the Western Conference, while Celtics forward Jayson Tatum has won the award for the Eastern Conference, the NBA announced today (via Twitter).

Oddly, this is the third time this season that Towns and Tatum have earned Player of the Week honors for the same week. Both players won the award on December 20 and again on March 7.

Towns’ numbers during the week of March 14-20 were buoyed by his 60-point, 17-rebound outburst in San Antonio last Monday, but he also led the Timberwolves to blowout victories over the Lakers and Bucks. He averaged 38.3 PPG, 12.0 RPG, and 3.0 APG on .569/.600/.925 shooting in just 31.4 minutes per contest in those three wins.

Tatum’s Celtics also enjoyed a dominant 3-0 week as they continued their climb up the Eastern standings, winning by 20 or more points in Golden State, Sacramento, and Denver. The All-Star forward put up 29.3 PPG, 7.7 RPG, and 5.0 APG with a .592/.571/.933 shooting line in those three games (34.6 MPG).

The other nominees for this week’s Player of the Week awards were Deandre Ayton, Devin Booker, and Donovan Mitchell in the West, along with Kevin Durant, Darius Garland, Tyler Herro, Pascal Siakam, and Tatum’s teammate Jaylen Brown in the East (Twitter link).

Aaron Nesmith Close To Returning From Sprained Ankle

March 19th, 2022 at 8:40pm CST by Arthur Hill

Celtics guard Aaron Nesmith has been upgraded to questionable for Sunday’s game, tweets Jared Weiss of The Athletic. Nesmith has missed the past two weeks with a sprained right ankle.

White Trying To End Shooing Slump

March 17th, 2022 at 6:46pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Derrick White admitted to Sports Illustrated’s Michael Pina that he’s still adjusting to his new team after being traded from San Antonio to the Celtics. White still hasn’t been able to shake a season-long 3-point shooting slump. “I got off to a horrible start this season,” White said. “I’m not super worried about it, just knowing that I’m going to get good looks because there’s going to be a lot of attention on other guys. I’ve just got to step up and knock it down.”