Report: Grant Williams undergoes surgery on left hand

On Friday afternoon, it was reported that Boston Celtics forward Grant Williams had his left hand operated on for an undisclosed injury, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. It’s also expected that Williams will have made a full recovery by the time NBA training camp kicks off in the fall.

Known for his development into a sharpshooter and his defensive capabilities, Grant Williams will hit restricted free agency this summer, giving the Celtics the chance to match any offer that comes his way. His situation in Boston is a particularly tricky one, as head coach Joe Mazzulla drifted away from playing him during the year after being a key part of the team’s Finals run the year prior. With this news, the reasoning behind it may start to become clearer.

Per ESPN’s Wojnarowski, Williams sustained the injury originally in March, and made the decision to soldier on throughout the rest of the season and into the postseason. Williams was dealing with “a tear of the radial collateral ligament of the 3rd metacarpo-phalangeal joint on his left hand.” It also seems to be the second injury Grant was battling through, as The Athletic’s Jared Weiss reported back in March that Williams was dealing with a ligament strain in his shooting elbow (his right arm). It’s hard to say if these injuries were at all related or if they led to Williams’ role waning at times this season, but all credit to him for playing through them. He’s expected to return to basketball activities in 6-8 weeks.

With free agency looming in addition to the Jaylen Brown supermax extension talks, Grant Williams will be a close second on the Celtics off-season to-do list as they look to retool and reshape their roster. It will be interesting to see how the injury and surgery news may impact any potential suitors for his services once the clock strikes midnight into June 30th, the day when teams can begin contract negotiations with pending free agents.