When Will Boston Celtics Center Robert Williams Return From Knee Injury?
The suspension of head coach Ime Udoka really dominated headlines for the Boston Celtics this offseason, but one thing that has gone unnoticed is the absence of center Robert Williams III.
Named to the All-Defensive Second Team a season ago, Williams emerged as a key shot-blocker for the Celtics and was a big reason why they were able to lean on their defense to carry them to the NBA Finals.
Williams suffered a meniscus injury near the end of the 2021-22 regular season, forcing him to miss about a month of action, and while he did play in the playoffs, it was very clear to see that the young center was not 100 percent. As a result, Robert Williams underwent offseason left knee surgery at the end of September.
Said to return to basketball activities in eight to 12 weeks from the time of this surgery, there is some skepticism as to when Williams will actually return to the floor.
Joining The Fast Break Podcast recently to talk about the start of the 2022-23 NBA season for the Boston Celtics, CLNS Media’s Bobby Manning talked about Williams’ absence and when he believes the Celtics will get their big man back.
Manning: “I do not think we will see him until the end of December, close to Christmas and that’s just to return to basketball activities. That is not necessarily him being back in a game and being at full-strength. The second-half of the year is going to be when you will likely see Williams at full-strength again and who knows how that will go. They could potentially ease him back by bringing him off-the-bench as they ramp up his minutes, especially if things continue to work out with their small-ball lineups. This is the disappointing thing entering the season and it almost got overshadowed by Udoka’s suspension, as they kind of happened at the same time… The message has been for him to get right and take all the time possible to come back 100 percent. There is plenty of time for him to get to this point before the playoffs and the team is prepared to handle his situation slowly.”
Right now, the Celtics are left thin in their frontcourt without Williams. Veteran Al Horford will see a vast majority of the minutes at the center position with Williams sidelined, but outside of Horford, Boston is going to have to turn to some unproven players to help guide them during the first portion of the season.
Noah Vonleh has seen a bulk of the minutes behind Horford in the team’s depth chart and Luke Kornet will also likely see some time over the next month or so as Robert Williams looks to ease his way back.
However, for the Celtics to be a true championship threat like they were a season ago, they will need Williams at full-strength and healthy for the playoffs, which is why Manning suggests that the team will look to gradually bring Robert Williams back from his offseason knee surgery.
We have seen playoff contending teams like the Celtics ease players back from injuries like this in past seasons and so far, Boston has held their own without one of the league’s best shot-blockers, as the Celtics have begun the 2022-23 season 3-0.
Obviously they need him back to chase a title, but no having Robert Williams III early on this season and possibly not having him for the entire first-half of the season allows Boston to evaluate their roster, particularly in the frontcourt, and get guys like Noah Vonleh, Luke Kornet and even Grant Williams extra minutes.
This will factor into their depth later in the year and the Celtics will be able to get an idea on whether or not they will need to make a move ahead of the trade deadline to add more frontcourt help.
Assuming the Celtics stick to this “eight to 12 week” post-surgery ramp up period, we should not expect to see Robert Williams III make his season debut until closer to Christmas at the earliest.
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