The Celtics have been anything but idle this offseason so it’s hard to fault them for not at least trying to improve after last season’s flameout. Among those moves is the 4-year $54 million contract extension for Robert Williams III, which means Time Lord shirts are now essential. (Swipe swipe)

Time Lord really has become a cult figure amongst fans in Boston as you either stan for the freakishly athletic, rebound grabbing big man with silky smooth passing skills or you rail against the undersized, oft injured backup center.

I fall into the former category and so do a lot of our readers, evidenced by the fact that the Time Lord shirt is by far our best selling shirt.

While it may seem like splitting atoms to fans, the contract isn’t fully guaranteed with a portion of the deal based on incentives tied to playing time (something that has eluded Williams due to injuries).

Williams can earn just over a $1 million each season if he hits those incentives, which mostly hinge on his playing time. The big man can earn $446,000 per year if he plays 69 or more games, according to Brian Robb of MassLive. Should he hit that mark, Williams can earn even more if the Celtics make it to the conference semifinals and/or conference finals.

Hitting the 69 game mark is no guarantee for Williams, considering the 23-year-old has never played in more than 52 games over his three NBA seasons. Injuries have long been his nemesis, and he’ll have to shake that to earn the maximum value over the life of his extension with Boston. – via CBS Boston

Robert Williams’ contract extension with the Celtics includes escalating unlikely bonuses per season worth a total of $6M:

22-23: $10,714,287
23-24: $11,571,429
24-25: $12,428,571
25-26: $13,285,713

$48M in base salary, $54M if all bonuses are earned@spotrac @celticsblog

— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) August 27, 2021

I admit I was a bit surprised at the size of this deal when I first saw it, $10 million +/- a couple mil for a big man that can run the floor is not outrageous. If Williams can continue to improve, both his game and his 18.9 minutes per game, then this contract will end up being a solid deal for the Celtics.

Obviously if he continues getting hurt and playing less than 52 games a season then this deal could end up being a problem. The one thing I will say though is this is an easily tradable contract because of William’s potential as a player, but more importantly the relatively low average annual value. So while this does eat into the Celtics cap space, it does not preclude them from making a deal for someone like Bradley Beal should that opportunity present itself.

Not to mention the benefit of keeping your best player happy by re-signing guys he actually wants to play with.

Jayson Tatum said Robert Williams is probably his favorite player to play with because of his energy, presence and how he does the little things.

— Jay King (@ByJayKing) April 29, 2021

As I’ve said here in the past, I am a huge jersey guy and as part of that I refuse to buy any player’s jersey unless they’ve recently signed a contract extension because I’ve been burned before. Robert Williams III is now locked into the C’s long terms plans so if you haven’t done so already, go get yourself a Time Lord shirt and get ready for the season.