I see to many people writing off Williams as a Cavalier. Irving is a great player, but Williams is a beast. He has great confidence, never gives up on a play, can play either forward spot, is as athletic as they come, efficient scorer, a great leader with tons of heart, and can spark at team in a second. I mean look at the stats and you can see how dominant he was without even watching the guy (I have watched him play probably six times this season). 20 ppg, shooting 60% and 55% from three? That is bonkers. He looked like a man among boys all year. The only weaknesses I see with him is that he needs to become a better ball handler, and needs to stop the fouling. Other than that, this guy is a stud. Also, he fits very well in Byron Scotts pick-and-roll game. Ramon Sessions is terrific in this offense, and at Arizona, Williams was probably the best pick-and-roll player in the country. Irving is a phenomenal player though, and either way they will get a star player in my eyes, but Williams brings a different kind of excitement to the game that LeBron had in Cleveland. With the luxury of having the 4th pick as well, they can grab either Walker or Knight to play the PG. Knight and Walker are great in the open court, and running the floor with Williams and Hickson could make for some really exciting basketball, something Cleveland lacked last year.
Not seeing anything special in D. Williams. Irving / Williams = Rose / Beasley. No brainer who goes 1st.
All the Williams homers don't realize that he is the classical tweener. He is afraid to bang in the post and insists that he is a SF. He doesn't even have Iggy level handle. He doesn't have the size of a franchise level PF. He is jump shot happy and is exactly a slightly bigger Beasley. Both drafted as a PF, but will eventually turn into a SF. EXCEPT, he doesn't have half the handle of Beasley. Picking Williams with the #1 pick will be a monumental error. Never draft a player without a true NBA position that high.
I think Williams plays more inside than Beasley. He'll do OK in the NBA but I don't think he'll be a franchise player like Irving is expected to be. I see Williams being another Carl Landry or Taj Gibson, an energy guy, with slightly better range.
....Melo and Bird have handles to play SF. Williams is FORCED to play out of position, not because he can. Please don't insult Larry by comparing him to Derrick Williams. Anyways, we won't be getting Williams or Irving so this argument is pretty much pointless.
Melo is a bomber. Derrick Williams has the potential to be better than him. Because he is smarter with his shot selection and doesn't have the prima donna attitude.....yet. Your point was Derrick is a tweener. I simply gave you two names that were "tweeners". There's more. All players are different. There's no identical twins in the NBA gamewise. Even the Morris brothers have different games. So, no direct comparison meant to Larry Bird except your comparison, THEIR SIZE! Derrick Williams has comparable size to Melo and Bird. And we all know he can shoot the 3-ball. And we all know he can play from the perimeter very well. And we all know that if you put a smaller small forward type on him that Derrick has post skills to drop in the post and take advantage of the mismatch. Derrick is a big small forward that can SHOOT! He'll play SF in the league and play it well.
It is not that Williams can't dribble, he just isn't a flashy dribbler. He hasn't really shown if he can create his own shot off the dribble, but when I watch him handle the ball it looks like he can. In college, he really didn't have to really on skill, because he is so athletic. Potential wise, I don't see how he is limited? If he proves he can create his own shot off the dribble, this guy will be a 20 plus guy nightly. I think he has the drive to be a great player. He has a heart for the game that I haven't seen in a while. It may take him a year, but I predict a stellar career out of him.
True, he won a C as a frosh at 'cuse. But that don't mean Williams won't be just as good or better. Doesn't matter how they were rated in the draft. Matters what they become in the NBA.
I'm pretty sure Kanter is a lock at #2. The TWolves will take him over both Willams and Irving, because of the fact they are set everywhere else, for the most part. But trading down for them is definitely an option. Hopefully the Rockets can move up and take Kanter or Williams. I'd be happy with either.
the case for the undersized tweener forward is a dead one. rarely works out successfully, and even rarer is it that they dominate. could he be a nice 6th man? sure. maybe even a starter if he works on it. but he's not the type you pin your franchise on. let someone else draft him.