The Celtics’ search for center help just took another hit, and this one stings.
Boston had reportedly been eyeing a reunion with Robert Williams III in free agency as it looked for answers in the middle, but that path now appears closed. ESPN’s Shams Charania reported that “Time Lord” is re-signing with the Portland Trail Blazers on a three-year, $44 million deal.
For the Celtics, that’s a tough break. Williams still carries the same frustrating question mark that has followed him for years: health.
He has reached 60 games in a season only once, when he played 61 in 2021-22, though he did get into 59 games this past season. When he’s on the floor, though, he brings exactly the kind of impact Boston needs.
Williams is a disruptive rim protector who moves well, can switch, and gives you real value on the glass. He’s also shown touches as a passer and playmaker, and he may be inching toward being a stretch big after going 9-for-23 from 3-point range, a career-best 39.1%, last season. Boston also knows firsthand what he can do in its own system; he was a key part of the Celtics’ 2022 Finals run.
That made him an obvious fit for a team trying to shore up its big-man defense. Instead, the Celtics are back to square one, and the list of realistic upgrades is shrinking fast.
Neemias Queta gave Boston as much as it could reasonably expect last season, but the team also knows he’s not the answer if it wants a starting center on a championship-level roster. The Celtics drafted Chris Cenac Jr. in the first round, but he isn’t expected to step into that role right away.
And the market hasn’t helped. This center class already looked thin, and it got even thinner with Williams, Kristaps Porzingis, and Isaiah Hartenstein all re-signing with their teams. Short of a major trade - the kind involving Jaylen Brown - Boston isn’t likely to find a true difference-maker out there.
So where does that leave the Celtics? It wouldn’t be a surprise if they simply gave Queta another year to grow into the job and build on what he showed last season.
That’s not the cleanest answer, but it may be the one they’re stuck with. In the regular season, he held up well as a full-time starter, posting 10.2 points, 8.4 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 1.3 blocks and shooting 65.3%.
The playoffs told a different story, but the regular season made clear he can at least give Boston something to work with.
In Other News...
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Amid a quieter stretch of offseason business, Boston has made one of those small but meaningful roster decisions that can shape the back end of the teams future. The Celtics did not extend qualifying offers to Max Shulga or John Tonje, a move that leaves both young guards headed into the summer without the usual team-controlled pathway.
Shulga and Tonje were late second-round picks from a year ago, and both spent time moving between Bostons standard roster and two-way territory as they tried to carve out a place. For a front office that has been sorting through several qualifying-offer calls around the league, the decision on those two keeps the Celtics own picture a little cleaner, even if it also opens the door for other possibilities in free agency. [Read more 🡒]
NBA Bombshell Just Put An Unthinkable Star In Boston's Orbit
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For Boston, the appeal would be obvious even before the bigger legacy questions come into play. The Celtics could put a real contract offer on the table, and the basketball fit would be just as tempting, with James able to ease into a secondary role next to Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown while still supplying playmaking, passing and rim pressure. Whether that idea ever moves beyond the realm of possibility is the part worth watching, because the door only opens if Boston decides this is more than a wild summer thought. [Read more 🡒]
Jaylen Browns Father Just Took Celtics Frustration Public
Marselles Brown has been willing to say publicly what Celtics fans have heard swirling around Jaylen Brown all summer: the noise around his son has started to feel bigger than basketball. During an appearance on Sway In The Morning, he defended Jaylen against criticism from ESPN voices Stephen A. Smith and Kendrick Perkins, pushing back on the idea that the Celtics star somehow deserves the backlash that followed Bostons playoff exit and the reaction to his comments afterward.
The timing matters because Brown is coming off a career-best season, yet the conversation around him keeps getting dragged into accountability debates and trade chatter. Marselles Brown argued the criticism has crossed a line, turning a basketball argument into something more personal, and it only adds another layer to a Celtics offseason that has already been defined by speculation about how the team views one of its most important players. [Read more 🡒]