Robert Williams III is popping up in trade rumors yet again. He's on an expiring contract, and the Portland Trail Blazers have now invested consecutive first-round picks at the center position.
In theory, that should make Williams more expendable. But the reality is that, with issues compounding in their defense and frontcourt depth, the Blazers can't afford to lose Williams right now.
Portland didn't ship Williams for second-round picks at last year's deadline, as they valued the two-way impact he provided more than what he was worth on the market. Meanwhile, teams were understandably reluctant to sacrifice significant assets given his extensive injury history.
Portland is expected to be more willing to move on from their big man relative to last year. Still, it wouldn't be all that surprising if history repeats itself and the Blazers ultimately decide they value him more than he's worth in a trade.
The Blazers struggle without Robert Williams III
Williams was expected to be a key piece of Portland's initial Jrue Holiday trade with the Boston Celtics. He was limited to a total of 26 games in his last two seasons, but is finally looking like the healthy and impactful player they envisioned him to be. Williams has already played in 21 games this season -- a number that could easily be higher if not for a cautious injury management approach.
In those 21 appearances, Time Lord is averaging 6.0 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks in just 16.1 minutes per game. He's incredibly efficient with his limited minutes and has proven more than capable of spelling Donovan Clingan.
The Blazers have struggled with their defensive identity this season, ranking below average in both defensive rating and points allowed. One thing that has been working well is their dynamic frontcourt duo of Clingan and Williams. However, that also exposes another issue, which Sam Vecenie recently brought up on the Game Theory Podcast.
The Blazers are a disaster defensively whenever Clingan leaves the floor. That's been mitigated when Williams is available, but they have absolutely no one to fill in behind him. You wouldn't expect that to be the case for a team rostering four centers, but here we are.
With Duop Reath and Yang Hansen failing to crack the rotation, the Blazers have become overly reliant on a highly injury-prone big man in Williams. They've already struggled in minutes and games without him, and I'm not sure the best solution to that problem is to completely remove him from the picture.
Williams still has a valuable role to play for this team and offers interim head coach Tiago Splitter another frontcourt dimension due to his ability to guard out on the perimeter more effectively than Clingan.
In a perfect world, Williams would be considered a luxury, and we could debate whether that makes him more expendable in a contract year. But the Blazers may need to keep Williams around out of necessity. Right now, his role in Portland could be worth more than what they can get.