There's no greater collegiate casualty in the draft than Williams. While he hasn't done himself any favors with his up-and-down motor, combine no-show and the fact that he's already on his second agent, A&M also robbed him of opportunities to play to his strengths.
1. Played PF not C, with no spacing
College basketball and the NBA look like two different sports at times, and A&M was a perfect example of that with two non-floor-spacing centers in Williams and Tyler Davis playing next to each other and a prototype stretch-4 in DJ Hogg at the 3. Williams played almost exclusively power forward -- a rare position for him at the NBA level.
There's one stat in particular that tells the story of how Williams wasn't used appropriately. At 6-foot-10 with a massive catch radius, elite agility and explosive leaping ability, Williams was used in only 16 pick-and-roll possessions in 30 games, according to Synergy Sports Technology. Sixteen. That's just over one pick-and-roll possession every two games, and he rolled on only nine possessions all year. Nine rolling possessions in 30 games for the draft's best lob-catcher who finished a ridiculous 73.7 percent of his shots at the rim.
Why so few pick-and-roll opportunities? With Davis camped out in the paint and at times only one other shooter on the floor, there was no room for Williams to roll when A&M did decide to put him in ball screens. Williams didn't always screen or dive as hard as he could, but part of that is a function of him knowing it was unlikely he'd have an open lane or an accurate lob thrown his way.
The Aggies used Williams as a high-low passer or stuck him in the short corner, giving the still-raw center little opportunity to use his freakish tools. Playing him at the 4 on defense also put him out of position to protect the rim at times. Although he's the best jump-shot swatter in the draft, he didn't quite learn the ins and outs of team defense at the center spot in two years at the collegiate level.
Where does Williams see himself positionally?
"Honestly wherever I'll make money is where I see myself," Williams told ESPN during the NCAA tournament. That will certainly be at center, in the Clint Capela mold.
2. Poor guard play
"I feel like I'll do well in the NBA because you got elite passers," Williams said. "You got guys like James Harden -- great passers."
Williams didn't have that with the Aggies, as A&M's guard play was uninspiring, to put it nicely. Far too many possessions looked like this:
Eventual starting point guard TJ Starks finished the season with 72 assists and 85 turnovers, regularly breaking free of the offense to create his own. With nowhere to roll and no one to throw him lobs, Williams floated, which bled over to other aspects of his game.
"It's just all effort, man, and that's honestly what I've been trying to improve on," Williams said. "This postseason my teammates have just been telling me I've got to keep my effort up, no [slacking]. I just try to keep that up and lead them."
Over the last five games of the season -- including three in the NCAA tournament -- Williams gave scouts a glimpse of what he can be at the NBA level, as he averaged 15.2 rebounds and 4.8 blocks per 40 minutes, all while playing out of position.
How will it change in the NBA?
Situation will be key for Williams, who needs to be in a structured environment with strong vets to live up to his sky-high potential. But even outside of that, any NBA coach with a modern outlook figures to see Williams' value as a rim runner, lob catcher, switch defender, rim protector and rebounder.
It will help to feed Williams a few lob attempts per game to keep him engaged on the defensive end of the floor, where he has the potential to be elite. Williams also has quite a bit of untapped potential as a passer, which could manifest itself in short roll situations when surrounded by shooters. While not every big man projected in the lottery fits where the NBA is headed, Williams is the ideal type of modern center that shines when surrounded by shooters and quick decision makers. He is loaded with tools and natural talent, and a playoff team with a winning culture would be smart to jump into the back end of the lottery to steal the center, who is without a doubt a top-10 talent.
