Report: Robert Williams may not return until second half of season

BOSTON -- Robert Williams wasn't expected to be back in the Celtics' lineup until close to the new year. That timetable may be extended just a tad.

The injured Celtics center, who underwent surgery on his knee over the offseason, had a PRP injection -- Platelet-Rich Plasma -- on Monday, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic. The Celtics put an 8-to-12 week timeline on Williams' return when he underwent surgery in late September, which would put his return sometime around late December.

Charania said Tuesday that Williams could be on the shelf into January.

"I'm told that Robert Williams underwent a PRP injection on Monday to continue to promote healing in that injured knee, and he's going to return at some point during the second half of the season," he said on FanDuelTV. "I'm told his hope is sometime in December or January, but it could even be later than that." 

Williams underwent meniscus surgery last March and didn't return until midway through Boston's first-round sweep of the Brooklyn Nets. He returned early in that case and was not 100 percent when he took the floor, but he made a clear difference on the defensive end as Boston made a run to the NBA Finals.

Then Williams had to undergo surgery over the offseason. The Celtics will not be rushing Williams back this time around.

"The Celtics are going to be very cautious," Charania said Tuesday. "He tried to get back on the floor during the playoffs, when that knee was just a few weeks off of meniscus surgery, so I think they're not going to make that same decision now. If it were the playoffs right now, he probably would play. But as of right now, Robert Williams is out indefinitely and hopefully coming back in the second half of the season."

The most interesting part of that "update" is that Williams would probably be playing now if this were the playoffs and not Game 1 of 82. But somehow, the injury is also going to keep him out into January and potentially February. It's a bit confusing.

Shortly after Charania's hit on FanDuel, the Celtics told The Boston Herald's Steve Hewitt that they do not anticipate a change to Williams' timetable.   

The Celtics will hit the midway point of their season on Jan 11. If Williams were to return at that point, it would only be a few weeks later than initially expected. Either way, the Celtics will be without one of their most impactful players on both ends of the floor to start the season.