What do you expect from Zaire Williams this year?

[SinceGatlingWasARookie]

Warriors fan here. I thought the Grizzlies were the 2nd best team in the playoffs last year. Grizzlies are my 2nd favorite team and are underrated by the bettors in my opinion. I have a bet that pays me if the Grizzles reach the conference finals.

Zaire Williams sharing small forward minutes with Brooks and playing like a better than average starter would be nice but can Williams play like a better than average starter? Grizzlies seem to be developing a crop of power forwards but seem a bit thin at small forward.

[jefe]

I think Zaire can make the leap you described - to playing like a better than average starter. The Grizz followed the same playbook with him in summer league as they did with Bane the year prior. They put the ball in his hands and asked him to generate offense. He's got all the tools and seems to have a good head on his shoulders - he also showed noticeable improvement over the course of his rookie year, which leads me to believe he can continue that improvement into this year.

It's notable that Zaire is kind of an outlier in terms of whom the Grizz typically draft. With the exceptions of Ja and JJJ (who were fairly obvious picks given where the Grizz ended up in the lottery), the Grizz have kind of focused on using late first rounders to acquire overlooked upperclassmen with a bonafide track record of production in college. With Zaire though, they traded up into the lottery to acquire a raw one-and-done with tremendous upside (and, conversely, higher possibility to "bust" given the draft slot he was taken in). Not gonna lie - I wasn't a fan of the pick at first (especially given my thoughts on the trade to acquire the pick at the time it was made), but given the current coaching staff's track record of development, I certainly hoped that I'd be proven wrong.

[psman2]

I think Zaire can make the leap you described - to playing like a better than average starter. The Grizz followed the same playbook with him in summer league as they did with Bane the year prior. They put the ball in his hands and asked him to generate offense. He's got all the tools and seems to have a good head on his shoulders - he also showed noticeable improvement over the course of his rookie year, which leads me to believe he can continue that improvement into this year.

It's notable that Zaire is kind of an outlier in terms of whom the Grizz typically draft. With the exceptions of Ja and JJJ (who were fairly obvious picks given where the Grizz ended up in the lottery), the Grizz have kind of focused on using late first rounders to acquire overlooked upperclassmen with a bonafide track record of production in college. With Zaire though, they traded up into the lottery to acquire a raw one-and-done with tremendous upside (and, conversely, higher possibility to "bust" given the draft slot he was taken in). Not gonna lie - I wasn't a fan of the pick at first (especially given my thoughts on the trade to acquire the pick at the time it was made), but given the current coaching staff's track record of development, I certainly hoped that I'd be proven wrong.

I don't think we traded up for Zaire, from all the rumors swirling the trade up was supposedly an attempt to land either Wagner or Giddy. More rumors had us trying to trade up even more to land Kuminga. That 5-12 range seemed to be very fluid the few weeks before the draft. I think Zaire represented the highest upside that had the possible attributes we wanted in a wing once our preferred choices came off the board.

Regardless I think it is too much to ask for a 2nd year player to contribute as an average starter in their second year. On the offensive side of the ball you will find a few players capable of being average but usually young players are dragged down by their D and bb iq to below average levels. In the 2020 draft you likely only have 5-6 players that are a net positive player on the court for their teams in their 2nd year. Could Zaire have a 2nd year leap like Bane, sure but we have to acknowledge that leaps like that are the exception far more than the rule. Good thing is we don't need him to make that kind of leap right now, we just need him to continue progressing along the lines of what he showed his rookie year and hope by the time is rookie deal is up he can be a plus contributor for our team.

[VCfor3]

I think Zaire can make the leap you described - to playing like a better than average starter. The Grizz followed the same playbook with him in summer league as they did with Bane the year prior. They put the ball in his hands and asked him to generate offense. He's got all the tools and seems to have a good head on his shoulders - he also showed noticeable improvement over the course of his rookie year, which leads me to believe he can continue that improvement into this year.

It's notable that Zaire is kind of an outlier in terms of whom the Grizz typically draft. With the exceptions of Ja and JJJ (who were fairly obvious picks given where the Grizz ended up in the lottery), the Grizz have kind of focused on using late first rounders to acquire overlooked upperclassmen with a bonafide track record of production in college. With Zaire though, they traded up into the lottery to acquire a raw one-and-done with tremendous upside (and, conversely, higher possibility to "bust" given the draft slot he was taken in). Not gonna lie - I wasn't a fan of the pick at first (especially given my thoughts on the trade to acquire the pick at the time it was made), but given the current coaching staff's track record of development, I certainly hoped that I'd be proven wrong.

I don't think we traded up for Zaire, from all the rumors swirling the trade up was supposedly an attempt to land either Wagner or Giddy. More rumors had us trying to trade up even more to land Kuminga. That 5-12 range seemed to be very fluid the few weeks before the draft. I think Zaire represented the highest upside that had the possible attributes we wanted in a wing once our preferred choices come off the board.

Regardless I think it is too much to ask for a 2nd year player to contribute as an average starter in their second year. On the offensive side of the ball you will find a few players capable of being average but usually young players are dragged down by their D and bb iq to below average levels. In the 2020 draft you likely only have 5-6 players that are a net positive player on the court for their teams in their 2nd year. Could Zaire have a 2nd year leap like Bane, sure but we have to acknowledge that leaps like that are the exception far more than the rule. Good thing is we don't need him to make that kind of leap right now, we just need him to continue progressing along the lines of what he showed his rookie year and hope by the time is rookie deal is up he can be a plus contributor for our team.

I agree with you on the draft stuff with Ziaire.

And yeah I think it is too much hope in Z to be an above average starter at this point. He showed some improvement in summer league, but Bane last year was a much more dramatic leap. I think Ziaire as a high quality backup SF is reasonable and something we have a good shot at getting. He could really help glue the bench together with Santi, Tyus, Clarke, and Konchar when our team is fully healthy.

[esvl]

My impression is that, similar to Santi, ZW has noticeably matured and grown higher. I wouldn’t be surprised if he is already 6’10 and might easily reach 6’11. In which case, in 2 years, we might end up in a situation when ZW would dominate over 99% of the NBA wings from the physicality + athleticism standpoint.

[esvl]

Zaire needs to add to his frame. His shoulders and face still look “highschoolish” to me. I hope to see soon him transforming in a way similar to what happened to JJJ this year - that gent certainly looks like a man rather than teenager.

[SD2042]

My expectations to Z is to continue to build on his game foundation. I expect him to be more solid backup as he's missed training camp and some regular season games due to injury. Will he build his game enough to take over for Dillon when the time comes will remain a big question mark.