Chaos Revenant wrote:Dat2U wrote:Don't get me wrong. I like Williams. If we could trade up for him with slight incentive (18th pick, Seraphin or Booker) I'd probably be fine with that. But I'm not sold Williams is going to be a guy that going to be a game changer. Certainly not enough of a game changer to give up a young promising C for.
And what makes you think that McGee is more likely to be a game-changer than Williams? McGee is certainly not going to be a star offensively. McGee will probably never develop the basketball smarts to be a true gamechanger defensively. I'm sounding like a broken record, but I'm just getting the same feel about the McGee debates here as I got when I was reading the Warriors talk about Anthony Randolph. Every year, Randolph was supposed to "put it together", and every year, he didn't. I think Williams is way more likely to be that second star than anyone we can get at #6, or anyone we have on the roster.
Also, from what I can tell, the "Derrick Williams is bad on defense" idea is mostly a myth. There were games where he didn't put out much effort on that end (just like any high-usage college player), but it seems like his skillset and physical profile has people comparing him to Beasley, when they are two completely different players. And Derrick Williams meh-ish height for a PF isn't so relevant, because his length is just fine.
"There where games where he didn't put out much effort on that end"
I'd disagree. I'd say the majority of the time he didn't put forth much effort. That's troubling. He didn't rebound particularly well for a PF. That's troubling. Like I said, I like him as a prospect, I'm just not in love with him. I think he'll be better than Beasley. Williams might even make an all-star game or two in his career. But I don't see him as a top 20 player in the league. I don't see him as an ideal or viable #1 option. Unless we have LeBron & Wade defending on the perimeter, you need length & guys who can challenge/deter shots in the paint. McGee can provide that (and he did improve his defensive awareness as the season went on), Williams can't provide that.
BTW, if there's any guy we should take a flier on (like we did with Yi this past season), it's Anthony Randolph.