[AZcats09Participant]

Before I finish this post, it should be known that I am biased. I’m a U of A grad and a big fan of D-Will….so take everything with a grain of salt.

I think all the “Derrick Williams is a bust” talk is a little over the top. I realize when you draft somebody second overall, you are to expect a superstar. That is not Derricks fault, he was simply selected 2nd in a draft with no real stars (except for Kyrie).

However, his statistics indicate that he definitely has ability and potential to become a very quality player. First of all, his per 36 min averages put him around 18-8, which is not bad at all, although I would like to see the 43% shooting improve a little bit. In addition to his solid per-36 averages, he was also putting up 15-6 after the all-star break last year in about 30 minutes a game.

In addition, since he got to Minnesota they have been trying him at different positions, splitting time with K-love, playing the 3 (not his position) and having him sit at the 3 point line. He has not had the chance to fully showcase his offensive ability and thats due to the poor situation that he has been put in in Minnesota.

I’m not saying he will ever be a superstar. I do, however, think that he is trending-up can be a very good power forward in today’s NBA, Minnesota just might not be the right place for that to happen. Too many people are completely giving up on him and I think it’s WAY too early for that.

[Bmore_DCParticipant]

it was a horrible draft and he was drafted to a team with a logjam of forwards. He really hasnt gotten a chance to play his kind of game. He will be fine if he continues to improve his shot and his strength.

[Bmore_DCParticipant]

it was a horrible draft and he was drafted to a team with a logjam of forwards. He really hasnt gotten a chance to play his kind of game. He will be fine if he continues to improve his shot and his strength.

[RUDEBOY_Participant]

I wouldnt consider him a bust at all,its too early to say that…..But alot of folks will say he’s been a disappointment,especially after he was the 2nd player taken in the draft…..

Last season when K Love got injured and Williams moved to pf, he played quite well…..

[RUDEBOY_Participant]

I wouldnt consider him a bust at all,its too early to say that…..But alot of folks will say he’s been a disappointment,especially after he was the 2nd player taken in the draft…..

Last season when K Love got injured and Williams moved to pf, he played quite well…..

[SiggyParticipant]

I wouldn’t even say he played well in Love’s stead. 43% from a power forward is pretty inexcusable. Factor in the 3’s since he does take his share of 3’s and .471 EFG is still well below average for a PF. That’s bad offense. Combine that with his bad defense and floor game and he’s not a starting caliber player.

[SiggyParticipant]

I wouldn’t even say he played well in Love’s stead. 43% from a power forward is pretty inexcusable. Factor in the 3’s since he does take his share of 3’s and .471 EFG is still well below average for a PF. That’s bad offense. Combine that with his bad defense and floor game and he’s not a starting caliber player.

[PlatypusParticipant]

Would love to see him and Terrance Ross swap teams to get a fresh start

Ross and Johnson for Brewer and Williams

Gives them a starting caliber power forward and improves the bench

Lowry – Augustin
Derozan – Fields
Gay – Brewer
Williams – Hansbrough
Valucuinas – Gray

Gives them a future 2 guard to learn from Martin and eventually take over and improves the bench

Rubio – Barea / Shved
Martin – Ross / Shved
Budinger – Mohammed
Love – Johnson
Pekovic – Dieng

[PlatypusParticipant]

Would love to see him and Terrance Ross swap teams to get a fresh start

Ross and Johnson for Brewer and Williams

Gives them a starting caliber power forward and improves the bench

Lowry – Augustin
Derozan – Fields
Gay – Brewer
Williams – Hansbrough
Valucuinas – Gray

Gives them a future 2 guard to learn from Martin and eventually take over and improves the bench

Rubio – Barea / Shved
Martin – Ross / Shved
Budinger – Mohammed
Love – Johnson
Pekovic – Dieng

[Taylor Gang MikeParticipant]

I would play D Will at the 3

[Taylor Gang MikeParticipant]

I would play D Will at the 3

[SiggyParticipant]

Why?
What in his game makes you think that he could handle the 3 position full-time?
How does he help the T’Wolves at all as their starting 3?

[SiggyParticipant]

Why?
What in his game makes you think that he could handle the 3 position full-time?
How does he help the T’Wolves at all as their starting 3?

[Memphis MadnessParticipant]

They should use him as their 6th man. Love and Pek own the 4 and 5 spots, plus they could use some scoring punch off the bench. If Derrick Williams doesn’t fit in with Love then he just doesn’t fit. But teams can always use a great 6th man.

I would still experiment with quicker, smaller units led by Love at center, and Williams at the 4. Mainly against the other team going small. Say for instance, when the Warriors go with Curry, Thompson, Iggy, Barnes, and David Lee.

[Memphis MadnessParticipant]

They should use him as their 6th man. Love and Pek own the 4 and 5 spots, plus they could use some scoring punch off the bench. If Derrick Williams doesn’t fit in with Love then he just doesn’t fit. But teams can always use a great 6th man.

I would still experiment with quicker, smaller units led by Love at center, and Williams at the 4. Mainly against the other team going small. Say for instance, when the Warriors go with Curry, Thompson, Iggy, Barnes, and David Lee.

[Malik-UniversalParticipant]

he plays best as a four and its not even close

[Malik-UniversalParticipant]

he plays best as a four and its not even close

[theprophetParticipant]

derrick williams is a lower tier starting 4 caliber player in the league. there are a lot of really good pfs in the league but he’s just not really good at least yet. he is generally better than a back up 4 and is still young enough to improve his shooting range and passing, which would allow him to be more efficient. if you think about it though, there are a lot of pfs out there:

dirk, millsap, zbo, j.green, p.gasol, kg, a.davis, love, duncan, boozer, favors, b.griffin, monroe, d.west, bosh, d.lee, ibaka, aldridge to name a few starters. that’s 18 right there, so he is in the bottom 12ish. that’s still nothing to sneeze at apparently with the amount of depth there is at that position in the league today. i have to see where he is in 3 years to know what kind of player he will really be.

as said before, kyrie is a stud from that draft, but outside of that there aren’t too many players from that draft you could name that will be any better than any of the pfs i just listed in which williams is being matched up against. he is an under achiever, but i wouldn’t go as far as calling him a bust.

[theprophetParticipant]

derrick williams is a lower tier starting 4 caliber player in the league. there are a lot of really good pfs in the league but he’s just not really good at least yet. he is generally better than a back up 4 and is still young enough to improve his shooting range and passing, which would allow him to be more efficient. if you think about it though, there are a lot of pfs out there:

dirk, millsap, zbo, j.green, p.gasol, kg, a.davis, love, duncan, boozer, favors, b.griffin, monroe, d.west, bosh, d.lee, ibaka, aldridge to name a few starters. that’s 18 right there, so he is in the bottom 12ish. that’s still nothing to sneeze at apparently with the amount of depth there is at that position in the league today. i have to see where he is in 3 years to know what kind of player he will really be.

as said before, kyrie is a stud from that draft, but outside of that there aren’t too many players from that draft you could name that will be any better than any of the pfs i just listed in which williams is being matched up against. he is an under achiever, but i wouldn’t go as far as calling him a bust.

[WarblingSpamalopeParticipant]

This is a case where Kahn f’d this up. Derrick Williams is a 4. They torpedoed his value by stunting his growth and trying to monkey with his position. I don’t think he has star potential, but now they can’t trade him for anything. Kahn said he felt like he had no choice because at the time it was considered a 2 person draft. They should have worked something out at the draft, because they knew they had Love.I wish they would trade him for a backup 5 for when Pek goes down. You can’t play small ball with him and Love because they are that bad on defense.

[SiggyParticipant]

He monkeyed with his own position. He was advertising and preparing himself to be a 3 before his draft.
Minnesota picked for value, not need, which is usually the case that high up in the draft. It just turned out that Derrick wasn’t as good as advertised. They even tried to flip him after his rookie yr to no avail after teams got a look at him vs NBA comp.

[SiggyParticipant]

He monkeyed with his own position. He was advertising and preparing himself to be a 3 before his draft.
Minnesota picked for value, not need, which is usually the case that high up in the draft. It just turned out that Derrick wasn’t as good as advertised. They even tried to flip him after his rookie yr to no avail after teams got a look at him vs NBA comp.

[WarblingSpamalopeParticipant]

This is a case where Kahn f’d this up. Derrick Williams is a 4. They torpedoed his value by stunting his growth and trying to monkey with his position. I don’t think he has star potential, but now they can’t trade him for anything. Kahn said he felt like he had no choice because at the time it was considered a 2 person draft. They should have worked something out at the draft, because they knew they had Love.I wish they would trade him for a backup 5 for when Pek goes down. You can’t play small ball with him and Love because they are that bad on defense.

[JoeWolf1]

Derrick Williams could be a good NBA power forward if he stopped trying to be something he’s not. He was so effective in college because he played in the paint, but OCCASIONALLY stepped out and knocked down a 3 if it was a good shot. That kind of shot selection is gone in the NBA, he jacks shots erratically, and when he shoots one of his 3 long range shots per game, then he’s not as respected because of a 30% career mark.

He’s athletic mobile, has good strength and a nice shooting touch. He just needs to realize he’s a face up 4 who should only shoot 1 three pointer per game and only if it’s a good shot. If he can get a grip on his shot selection and his position, I think he can be a 15 and 8 3rd option starter, but if he doesn’t…he’s gonna have a hard time getting steady minutes and he’s a prime candidate for dropping 18 ppg on 40% shooting for a 10-15 win team.

[JoeWolf1]

Derrick Williams could be a good NBA power forward if he stopped trying to be something he’s not. He was so effective in college because he played in the paint, but OCCASIONALLY stepped out and knocked down a 3 if it was a good shot. That kind of shot selection is gone in the NBA, he jacks shots erratically, and when he shoots one of his 3 long range shots per game, then he’s not as respected because of a 30% career mark.

He’s athletic mobile, has good strength and a nice shooting touch. He just needs to realize he’s a face up 4 who should only shoot 1 three pointer per game and only if it’s a good shot. If he can get a grip on his shot selection and his position, I think he can be a 15 and 8 3rd option starter, but if he doesn’t…he’s gonna have a hard time getting steady minutes and he’s a prime candidate for dropping 18 ppg on 40% shooting for a 10-15 win team.

[OaktownWarriorsParticipant]

The T-Wolves don’t play him enough and I wish they would trade Williams. He has some talent that could help another team. Plus the T-Wolves just added a bunch of new dudes to their roster, so I don’t see Williams getting that playing time he deserves. I would dig the Warriors getting him.

[OaktownWarriorsParticipant]

The T-Wolves don’t play him enough and I wish they would trade Williams. He has some talent that could help another team. Plus the T-Wolves just added a bunch of new dudes to their roster, so I don’t see Williams getting that playing time he deserves. I would dig the Warriors getting him.

[The Scare Crow RisesParticipant]

He’s still young enough to figure it out, he certainly went too high in that draft but The Timberwolves aren’t a good fit IMO…

Send him to Philly to play Pf next to Nerlens Noel

I’d give up Thad Young for Derrick Williams if the Wolves gave up their 2014 1st round pick

Thad deserves to play for a good team and The Wolves could use him to replace AK47 as their starting Sf, losing Thad helps the tanking for Wiggins plan and we’d have to clear the decks for whoever we get to draft anyway (Wiggins, Parker or Randle)

Would the Wolves take Thad Young for Derrick Williams and their 1st round pick in 2014???

[The Scare Crow RisesParticipant]

He’s still young enough to figure it out, he certainly went too high in that draft but The Timberwolves aren’t a good fit IMO…

Send him to Philly to play Pf next to Nerlens Noel

I’d give up Thad Young for Derrick Williams if the Wolves gave up their 2014 1st round pick

Thad deserves to play for a good team and The Wolves could use him to replace AK47 as their starting Sf, losing Thad helps the tanking for Wiggins plan and we’d have to clear the decks for whoever we get to draft anyway (Wiggins, Parker or Randle)

Would the Wolves take Thad Young for Derrick Williams and their 1st round pick in 2014???

[theballerwayParticipant]

Just for the record- Klove is a 44% career shooter from the pf spot, and was at like 39% Last year. So Williams is just following their allstar.

There definately is a misconception about any tall forward who can shoot a bit playing the 3.

I think Hell be fine with time , just needs to learn to chose his spots and use his other attributes somtimes younger guys think its all about scoring when there are so many other ways to impcact the game.

[theballerwayParticipant]

Just for the record- Klove is a 44% career shooter from the pf spot, and was at like 39% Last year. So Williams is just following their allstar.

There definately is a misconception about any tall forward who can shoot a bit playing the 3.

I think Hell be fine with time , just needs to learn to chose his spots and use his other attributes somtimes younger guys think its all about scoring when there are so many other ways to impcact the game.

[theballerwayParticipant]

Just for the record- Klove is a 44% career shooter from the pf spot, and was at like 39% Last year. So Williams is just following their allstar.

There definately is a misconception about any tall forward who can shoot a bit playing the 3.

I think Hell be fine with time , just needs to learn to chose his spots and use his other attributes somtimes younger guys think its all about scoring when there are so many other ways to impcact the game.

[theballerwayParticipant]

Just for the record- Klove is a 44% career shooter from the pf spot, and was at like 39% Last year. So Williams is just following their allstar.

There definately is a misconception about any tall forward who can shoot a bit playing the 3.

I think Hell be fine with time , just needs to learn to chose his spots and use his other attributes somtimes younger guys think its all about scoring when there are so many other ways to impcact the game.

[Author]

Posts