The Start To Grant Williams' Celtics Career Has Been Nothing Short Of Ridiculous

If you look at the tenure of Danny Ainge as the GM of the Boston Celtics, I would say his two biggest criticisms are that he holds onto assets for too long and that he can't draft. Never are either position explained within context and that's fine, but the early indication of Ainge's 2019 NBA Draft are that he knocked it out of the park and we haven't even seen his lottery pick play yet. A huge reason for why that way of thinking exists is because of the start Grant Williams has gotten off to in his Celtics career.

Notice I said start. We can all accept that this is extremely early. They've played a contender (PHI), a good team (TOR), and utter dogshit (NYK) to start the season. Nobody is saying this is a lock to be sustainable over the course of the entire season, but we're only talking about Grant's start and how it stacks up not just on this team but compared to his entire Draft class. It's pretty wild. But remember, when we saw flashes of Grant in the preseason we were told to ignore it because those were fake games and they did not matter, even though he was flashing positive signs every time he stepped on the floor

His basketball IQ stood out right from the jump, as did his three point shot which was a pleasant surprise. But you take it all with a grain of salt and wait for the regular season to arrive to see if any of it actually translates. Well, so far it's translated and then some. He started slow with 7 minutes against the Sixers but then saw that get bumped to 22 against TOR and 19 against the Knicks. 

The things we are seeing out of Grant are not only exactly what this team needs, but it's going to force Brad to give him legit minutes. He's been the ultimate glue guy to start this season, making huge momentum plays that primarily start on the defensive end. That's how you become a legend with this fanbase. Now when evaluating defense it's a tricky formula. Part of it is the eye test, part of it uses defensive metrics that factor in the entire team, and part of it includes advanced stats that can give you a headache. To put some perspective on just how good Grant has been, we need to compare him to a larger sample. When you do that, you get the sense that maybe, just maybe Danny Ainge found himself a steal.

Compared to other Celtics

When you look at who has started off the best within this roster, it's hard to ignore Williams' impact. Of those who play at least 16mpg (what he plays) Grant is 

- 1st in Drtg at 86.0

- 1st in overall net rating at +18.6

- 1st in OREB% at 9.6%

- 1st in screen assists with 9

- 3rd in AST% at 14.3%

- 2nd in charges drawn with 2

- 2nd in contested shots with 21

- 5th in Ortg at 104.6

- 2nd in AST/TO ratio with 5.0 (just a 6.1 TOV%)

I mean what Celtics rookie has had a start like this? This is a level we really haven't seen defensively since like Rondo who is playing the amount of minutes Grant is. Think of how many guys we've seen Ainge take at 22 in the draft during his tenure, nobody hit right away like Grant has. I know it's three games and these numbers are going to change, but we're talking strictly about his start. It's crazy. 

Compared to other rookies

Comparing rookies is tough because obviously not all situations are the same. There are rookies who get drafted into teams that need them right away, they play 30 minutes a night with high usage and put up great numbers. Grant isn't in that situation as a Celtic, and even when compared to the rest of the guys in his draft class who play at least the same amount of minutes, he can't help but stand out. When you do that, Grant is

- 2nd in Drtg 

- 10th in Ortg

- 2nd in overall net rating

- 7th in AST%

- 1st in OREB%

- 1st in AST/TO ratio

- 18th in usage

- 1st in screen assists

- 1st in charges drawn

So what does this all mean. Well, you could interpret this in a way that says Grant has been producing better than almost any other rookie in a lot of areas with nowhere near the same usage. He's absolutely not the scorer we see other rookies be, but there might not be a rookie making more of a defensive impact than what Grant has done to start. The guy has a lower rating than Thybulle for crying out loud and that dude looks like Kawhi 2.0 and plays on a much better defensive team. 

I'd say Grant both of the Celtics wins so far this season were heavily impacted by Grant Williams either making a huge defensive play or snagging a gigantic offensive rebound. It's the little things that suddenly add up to something big. Sort of like what we say about Marcus Smart no? The early returns suggest Grant is capable of having that sort of positive, winning play impact, even against good teams. 

It's not hyperbole to say this is one of the best starts a Celtics rookie has had in years, especially on the defensive end. The more he is able to do stuff like this, the more Brad will trust him and the more minutes he's going to get. That's sort of what we all said this summer right? That if Grant proved he could be a legit defender at the NBA level then Brad would ultimately reward him with minutes, something he doesn't often do with rookies. Well that's exactly what's happened to start the year, and you then factor in all the strong chemistry/locker room traits and it's getting close to impossible to not fall in love with what we're seeing.

It's early, at some point he'll most likely hit the rookie wall offensively, but the defense appears to be very real and god dammit is it spectacular. It seems crazy to think, but there's a case to be made that Ainge is walking away with multiple steals from the 2019 Draft. When was the last time we ever said that and actually meant it?