Tennessee Basketball: The Celtics won the draft with Grant Williams
Grant Williams was drafted in the first round to the Celtics, and he is the perfect player for Brad Stevens and the Celtics.
If you watched the NBA Draft on Thursday night, you might’ve heard Adam Silver say, “With the 22nd pick in the 2019 NBA Draft the Boston Celtics select Grant Williams from the University of Tennessee.”
There were only a handful of mock drafts that projected Williams to go in the first round, and he was able to impress Celtics scouts enough to take him 22nd.
Williams averaged 15.7 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 2.1 assists in his three years at Tennessee. He finished with 1,629 career points which rank inside the top-15 all-time in Tennessee history.
Williams is the first Vol to be drafted in the first round since Tobias Harris in 2011 and the ninth Vol ever to go in the first round. He is also just the second Tennessee player to be drafted by the Celtics. Steve Hamer was also selected by the Celtics in the 1996 NBA Draft.
And I’m not the only one that loves this pick. Jonathon Givony also loves Williams.
There's a lot of uncertainty about where Tennessee's Grant Williams might end up tonight, possibly in the second round. I went on Outside the Lines to talk about why I think teams might be missing the boat on him. pic.twitter.com/66opnJPwv4
— Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) June 20, 2019
Celtics coach Brad Stevens thrives when he’s coaching guys like Williams who might be why this could end up being the best pick for the Celtics this draft.
Williams is a little undersized for his position but plays with a chip on his shoulder that allows him to perform at the same level as some of the bigger guys.
Williams can set his teammates up on the offensive end to get the best shot on each possession. He can also defend the perimeter and has the physicality to guard down low too.
With Al Horford leaving Boston this offseason the Celtics are going to need to rebuild their frontcourt.
The Celtics’ needs were point guard, power forward, and center going into the draft. They drafted Romeo Langford with their first pick to fill that point guard spot and took Williams with their second pick to address their need at power forward.
Williams led Tennessee to one of their best seasons ever. He has tremendous leadership and is a great teammate.
The Celtics have a banner hanging up in their facility that says “good teams have good players great teams have great teammates” and that’s why Williams is going to Boston.
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He is the ultimate competitor, but he is also the ultimate teammate. If he stays in Boston, Grant is going to have a solid NBA career with the Celtics. He is everything their franchise is about and is willing to put in the work to prove it.