Grant Williams reportedly couldn’t come to an agreement with the Boston Celtics this past offseason, leading to the organization exercising its team option.
While that kept Williams in a Celtics uniform for the 2022-23 season, the 24-year-old can still entertain long-term offers from outside organizations once the campaign reaches its end. This already triggered the rumor mill, creating speculation surrounding the potential end to Williams’ Celtics tenure. Earning over $4.3 million this season, Williams could very well value his first NBA payday over all else, especially if teams are willing to open their checkbooks.
But before Williams proceeded to assemble what’s been a career-best campaign, averaging 8.4 points and 4.8 rebounds through 64 games, one league source reported that the Celtics extended a multi-year offer before opening night.
“Williams’ representatives and the team discussed an extension before the season that could have reached the low-$50 million range over four seasons but could not agree on the guarantee structure, league sources with knowledge of the negotiations said,” The Athletic’s Jared Weiss wrote.
And while the year has fared well for Williams, recently the same cannot be said. Williams has played 27.3 minutes on average, but has played 20 minutes or fewer in five of his last seven games for the Celtics. Through that stretch, he’s averaged just 5.5 points.
Back in February, rumors suggested that Williams’ ambitions for a new contract had reached the $20 million annual range, which would place him among the top-five earners on the team.
This positioned even greater speculation around why the Celtics hadn’t played Williams while the roster hasn’t been entirely healthy through a crucial final stretch of the season, and before the playoffs start.
During last Wednesday’s matchup with the Cleveland Cavaliers, which the C’s took in overtime, head coach Joe Mazzulla elected not to play Williams at all. And when asked for an explanation by reporters afterward, Mazzulla provided a vague, one-worded response.
“Matchups,” Mazzulla said, per NBC Sports Boston video.
When Williams took the floor for the Celtics during Monday’s contest, which was also against the Cavs, he scored 12 points in 16 minutes. This all came before he committed a game-costing blunder, nevertheless, it served as Williams’ highest-scoring performance since Feb. 14 (12 points) against the Milwaukee Bucks.
