Can I get an update on Derrick Williams?

sunny · Post #1 » by **sunny** » Mon Feb 20, 2012 4:45 am

I'm a big ARizona fan and havent been able to watch as many Twolves games as I would like but was I wondering if you guys could give me a quick update on DWill.

I noticed he isn't getting a lot of minutes - has been been playing poorly or is this how Adelman is?
is he playing mainly the 3 or the 4?
how is his d?
his best quality?

Post #2 » by **Klomp** » Mon Feb 20, 2012 5:02 am

sunny wrote:I'm a big ARizona fan and havent been able to watch as many Twolves games as I would like but was I wondering if you guys could give me a quick update on DWill.

I noticed he isn't getting a lot of minutes - has been been playing poorly or is this how Adelman is?
is he playing mainly the 3 or the 4?
how is his d?
his best quality?

1. Little bit of both. Adelman has a history of giving low minutes to rookies, but as Rubio has shown, he would play more if he earned more time by how he was playing.
2. In training camp, he started out practicing at both SF and PF. However, midway through camp, Adelman decided to have Williams focus solely on playing PF. (except when team injuries forced him to SF)
3. His defense is one of the biggest reasons his minutes are limited.
4. Ummm, alley-oop dunks with Ricky maybe?

theGreatRC · Post #3 » by **theGreatRC** » Mon Feb 20, 2012 5:11 am

I noticed he isn't getting a lot of minutes - has been been playing poorly or is this how Adelman is?
Combination of Adelman and him not knowing how to create his own offense at the NBA level, yet.

is he playing mainly the 3 or the 4?
He is playing mainly the 4, he started a couple of games at the 3(first Rockets game and second Mavs game) and Adelman has him set at the 4 for this season.

Game where DWill started at the SF:
Rockets - http://www.nba.com/games/20120123/HOUMI ... GIboxscore
Mavericks - http://www.nba.com/games/20120125/MINDA ... GIboxscore

Game where DWill started at the PF(KLOVE was suspended)
Kings - http://www.nba.com/games/20120207/SACMI ... GIboxscore
Grizzlies - http://www.nba.com/games/20120208/MINME ... GIboxscore

He had 14/8 and 13/9 as a starter at the PF position as opposed to 10/6 and 11/7 as a SF..a little bit better production.

how is his d?
His defense is disappointing, it's not something you can tell him to do and he can lock down a guy, but he's shown flashes to not get bullied in the paint. He's slow to guard SFs or PFs that can knock down the long J.

his best quality?
Finishing around the basket. He is a very strong guy and isn't afraid to hammer it down instead of finishing weak.

His worst quality is trying to euro step when he drive in the lane as opposed to going up strong.

Piecake · Post #4 » by **Piecake** » Mon Feb 20, 2012 5:28 am

I think its tougher for him than a rookie like Irving because Williams has to adapt his game for the pro game a lot more than Irving has. I remember Williams saying that he was the ball dominant player at AZ, and well, that just aint happening at the pro level. Thats a pretty big change trying to figure out how to play offense without having the ball in your hands the whole time

sunny · Post #5 » by **sunny** » Mon Feb 20, 2012 5:35 am

thanks!

lastly, do you see him eventually becoming a successful player and fitting in on your team?

yowyOw · Post #6 » by **yowyOw** » Mon Feb 20, 2012 8:49 am

sunny wrote:thanks!

lastly, do you see him eventually becoming a successful player and fitting in on your team?

If Adelman keeps seeing him as a PF, I think he'll be considered as a trade asset soon.

Personally, I believe he'll have a moderately successful NBA career, whether in the Wolves or not.

.

Narf · Post #7 » by **Narf** » Mon Feb 20, 2012 2:07 pm

When Love was out Williams was really solid at PF. I think this is really a matter of Love being the big dog at PF and Williams playing the same position.

Richard Miller · Post #8 » by **Richard Miller** » Mon Feb 20, 2012 2:32 pm

Narf wrote:When Love was out Williams was really solid at PF. I think this is really a matter of Love being the big dog at PF and Williams playing the same position.

More like so-so solid? I think in one of those games Adelman benched him for the quarter or something like that, because he wasn't really doing what he was supposed to do

Swish4 · Post #9 » by **Swish4** » Mon Feb 20, 2012 5:07 pm

He has alot of adjustments to make, but you can see the talent brimming under the surface. Ultimately I think he'll be traded and I think he has the potential to be a Bernard King type player in the right circumstances.

Post #10 » by **C.lupus** » Mon Feb 20, 2012 5:29 pm

Others did a good job of summarizing his game. I still think he can be a good player in the league but right now he looks best suited at PF so he won't get that opportunity here. I think his defense will come. He's got the tools, just needs to learn how to use them. the couple games he started, he showed some nice potential - had a couple blocked shots, etc.

thinktank · Post #11 » by **thinktank** » Mon Feb 20, 2012 5:37 pm

Your username belies your credibility regarding the above statement, WesJ4. :wink:

Williams will be a starting PF in the NBA and will probably be pretty good. He would be lucky to put up Bernard King numbers, however. (For example, a 32 point per game season. I dunno, man. That's incredible.):

http://www.basketball-reference.com/pla ... gbe01.html

lazfa199 · Post #12 » by **lazfa199** » Mon Feb 20, 2012 5:39 pm

WesJ4 wrote:He has alot of adjustments to make, but you can see the talent brimming under the surface. Ultimately I think he'll be traded and I think he has the potential to be a Bernard King type player in the right circumstances.

you cant just throw names like that around unproven players

guille_4 · Post #13 » by **guille_4** » Mon Feb 20, 2012 6:18 pm

I wan't him traded. He will eventually become a decent starting PF in the league, but after Kevin Love's extension I don't see him flourishing in Minnesota. We need to trade him before his trade value declines even more. I don't see him adjusting to the SF spot, nor Kevin Love playing C. Also, he is kind of undersized for a PF.
Give me Gilchrist, Jeremy Lamb or Harrison Barnes and I'd trade him in a heart beat, even including other assets from our side and picks.

Foye · Post #14 » by **Foye** » Mon Feb 20, 2012 6:54 pm

theGreatRC wrote:
his best quality?
Finishing around the basket. He is a very strong guy and isn't afraid to hammer it down instead of finishing weak.

Really? He seems to miss so many easy shots around the basket. Don't think he has proven to be a good finisher, yet. :dontknow:

Post #15 » by **Klomp** » Mon Feb 20, 2012 7:23 pm

I want to give him one offseason to improve his handles and perimeter game. Not quite ready to give up on him yet.

phonzadellika · Post #16 » by **phonzadellika** » Mon Feb 20, 2012 8:02 pm

Klomp wrote:I want to give him one offseason to improve his handles and perimeter game. Not quite ready to give up on him yet.

I don't think there's anything to give up on, I think he's going to be a star in this league, a LMA type player with more range. I think the main problem with him is he doesn't have a place on this team; accordingly he needs to be traded.

I think his post game shows a lot of promise. Sure, he misses some baskets close in but I think his misses are more glaring because of his reduced volume; he doesn't get to have nights like the starters do where he can miss 10 shots and stay on the floor. I think his 3 pt shooting will come around too. The problem is that we already have Pek and KLove playing lights out in the post. DWill made sense as a post-up SF when we didn't have a center who could score, but now that Pek has emerged DWill's skill set is a bit redundant. DWill is also not the shot-creator that Beasley is yet (although I think DWill has showed promise in this area and I think he makes better decisions than Beas).

DWill's destiny on this team seems to be 6th man, SF/PF supersub, a better version of what SCB is right now. I don't think he can start at SF, we need an elite defender there to check the Durants and Lebrons in the playoffs and he's certainly not going to supplant KLove in the starting lineup any time soon. I guess we could dump Beas and keep DWill on in a Harden-type role but DWill's best value for us is waving a wand and turning him into something more usable in our starting lineup.

gflem · Post #17 » by **gflem** » Mon Feb 20, 2012 9:27 pm

Some of you seem interested in flipping DWill, what if anything could the Cavs do to trade for him? I think this years first is off the table, but we have a protected 1st from Sacto, and a couple of Miami firsts in the future as well, though those will be at the bottom of the first round.
Would something like our 1st unproteced in 2013 and a couple of the firsts owed to us be close? We have Casspi or even Sessions available as well.

Post #18 » by **Klomp** » Mon Feb 20, 2012 9:51 pm

phonzadellika wrote:
Klomp wrote:I want to give him one offseason to improve his handles and perimeter game. Not quite ready to give up on him yet.

I don't think there's anything to give up on, I think he's going to be a star in this league, a LMA type player with more range. I think the main problem with him is he doesn't have a place on this team; accordingly he needs to be traded.

Saying he needs to be traded is giving up on him.

collin_k41 · Post #19 » by **collin_k41** » Mon Feb 20, 2012 10:11 pm

I like DWill, but if the right opportunity comes along for us to pick up someone who can solve our problems on the wing we need to seriously think about what's best for this team.

For example, come draft time, I'd trade him straight up for Harrison Barnes. However, if there are no good offers for him I'd be more than glad to hold onto him.

sisibilio · Post #20 » by **sisibilio** » Mon Feb 20, 2012 10:16 pm

gflem wrote:Some of you seem interested in flipping DWill, what if anything could the Cavs do to trade for him? I think this years first is off the table, but we have a protected 1st from Sacto, and a couple of Miami firsts in the future as well, though those will be at the bottom of the first round.
Would something like our 1st unproteced in 2013 and a couple of the firsts owed to us be close? We have Casspi or even Sessions available as well.

If you trade Dwill you want a legit starter at least coming not some meh bench players or a future late lotto
pick.
Varejao + the picks could be an option, and even that would be a stretch.