Grant Williams Talks ‘Tough’ Celtics’ Farewell, ‘Friend’ Joe Mazzulla

The Celtics dealt forward Grant Williams to the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for multiple second-round picks, and he took some time to reflect on his Boston tenure.

Williams seemed sad to be leaving Boston after spending four years on the team since first being drafted by the Celtics with the No. 22 pick in 2019. But he understood that moving on was necessary, and Boston couldn’t fulfill the four-year, $54 million deal he was seeking while Dallas could.

“It was very tough leaving the players,” Williams told Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe. “That was probably the hardest thing, just because it’s the group that you built and accomplished so many good things with. It’s tough.

“And organizationally, I had a lot of great friends there. It’s definitely difficult, especially when you spend so much time in your life in a place. It’s like when you leave college, you always think, ‘Will I be able to go back and see those faces again?'”

The 24-year-old further went on to describe his relationship with Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla.

“The thing is, professionally you can always have different opinions, different outlooks about yourself and the team,” he said. “But personally, that bond never changes. I’m going to be there for him and his family and his sons any day that they need me. Personally, I always will love him as a friend.

“Although it may not have gone how we both expected this season, we still have a ton of respect for one another. So I’ll always speak highly of him because he deserves it. He’s a good man and a good coach.”

It’s evident Williams still has a lot of respect for Mazzulla and the rest of the organization, bidding a heartfelt farewell to Boston last week.