They still have guys like Kristaps who can move his feet and block shots. Me and Marcus brought the energy and grit, but at the same time I trust and believe that their entire team has the ability to defend. It was franchise patriarch Red Auerbach who’d often say, “I want instigators, not retaliators.”Īnd the Celts went ahead and said “later” to their ‘gators.Īsked what the Boston defense will look like without him and Smart, Williams said, “I think they’ll have success. Williams and Marcus Smart were the likeliest of Celtics to push the envelope. Dating back to early March in the regular season, Mazzulla removed Williams from a game in Cleveland and twice yelled, “Stop making it about yourself,” as he walked by.īut one has to be concerned about the bottom line effect with the two most floor-burned Celtics are gone. And while someone of Joe Mazzulla’s scrappy nature in his playing days should have appreciated the non-stat sheet stuff in Grant’s game, there was his fall from the rotation for stretches in the playoffs. In other words, maybe the Celts weren’t sure the money he commanded - four years, $54 million - was in alignment with the role he would have with the arrival of Kristaps Porzingis.Īt that price, Williams was a hefty insurance policy. Williams Was an Instigator for the Celtics The newest member of the Mavs and genuine good dude Grant Williams greeting fans at Summer League. It was one of those things where I think both sides just did what’s best for each.” So does he think that even if the money didn’t matter he could still be de-Celtic-ed? “The CBA can make it difficult for teams, but it doesn’t PREVENT teams from making the moves they really want to make.”
“Yeah, I don’t know if it was fully that,” Williams told Heavy Sports. While the transaction has largely been characterized in a financial frame - the new collective bargaining agreement and the encumbrances that are visited on teams that hit the dreaded second tax apron, he believes there was more to it.
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Not many leave a team that got within a game of a trip to the Finals this spring after going six games in the championship series the year before and express joy at joining a club with two major stars and several questions.īut Williams, a restricted free agent this summer, believes his departure in a sign-and-trade for second round pick-age was essentially a fait accompli. In the stages of basketball grief over the loss of his place with the Celtics, he had skipped past anger with negotiations this year and last, and past dribbling depression over the loss of teammate bonds. Williams, the venerated Dork Knight, was 2,381 miles from Boston, but it seemed even further. LAS VEGAS - Early Monday night, now-former Celtic Grant Williams was sitting courtside in the Cox Pavilion at UNLV, joking with Mark Cuban as they took in the Mavericks summer league game. Grant Williams (right) who left the Celtics for the Mavs last week.
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