Following their self-imposed fire sale that was conducted throughout this past offseason, the Boston Celtics' frontcourt became virtually unrecognizable.
With the Celtics' center needs now staring the franchise in the eyes, it's hard not to wonder how Robert Williams could have developed if he were never included in a trade for Jrue Holiday with the Portland Trail Blazers in 2023.
Of course, the Celtics would complete that trade one million times over since it resulted in a 2024 NBA title victory, but Williams surely looked to be a promising, up-and-coming defensive star.
Williams' post-Celtics career unfortunately took a massive left turn due to continuous injury struggles, but recent reports have indicated that the 6-foot-9 shot-blocker is well on his way to a return in the near future with the Trail Blazers.
"The Portland Trail Blazers assigned center Robert Williams III to their Rip City Remix G League affiliate for return to court conditioning," HoopsHype's Michael Scotto shared via X/Twitter on Monday.
Though he's only appeared in 26 contests for Portland's main NBA team over the past two seasons, there's no mistaking Williams' impact whenever he does take the floor, even in limited minutes.
In those 26 appearances, the defensive-minded big man has averaged 6.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, 1.5 blocks and 0.8 steals while shooting 64.4% from the field in just 18.1 minutes of action. Entering the 2025-26 campaign, he's still only 28 years old and could be aiming to make an impact for a young, energetic Trail Blazers team.
As he prepares for on-court activities, the news of his advancements could add a tinge of regret to the Celtics' front office.
Spanning his 5-year tenure with Boston from 2018-2023, Williams had progressed into one of the best rising rim-protectors and lob threats in the entire NBA.
Williams' magnum opus would come in 2021-22, when he averaged 10. points, 9.6 rebounds and 2.2 blocks to place seventh in Defensive Player of the Year voting, net his first and only All-Defensive Second Team selection and partially lead the team to an NBA Finals appearance in 2022.
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