I like our size if nothing else. We have a solid frontcourt already and adding Williams at the 3 with Hayward at the 2 makes us long as hell. Looking simply at his career stats, his assists per game are a little bit of a concern for me. How is his ball movement? And while I read here that he's solid on defense, I wonder how good. His personal fouls per game is very low so I almost wonder if he's not aggressive enough. Because that's what I want. Aggressive, nasty, in your face, won't back down from no one mother ****ers. Doubt he's that. Again, anyone who can provide some insight on the guy will get some rep from me. KKKarolina? Your trailer park's down that way, no?
Here is Hollingers take on him:
+ Passive combo forward with good midrange shot. Excellent finisher in transition.
+ Long-armed wing defender who needs to add strength. Can play 4 in a pinch.
+ Decent lateral movement; solid defender who often guards opponent's best wing.
Williams is a perfectly decent small forward, which would be totally fine if he hadn't been the second overall pick and then got a five-year, $35 million contract when his rookie deal expired. Compared to those expectations, he's been a disappointment. His lack of improvement over the past three seasons has been particularly deflating; despite a sign here and a flash there, his production hasn't budged an inch.
The best thing going for Williams is his midrange jumper -- he made 43.7 percent of his long 2s last season. However, he's been unable to extend his range to the 3-point line, which would make a huge difference for him in efficiency. Although Williams doesn't look for his offense, his size and athleticism often force opposing wings to foul him; he averaged 0.32 free throw attempts per field goal attempt without being terribly aggressive or tricky. Again, this tantalizes, but no turning of the corner appears in the offing.
Defensively, it's a similar story. Williams is a good, solid 3 with outstanding length and reasonable mobility, but he's not a guy who eats nails for breakfast. You don't want to match him up against top-notch scorers every night, although the Hawks often were forced to.
Basically, this is what he is. He's 25 and he hasn't progressed in three years. He'll have a nice career as a sometime starter at the 3, but I think we can stop projecting beyond that.