The Portland Trail Blazers should explore the trade market for veteran reserve center Robert Williams III and his fairly reasonable contract this summer, writes Shervon Fakhimi of ClutchPoints. Fakhimi specifically opines that the big man is worth offloading for a 21-56 club.
“With Portland already trading for [Deandre] Ayton in the deal with Milwaukee for their former franchise cornerstone [All-Star point guard Damian Lillard], their acquisition of Williams raised some eyebrows,” Fakhimi writes. “Sure, the Blazers are in asset acquisition mode, but that’s a lot of investment money-wise for two centers with similar games. Williams had the opportunity to compete with Ayton for the starting job and prove that he can stay healthy.”
“Unfortunately, neither happened. Williams played in just six games this season before getting shut down. He underwent knee surgery in November to repair a patellar dislocation and was ruled out for the rest of the season shortly after,” Fakhimi adds. “The Blazers can get good value for Williams at that figure if he can prove he is healthy after undergoing surgery. They should pursue trades with him in the summer.”
When healthy, Williams is an All-Defensive Team-caliber big man, but his health has been a big sticking point for the club. The 6-foot-9 big man has only missed fewer than 30 games once in his six pro seasons, and that was his All-Defensive Second Team season in 2021-22, when he still missed 21 games. The Texas A&M product is a major injury hazard, though his contract is probably agreeable enough that quality teams may be amenable to a flyer. He’s in just the second season of the four-year, $48 million agreement he inked while still with the Boston Celtics.
