J.Feigen: Wood will be in training camp, future star Alan Williams likely not

Yeah, wouldn't be surprised if Jones is swapped for a veteran PF in the winter, although it be hard to find one on his salary.

 

And has better shot mechanics. And a better handle.

Don't get me wrong, Al is great at his own game (his touch around the rim is actually insane), but Wood has all the components to one day be an allstar. He needs a lot of molding though...

 

PFS that can't shoot waste of time

 

Williams is more developed, but Wood's a better prospect. Nobody's gonna be running offense through a short, stocky PF on the block. This is 2015. Neither will play, so I'm thrilled to see we are figuring out this forward progressive thing out.

If Wood pans out, cool. If not, cool. Williams will literally never be of any use on the Rockets

 

Truth be told, dont know much about either Woods or Williams since I dont follow college bball as much...but against other potential NBA players, Williams showed a ton of scouts/teams his ability to rebound the ball. Whether he gets to show case that talent here with the Rockets remains TBD.

Right now the Rockets are in win mode, so they are looking to fill out the roster with solid/mentally tough NBA vets...hence why Terry and Hayes makes sense. From what I've seen from the summer league, I really like Alan's game...His paint scoring threat is just an added bonus, but he has shown me elite level rebounding skills. I cant fault the Rockets signing Hayes and Terry, but Williams looks to be a very intriguing project.

I guess when dealing with two potential NBA players, you have to go with the taller dude...Probably why Woods gets the nod.

 

My thought is this: Last year's roster had Joey Dorsey, and this year they are talking about bringing back Chuck Hayes. I see no reason at all why Williams could not fill that same role. If Morey valued it from those guys, why wouldn't he feel the same about Alan Williams? It just doesn't make any sense to me. This team has clearly valued the particular skill set over the years that these guys bring or we wouldn't have had them on the final roster. In my mind, the only reason not to bring Williams in is because they know they are going to sign Chuck Hayes. I would personally rather have Williams, but it doesn't make sense to keep them both, so the handwriting is clearly on the wall. Welcome back, Chuck, and good luck to Alan Williams. I have no doubt he will land somewhere.

 

I think it is exactly the opposite. Woods will likely not get signed by anyone and will be happy to be on the Vipers. Alan wants a contract and will get it from some team if not the Rockets.

Alan Williams skills are nothing like Chuck Hayes except that they are both good rebounders. Rebounding is where the similarities end. Chuck is an excellent defender with almost no offensive skills and Alan Williams is a bad defender with pretty good offensive post skills. Alan William's skills have not been tested against NBA players so they are at best a gamble. Chuck Hayes on the other hand has proven he can play NBA level D.

When the playoffs come around and we are looking at LMA, Griffin, Zach, Ibaka etc. Chuck will have a role and Alan will not. If the playoffs were not in our future I would roll the dice with Alan Williams and Chuck Hayes would make absolutely no sense.

 

Alan Williams skills are nothing like Chuck Hayes except that they are both good rebounders. Rebounding is where the similarities end. Chuck is an excellent defender with almost no offensive skills and Alan Williams is a bad defender with pretty good offensive post skills. Alan William's skills have not been tested against NBA players so they are at best a gamble. Chuck Hayes on the other hand has proven he can play NBA level D.

When the playoffs come around and we are looking at LMA, Griffin, Zach, Ibaka etc. Chuck will have a role and Alan will not. If the playoffs were not in our future I would roll the dice with Alan Williams and Chuck Hayes would make absolutely no sense.


I don't completely agree with this, but some of it is on point. Yes, Chuck was an outstanding defender, better than Williams will ever be, but he isn't the defender he once was. You also underestimate Williams a little as a defender. He isn't quick, but Chuck Hayes isn't exactly fast either. Williams averaged over 3 blocks and 1.5 steals per 40 minutes though, and those are not "bad" defensive numbers. While he isn't a great defender, per se, he is definitely not a bad one. Hayes is probably still the better defender, but he is also 10 years older. Who knows how Williams might develop? Hayes is about done. He is what he is at this point. I guess if someone put a gun to my head, for one year I would prefer Chuck Hayes for the reasons you mentioned, but for much longer than that I'd rather have Williams all day long.

 

Most people are focusing on Williams' offense and no comment on his rebounding?

To me that's his best asset.

Moot point at this point, but I'd like to see him land somewhere.

 

I think this move was made to groom an asset. Wood is more of an asset than Williams. They can keep him in dleague and monitor his progress. If he progresses quickly and proves to be NBA ready with quality rotation minutes, then that makes someone like TJones expendable in a February 2016 deal. It's more of a speculaton / prospect move.

With Williams, they know what they can get more or so.

 

Interesting

http://www.azcentral.com/story/spor.../alan-williams-nba-draft-north-high/28663889/

 

Rockets don't need NBA ready 3rd string players.

Alan Williams looks great, but I highly doubt he will get minutes above D-Mo, T-Jones or Capela (and McHale seems to trust Capela a lot more now with all those minutes he gave him in the playoffs compared to the regular season).

They need players with high ceiling. Williams looks great, but Wood has a unique skill set that is very rare in this league. I think Wood is a player that will showcase himself enough to become a valuable throw-in to any trade that Morey is looking to do in the future.

 

Wood went undrafted because of his poor work ethic. He has to get a lot better and stronger before he can play in the NBA. Williams is slow and is overweight, but he is a hard worker. He has a slightly better chance of making it to a NBA roster right now.

 

Does not compute...while I believe Williams has a high motor while playing the game, I just don't understand how dudes can get so big playing basketball. Maybe he has an issue but you would think he would lean up a little to gain even more muscle. I always wonder if these guys truly have the dedication off the court to compete in the best league in the world. I have my doubts about both of their dedication off the court. I am sure Williams works on his game all of the time but doesn't do the necessary workouts to be NBA ready. I think if Morey does find a way to sign, that is a pretty good indication we believe in him.

 

Let Alan Williams have a chance to play on another team. We have enough young guys already to develop--KJ, Sam, Harrell.

Chuck Hayes would be our insurance on defense. Hopefully though Howard does not need to rest for extended number of games, or else we might need him to play more minutes.

 

So what's the status on Wood? This dude going to end up making one of the last 2 positions or is Morey just going to try and pick him up on the Vipers?

 

I thought it was all filled up. Last report was he was still attending training camp.

 

Given the Rockets situation with potentially dealing with a hard cap, it actually helps Wood's ability to maybe make the final roster due to default.

My guess is Morey will find a way to avoid being hard capped, after the Terry/Harrell signing situation is dealt with, and you'll see a flurry of minimum signings for guys competing with Wood for the last 2 roster spots.

I think the big thing we are waiting for is Terry's decision, and then Harrell to get signed. After that we should know more about these last few guys fighting to get a spot.

Keep in mind that the NBA allows up to 20 offseason roster spots so I expect Morey to load up a training camp roster here after the hard cap situation is resolved.

......

Not sure if anyone has an update on where we are with the hard cap stuff, and the relation to the Terry/Harrell signings??? I've been off the site a bunch the past couple weeks and haven't caught up.

 

If we sign Terry then Wood is getting cut for the final roster.

15 man

Lawson/Bev/Terry
Harden/Thornton/McDaniels
Ariza/Brewer/Dekker
DMO/Jones/Harrell
Dwight/Capela/Hayes

 

I don't think Terry is coming back.