Elliot Williams prospects as a Dukie vs Tiger

 Well you have to keep in mind that for the first half of his season at Duke he didn’t really play at all, but he gradually worked his way into the starting lineup.  His sophomore season he almost definitely would have started at the 3, moving Singler to the 4. I think he could have put up up maybe 12 points per game with maybe 4 rebounds and 2 assists.

This year he would have been good in the backcourt with Nolan Smith, with Kyrie Irving off the bench.  I think he would have had a pretty good year, and they would have contended for the title if he and Irving would have been healthy.  Williams and Smith and Irving would be a great 3 guard rotation with Kyle Singler at small forward and some Plumlee guys up front. 

Last year Duke won a championship not sure if they needed him. 

Elliott Williams is a combo guard who looked for his own offense.  At Memphis his game tailed off towards the end of the year but he was probably hurt. 

But, he is not a pure point guard and I am not sure what they would have done with Williams, Irving, and Nolan Smith.  Interesting how the Duke team of the past two years played better with Jon Scheyer (NCAA title) and Nolan Smith (ACC title) at the point guard instead of Kyrie Irving (Arizona blowout).  Not sure if Duke’s system doesn’t need a first rate point guard or what… you could even say that Elliott Williams is a better NBA prospect than Nolan Smith and he didn’t go as far when he started at point guard either. 

Maybe players like Scheyer and Smith work better within the Duke system. 

Scheyer ran the point almost exclusively in 09-10, so I doubt that Williams would have taken over that role. I think he most likely would have served as Duke’s primary wing defender, while providing a dynamic fourth scoring option on offense.

Duke is one of the worst places to be if you are trying to develop for the next level.  Scheyer did run the point but had Williams had stayed, he wouldve gotten more minutes at PG than Smith, I think Smith wouldve been coming off the bench as the SG.  Williams knew he would be better off elsewhere where he could showcase his scoring…since his mother was ill and he needed to be close to her he made the decision to return home and in Memphis is where he began his NBA campaign.  Williams was the best athlete that Duke had but he needed room to spread his wings.  Duke has messed up some really good prospects too, namely Ricky Price who fell out of favor with Coach K and ended up going from a top high schooler and break out season at Duke to being undrafted and forgotten about.