Latavious Williams (6'8" 220, PF, 21 yo)

dream_catcher_9 · Post #1 » by **dream_catcher_9** » Thu Jan 6, 2011 2:09 am

I have seen about 5 of his games down in Tulsa and I think he is a keeper. He has tremendous athleticism, both horizontally and vertically, has a solid frame at 6'8" with good muscle mass, has a nice Basketball IQ(he doesn't force anything), and his biggest asset is his great rebounding instincts. He still needs to polish up his defense, and he still needs to improve his fundamentals.

In time I think he can be a good rotation player who can play both the 3 and 4. A 9th man who plays 10-15 minutes per game if everything goes right.

Post #2 » by **slick_watts** » Thu Jan 6, 2011 2:27 am

I admittedly haven't seen him play since last year. He reminded me a lot of Stromile Swift. Tremendous athleticism as you said, great nose for the ball, poor handles, below average BBIQ, poor court vision ... he was projected as a SF coming out of high school but I guess he was moved to PF for these reasons.

He can definitely be a rotation player but it's still a long road ahead. The D-League is particularly awful when it comes to big men, he's probably a man among boys athletically out there. I'll try to catch a game sometime soon to take a look, I'm sure he's progressed with some things since I last watched him.

Devilanche · Post #3 » by **Devilanche** » Thu Jan 6, 2011 2:27 am

That nice to hear. Anybody else that caught your eye?

dream_catcher_9 · Post #4 » by **dream_catcher_9** » Thu Jan 6, 2011 3:30 am

slick_watts wrote:I admittedly haven't seen him play since last year. He reminded me a lot of Stromile Swift. Tremendous athleticism as you said, great nose for the ball, poor handles, below average BBIQ, poor court vision ... he was projected as a SF coming out of high school but I guess he was moved to PF for these reasons.

He can definitely be a rotation player but it's still a long road ahead. The D-League is particularly awful when it comes to big men, he's probably a man among boys athletically out there. I'll try to catch a game sometime soon to take a look, I'm sure he's progressed with some things since I last watched him.

If you want you can watch the game that just ended tonight......Cole Aldrich and Latavious Williams played in it and both had solid games.

Go to http://www.nba.com/dleague/video/dleagu ... hives.html and click on OPEN FUTURECAST PLAYER, then once it's open click on the FWN vs TUL box on the top left corner. Full game archive......

Latavious is # 21
Cole is #44

dream_catcher_9 · Post #5 » by **dream_catcher_9** » Thu Jan 6, 2011 3:55 am

Devilanche wrote:That nice to hear. Anybody else that caught your eye?

There is some nice talent on the team, but Latavious and Cole are the 2 best. Elijah Millsap has potential as a lockdown defender and possibly 10th man on some teams.

Post #6 » by **sonictecture** » Thu Jan 6, 2011 3:57 am

Latavious looks bigger than 220 and his long arms enable him to play bigger than 6'-8".

I don't quite understand Latavious' status with OKC. He was drafted in the second round but missed training camp due to injury. Is Latavious on the OKC roster on loan to Tulsa or is he a FA playing for Tulsa, available for any team to call up?

dream_catcher_9 · Post #7 » by **dream_catcher_9** » Thu Jan 6, 2011 4:04 am

sonictecture wrote:Latavious looks bigger than 220 and his long arms enable him to play bigger than 6'-8".

I don't quite understand Latavious' status with OKC. He was drafted in the second round but missed training camp due to injury. Is Latavious on the OKC roster on loan to Tulsa or is he a FA playing for Tulsa, available for any team to call up?

His rights are owned by OKC, so he can't be called up by another team. However we haven't signed him so we can't call him up either. Since we already have 15 men on our active roster we have to release a player before we can sign him and bring him up.

Post #8 » by **sonictecture** » Thu Jan 6, 2011 4:19 am

I think the 66er's are a fascinating study. They run the same system, but Tibbett's uses a deeper bench. Presti has done a very good job of identifying players that fit the system and the league. He's accumulated a really solid guard rotation and his big men are effective role players.

Larry Owens is the glue of the team at SF and has a game similar to Chris Douglas-Roberts. He does a little bit of everything and makes plays consistently.

Dabian Zowdell was briefly with the 66er's last year, but had other opportunities. Many thought he might make the Phoenix roster in 2010 after a good summer league, but he did do much in training camp. Good defender and runs a team about as well as Ivey.

Jerome Dyson plays back up scoring guard. Not really a point guard, but scores in a number of ways. Gets to the line can hit from the outside, uses the whole floor. He's played better than his scouting report on draftexpress in my opinion.

Post #9 » by **sonictecture** » Thu Jan 6, 2011 4:21 am

dream_catcher_9 wrote:
sonictecture wrote:Latavious looks bigger than 220 and his long arms enable him to play bigger than 6'-8".

I don't quite understand Latavious' status with OKC. He was drafted in the second round but missed training camp due to injury. Is Latavious on the OKC roster on loan to Tulsa or is he a FA playing for Tulsa, available for any team to call up?

His rights are owned by OKC, so he can't be called up by another team. However we haven't signed him so we can't call him up either. Since we already have 15 men on our active roster we have to release a player before we can sign him and bring him up.

Can OKC own his rights if he's not on the OKC roster? If a player is drafted but not offered a contract doesn't he become a free agent?

dream_catcher_9 · Post #10 » by **dream_catcher_9** » Thu Jan 6, 2011 4:26 am

sonictecture wrote:
dream_catcher_9 wrote:
sonictecture wrote:Latavious looks bigger than 220 and his long arms enable him to play bigger than 6'-8".

I don't quite understand Latavious' status with OKC. He was drafted in the second round but missed training camp due to injury. Is Latavious on the OKC roster on loan to Tulsa or is he a FA playing for Tulsa, available for any team to call up?

His rights are owned by OKC, so he can't be called up by another team. However we haven't signed him so we can't call him up either. Since we already have 15 men on our active roster we have to release a player before we can sign him and bring him up.

Can OKC own his rights if he's not on the OKC roster? If a player is drafted but not offered a contract doesn't he become a free agent?

nope. If you don't offer your drafted player a contract he can sign with any team not associated with the NBA. As long as he is under contract with any team in the world, you still retain his rights. Once he stops playing for a year then he becomes a free agent.

Sort of like Ricky Rubio, Minnesota drafted him but didn't sign him because the buyout was too large. Rubio signed with Barcelona, but Minnesota still owns his rights forever unless Rubio sits out a year with no basketball, only then does he become a free agent.

Post #11 » by **slick_watts** » Thu Jan 6, 2011 4:34 am

Jerome Dyson is a knucklehead who is talented enough to be on an NBA roster somewhere.

Post #12 » by **sonictecture** » Thu Jan 6, 2011 4:55 am

slick_watts wrote:Jerome Dyson is a knucklehead who is talented enough to be on an NBA roster somewhere.

This is part of my fascination with the 66er's. Presti who avoids knuckle heads like the plague with the Thunder took a chance on Dyson. What better way to determine if he's really a knuckle head or just needs to be in a better environment.

I'm still not sure Dream is right regarding draft rights as second round picks are under different guide lines than first round picks like Rubio. I'll have to do some research.

Post #13 » by **sonictecture** » Sun Jan 9, 2011 5:12 am

66er's starting point guard Zabian Dowdell looks to be the first 10 day call up by Phoenix. Alvin Gentry has been disappointed in the defense from his point guards. It'll be interesting to see if Dowdell gets any playing time during his call up.

66er's won their last two games without Dowdell thanks to a deep guard rotation. 66er's currently have the best record in the NBDL.

Cole Aldrich didn't play tonight and only played 12 minutes in the previous game. This may be one case where you hope for a slight injury to explain the lack of playing time.

Post #14 » by **slick_watts** » Sun Jan 9, 2011 2:18 pm

sonictecture wrote:Cole Aldrich didn't play tonight and only played 12 minutes in the previous game. This may be one case where you hope for a slight injury to explain the lack of playing time.

He only played the first half (those 12 minutes) the other night and he looked like he was hurt, he had the 'injured jog'. It's hard to tell though because he's always had sort of a weird gait.

He was really slow. Slower than I remembered.

Post #15 » by **sonictecture** » Wed Jan 12, 2011 3:48 am

Aldrich came back for the first game of the NBDL showcase. Was matched up against Dexter Pittman, who outscored and rebounded Aldrich. I'm not sure Aldrich has been more productive than any opposing center in the d league thus far.

wiff · Post #16 » by **wiff** » Wed Jan 12, 2011 2:56 pm

I think a team can only own rights is you were drafted in a first round.

Second round picks are up for grabs if no contract is awarded.

Devilanche · Post #17 » by **Devilanche** » Wed Jan 12, 2011 3:35 pm

When a player is selected in the first round of the draft, the team that selected him is required to sign him to at least a two-year contract with a team option for a third and fourth year. Teams own the rights to players selected in the second round for three years, but the teams are not required to sign them.
http://hoopedia.nba.com/index.php?title=NBA_Draft

I think 1st rounder get guaranteed 2 years deal from the start
2nd rounder rights are owned for 3 years during which only that team can sign him thereafter he's free to sign with anyone.

Eg scola selected by San Antonio with 55th pick traded to Houston . But he was drafted in 2002 and moved in 2007

dream_catcher_9 · Post #18 » by **dream_catcher_9** » Wed Jan 12, 2011 5:21 pm

Devilanche wrote:When a player is selected in the first round of the draft, the team that selected him is required to sign him to at least a two-year contract with a team option for a third and fourth year.

but what about Rubio? He didn't sign with Minnesota, but they still own his rights...

Devilanche · Post #19 » by **Devilanche** » Wed Jan 12, 2011 5:53 pm

Rubio's much like ibaka. 1st rounder stash overseas until they elect to come over. I think after a certain number of years they aren't bounded by the rookie payscale anymore something like splitter at San Antonio. Could be wrong about splitter but I seemed to remember reading that some thought it was a steal that he signed for lesser than the MLE.

Maybe someone else know better ?

Post #20 » by **slick_watts** » Wed Jan 12, 2011 6:05 pm

dream_catcher_9 wrote:
Devilanche wrote:When a player is selected in the first round of the draft, the team that selected him is required to sign him to at least a two-year contract with a team option for a third and fourth year.

but what about Rubio? He didn't sign with Minnesota, but they still own his rights...

Minnesota keeps Rubio's rights as long as he is playing under contract elsewhere. Once he stops playing elsewhere, they have one year to sign him to a contract before they would lose his rights.

I don't know how Williams works. I think the Thunder would have had to sign him to an NBA contract to have any kind of special rights to him. Lots of guys in the D-league were drafted by teams at some point, I can't imagine they retain their rights like that. Maybe I'm wrong.