The four games Robert Williams III has played this season since returning from injury has served as a reminder of why the Trail Blazers wanted him in the first place.
The game he played on Tuesday in Portland’s Emirates NBA Cup™️ win over Minnesota was particularly impressive. With Deandre Ayton out, Williams played a season-high 25 minutes and finished with 19 points, nine rebounds, three assists, three steals and three blocks. He completely changed the game defensively and, at the other end of the floor, finished a few lobs that didn’t look like they’d come from someone just over a year removed from major knee surgery.
He looked, in other words, a lot like the player he was for five seasons in Boston, where he was a Defensive Player of the Year candidate and a key part of the Celtics’ 2022 Finals run.
“He's just a winner,” Chauncey Billups said after that game. “He does every single thing that you need him to do. His feel for the game is really high-level, his IQ is really high-level. His rebounding, his blocked shots, his voice…he's so impactful, man. His energy is infectious. That's the reason why every team he's on, he's everybody's favorite teammate. You can say that for a lot of different reasons.”
Since Williams has been in Portland, his production, team-friendly contract and extensive injury history have made him the subject of as much trade speculation as anyone else on the roster. Between now and the Feb. 6 deadline, he’ll be the subject of plenty more trade speculation. Plenty of playoff hopefuls (Oklahoma City, New Orleans, Indiana) have lost big men to injuries to start the year and many of them will undoubtedly call the Blazers to see if they can get Williams for relatively cheap due to his own injury history. The fact that the Blazers drafted another center, Donovan Clingan, with the No. 7 overall pick in June isn’t doing anything to quell that talk.