Amari Williams signed a two-way contract with the Celtics on Friday, according to HoopsHype. Boston drafted him with the No. 46 overall pick in June’s draft, but further roster shuffling this month delayed the finalizing of many of their deals.
Earlier this month, the Celtics traded Georges Niang for two-way wing RJ Luis Jr., who initially entered that third roster spot before Boston waived Miles Norris, who signed a two-year, two way contract last season. Fellow second round selection Max Shulga also agreed to a two-way contract with the Celtics.
Boston now has 14 standard roster players, three on two-ways and an additional three from their Summer League who reportedly earned training camp invites, Hayden Gray, Jalen Bridges and Aaron Scott. That amounted to 20 out of the 21 possible camp roster spots being filled.
Williams, 23, joins Neemias Queta, Chris Boucher, Luka Garza and Xavier Tillman Sr. at a center spot that lost enormous talent between Kristaps Porziņģis, Al Horford and Luke Kornet. That opened up significant opportunity for four players who played sparingly with their teams last year, and potential development appearances for Williams, who will likely begin the year with Maine. Williams averaged 6.2 points, 5.0 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 0.5 blocks per game for Boston in Summer League. He shot 44.4% from the field and committed two turnovers per game.
“(They want me) to just develop and grow,” Williams told CLNS Media/CelticsBlog at Summer League. “I’m good at passing, but there’s a lot more to the game than that. Even in training camp these past few days, I’ve been working on screening and just being in the best position to rebound. Just kind of developing my game overall and being ready for whatever comes.”
