During the Portland Trail Blazers matchup against the Memphis Grizzlies Sunday, Robert Williams suffered a knee injury. On further evalutation, the veteran center will now be sidelined for an extended period.
On Friday afternoon, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Robert Williams will require season-ending knee surgery. A procedure will be needed to repair damaged ligaments along with his kneecap.
While he will miss the remainder of the season, he’s expect to be fully healthy by the start of the 2024-25 campaign.
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Williams, 26, landed with the Blazers as part of the Jrue Holiday trade to the Boston Celtics. He’s now sidelined for the year just six games into his tenure in Portland. He averaged 6.8 points, 6.3 rebounds, 1.2 steals and 1.2 blocks.
It’s a tough blow for the Blazers as the franchise re-tools following the Damian Lillard trade. As a more experienced veteran, Williams was a name to watch on the trade market in the coming months.
Following his devastating injury, the team will focus on getting him back to 100% for next year.
Robert Williams’ career continues to be plagued by injuries
Since being drafted by the Boston Celtics in 2018, Robert Williams has proven to be an extremely skilled center. His athleticism allowed him to be an extremely versatile big on the defensive end.
There’s no denying the talent is there, but injuries have derailed his NBA career. In the last six years, he’s yet to prove that he’s capable of staying healthy.
Since the start of the 2018-19 season, Williams has played just 215 games. Most of them came during the 2021 and 2022 seasons, where he played 52 and 61 times respectively.
Apart from those two years, Williams has far been a constant in the lineup for whatever team he’s on. With his season-ending injury, he’s on pace to appear in less than 30 games for the third time in his young career. Injuries impacted him last season as well, as he only played 35 games for the Celtics.
At 26, Williams has a chance to turn things around. He’s approaching what will be considered his prime, as long as he can stay healthy. The biggest positive for Williams is that he has always returned to form after missing time with injury.
