The Boston Celtics selected big man Amari Williams with the 46th pick of the 2025 NBA draft. Williams would become the first-ever British-born player for the Boston Celtics in franchise history. Amari played four years at Drexel before a single season with the Kentucky Wildcats and being selected in the 2nd round. Brad Stevens said of Williams in a July 8th press conference that Amari “has a great chance to be impactful here.” Stevens would also praise his knack for passing and cited that Williams “has a high
upside.” Williams had a lukewarm debut in Las Vegas. The 7-footer appeared in four of the team’s Summer League games, averaging a modest 6 points, 5 rebounds, and 1.8 assists per outing. He was solid enough, but didn’t break out in the same way that other rookies have previously in Vegas. That all changed in Maine, though, as Amari impressed the fans and coaches with some eye-popping stat lines. The two-way player recorded multiple double-double outings while dominating the paint for Maine. His best performance came against Sioux Falls with 26 points, 12 boards, and eight assists in an overtime win.
Amari Williams earned minutes for the Celtics after impressing in the G-League, Joe Mazzulla and co. trusting in the young big enough for him to see the court in 22 games in his rookie campaign. Amari started two games for the Celtics and held his own against NBA competition.
Amari’s best game of the season for the Celtics came on January 27th against Portland. Luka Garza was injured, and Amari was the first big off the bench for Boston as he spelled Neemias Queta with 9 points, 7 boards, and 2 blocks in 26 minutes of action against Donovan Clingan and former Celtic Robert Williams III.
On February 7th, 2026, Brad Stevens gave a glowing assessment of Williams, saying that “I think Amari has a real chance to be a player.” With the roster in flux and the Cs in cap management mode, Amari was converted from his two-way contract to sign a two-year, $2.7 million deal, a decent team-friendly deal for a third-string frontcourt player.
Most of his points came on dunks or layups during the regular season, but Amari did show off a baby hook shot in a few games. In his limited NBA minutes, Amari also showed that he is not just a willing passer, but a pretty good one for a seven-footer, quickly spraying passes out to the three-point line from inside the key.
Defensively, Williams has shown one distinct attribute that shows he can hang in the NBA: blocking shots. Amari has tremendous leaping instincts with good timing and really long arms to swat the ball away. He has shown this past season that he can help from the weak side and also get up quick in 1-v-1 situations.
He’s still got room to develop further, but the tools are there to become a decent backup big man for many years. Boston has developed really serviceable big men recently in Queta and Kornet. Hopefully, Amari will follow the same developmental trajectory.
