Sixers Rival Takes Another Minor Hit With Key Injury
Philadelphia 76ers rival the Boston Celtics are having a tough offseason. Just months after making a run to the 2022 NBA Finals, the Eastern Conference champions went into the offseason with intentions of strengthening the roster further on the road to another possible Eastern Conference championship run.
Unfortunately, Boston suffered a couple of hits lately. The Celtics added former Atlanta Hawks forward Danilo Gallinari after he was traded to and waived by San Antonio. Gallinari was set to become a key piece to Boston’s bench, but he went down with a knee injury overseas playing for Italy in EuroBasket.
After getting diagnosed with a torn ACL, Gallinari found out his Celtics debut would not occur during the 2022-2023 season. A couple of weeks later, the Celtics found out that another key player would miss some time early on as well.
According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Celtics big man Robert Williams will undergo arthroscopic surgery on his left knee. As a result, the young veteran is expected to have a four-to-six week recovery timetable.
With NBA training camps just a week away, Williams is guaranteed to miss training camp for the Celtics. Per Wojnarowski, Williams will also miss all of the preseason.
While Boston doesn’t anticipate having Williams out for too long, it seems he’s on pace to miss time early on in the regular season.
Last season, Williams emerged as a full-time starter in Boston. After starting in just 16 games through the first three seasons of his NBA career, Williams started in 61 games last year, averaging ten points and nine rebounds.
The good news for the Celtics is that Williams will only miss time in the beginning of the season due to his procedure. Since it’s a long NBA season, the Celtics will have plenty of time to get the defensive standout re-acclimaited with his team as they gun for another conference title.
Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.
