HOUSTON — As the Celtics significantly shook up their core last summer, they brought in plenty of new faces in hopes of climbing the mountaintop of the NBA. In the natural process of changing the roster, that also meant there are plenty of familiar teammates they’ll see over the course of the season.
That includes former Celtics big man Grant Williams, who’s now with the Mavericks. Williams spent the first four seasons of his career in Boston, developing into a rotation piece. But he wanted more minutes and a pricey new contract, so the C’s shipped him to Dallas in a sign-and-trade.
Williams has plenty of fans on the current Celtics as he always carried some little brother energy with him whenever it came to his teammates. Jaylen Brown tapped into that same energy when talking about his ex-teammate after their win over the Rockets. The C’s take on the Mavs at 8:30 p.m. Monday in Dallas.
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“Not really,” Brown said on if he’s excited to see Williams. “No, I love Grant. I’m sure he’ll be ready to have an annoying game. But we just gotta come out and be the best versions of ourselves.”
It’s not just Williams as the Mavericks also employ former Celtics guard Kyrie Irving. C’s fans obviously have some disdain for Irving — booing him whenever he’s in Boston — but Monday’s game will be in Dallas. The Mavs currently have a 24-18 record as they’re sixth in the West, led by their all-world talent in Luka Doncic.
Williams is averaging 8.2 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.7 assists for the Mavericks in 38 games (27 starts) this season. The counting stats aren’t actually too different from his Celtics days, seeing a modest increase across the board, though he is getting more starts. There have been some struggles throughout the season for Williams after signing a four-year, $54 million deal with the Mavs in the sign-and-trade.
There will likely be plenty of joking and camaraderie between Williams and his old team. Brown isn’t the only one who had a close relationship with Williams as guys like Jayson Tatum and Derrick White were close to the big man. So that’s a nice little change-of-pace for the C’s during the dog days of the season.
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