I haven't seen Williams play, but the mock drafts I've looked at have him in the lottery. I also haven't really watched swanigan, besides highlights, but he looks awesome.
I like to watch interviews of the prospects as well, to get a feeling of the kids' personality, and mentality. Here's an interview with Robert Williams: Great kid it seems.
Williams is 1 and 3/4 inches shorter than Ibaka. He plays bigger than his height which is what gives him an advantage in college. In the NBA, he'll have to play bigger than his height to even be COMPETITIVE. He also doesn't have much of a jumpshot, or a low past game. He averages 12ppg in the mediocre SEC, and almost all of those buckets are set up by teammates. He's a shorter Noah Vonleh. His BEST CASE scenario is Taj Gibson. I'm not willing to draft a guy at 10 who's ceiling is Taj Gibson. It's funny how Markannen and Hartenstein are supposed to be available around the same time, but nobodies talking about them, when they have all star potential. I'd rather have TJ Leaf, Tyler Lydon, Caleb Swanigan, and Johnathan Motley over Williams. The dude is not good.
Dude has a 7'5 wingspan and is an explosive leaper, his height will not be an issue. He's actually longer than Ibaka. Not even comparable to Taj Gibson athletically. Did you just google "power forwards that are 6'9?" What his jump shot is right now doesn't matter. You don't draft guys for what they are. You draft them based on what they can become. He's got a good looking shot. Ibaka didn't even start shooting threes until he was years into his NBA career.
Anyways, Williams is going to blow up the combine, so if we want him, we should probably tank harder.
I understand where Bones is coming from. He's a guy with a wide range of outcomes so it comes down to how confident you are in his ability to reach his top end upside. Here's what I wrote about Williams after seeing him play for the 4th or 5th time: Checked in on Williams vs Vanderbilt today and saw a lot of the same. He did surprise me with his ability to read the floor and make a pass though, whether it was out top in semi transition or in the post. None of it was necessarily high level stuff, but it was nice to see some feel and IQ out of him in that area of the game. The problem is is that if you are realistic about his likely role in an nba offense, it's hard to envision him getting many touches in positions to make it all that valuable when projecting him going forward. He still has no clue how to guard the pnr (A&M opted to switch any involving him in this game) or defending the perimeter in general. Much more of a block hunter than quality interior defender at this point, and you still see him loafing around the court for the most part unless he's directly involved in a play. He's such a good catch and finish guy in space, he should be running the floor a lot more often and right now you rarely see him in a full sprint. I guess you can blame some of that on coaching / scheme as they do like to use him as the swing guy out top in their offense, so he'll trail and they'll flow into that a lot of the time, but when you see him lazily running back in defensive transition time after time, I start to question the motor a bit. The biggest thing I need to see for him is physical play and actually working for position on both ends rather than just relying on his length and leaping ability. Right now, he plays incredibly soft and seems pretty averse to contact, and if he truly is an undersized center, he's going to need to do a 180 in regards to his mindset out on the floor if he wants to be successful. And while this looks like another bashing of Robert WIlliams, he does project to be an elite lob target where he'll definitely have gravity as a roll man and should also be successful in dunker spot situations if he learns to embrace contact. HIs combination of soft hands, leaping ability and elite length truly makes him special here. Is that enough to make him a lottery pick?...I don't think so. I think you're having to project way too much to think he's a guy you can trust to be a starting level player. But I could definitely see someone falling in love with his physical gifts and hoping they're able to transform his mindset and refine his game. Especially when you consider how lackluster this big man class is. And here's what I wrote a few days ago: I think I've figured out where I'm at with Robert Williams' upside going forward. If he can gain some coordination and develop the fundamentals needed to guard pnr/space and play the PF and also stretch his range to 3, he has all-star potential as a Serge Ibaka type. If he doesn't, he struggles to make it as more than a back-up energy big. He's got great length, but I'm not sure he has enough offensive skill potential inside the arc or the frame/lower body strength+physicality+reach to be a quality defensive center. For that reason, I've started to come around on him as a lottery pick. It was made even easier after realizing how little starter/star potential there is in this draft past the top 10 or so.
I don't like the last sentence of the above article. We could very well end up with three picks outside of top 10 if we don't commence the tank properly. I am slowly coming to terms with the fact that getting a high draft pick is our only chance of getting proper talent in. If we cannot get a power forward with sure potential, let's land one of promising small forwards in top 10 and two PF prospects in late first round with Memphis and Cleveland picks.
New bleacher report has us a drafting 3 euro guys. With our 1st pick they have us picking Hartenstein from Germany.
Here's a question; what if we somehow win the lottery? Do you take someone? Do you trade for Jimmy Butler?
Trading it would be a definite option. Right now I think Ball is projected as #1 on many boards. His dad could be a problem. If he turns out to be really good, will he end up in LA about the time he peeks? Who do all the "tanker lovers" like? This year's draft seems deep on potential but no real players who will "transcend" the game. A term they throw out in Los Angeles all the time because by tanking for 3 years, and now 4, they are pissed they didn't end up with one of those types of players. Which was their goal for tanking in the first place.
No, because Gibson is an undersized 4, who's game compares similarly to Williams. Drafting and undersized 4 (his wingspan gives him an average shantung reach i suppose) and hoping he can become a shooter is not a good idea. You got Hartenstein, who's just as athletic, and can already shoot as well as finish inside, and he's 7'0 (I think?). That's the type of player you draft in the lotto. Players with talent and potential. You save raw players with potential for later.
If we got first I'd take Fultz then try to trade CJ or Dame for the 3rd or 4th pick to take Jackson. Fultz is fantastic and has an extremely well rounded game, while Jackson is a great defender, and would be a great distributor at the 3. Jackson is what everyone hoped Batum could be. Ball could likely be a bust. He can't get by solid defenders, and his shot is hard to get off. Tatum has a lot of talent, and I think he's being slept on. I'd also be down with taking Isaac, and trying to bulk him up so that he could play the 4. He's 6'10 with guard skills, and would be a matchup nightmare for other teams as a PF. Ntilikina would be interesting, as he's a 6'5 PG who can defend well and do a little bit of everything offensively. I'd take him if we could get rid of Turner. That'd sand is a ton of money with no real drop off and an increase in potential. De'Aaron Fox would be great next to CJ, but we have Dame, who's better than Fox will ever be. Malik Monk compares to CJ (undersized 2-guard who can shoot and score) which means we shouldn't look at him.
BPA. When you're a team winning 30 something games, need doesn't matter. Overall talent does. ugh. How many rebuilds must we go through?
I'd like using the lottery pick in a trade for a proven player who will make the team better immediately. Otherwise: BPA
I'd try to trade Turner and Meyers and the 1st pick for Butler. Then all you'd have to do is see if a team like Philadelphia would take Crabbe. That'd leave us with: -Cap space (We could trade Ed/Aminu if someone signed) -No bad contracts -3 All-Star level players -A young, two-way center -2 more draft picks
