Grant Williams
Though his stock took a slight hit after his performance at the 2019 NBA Draft Combine, Grant Williams elected to keep his name in the draft pool and decided to pursue his NBA dream.
Before the combine and before other players kept or removed their names from draft consideration, Williams was viewed as a likely first-round draft pick. Did that change after the combine and withdrawal deadline?
Williams’ stock has dipped slightly over the last week or so, but he’s largely still viewed as a first-round pick with a chance to slip into the second round.
Here’s where Williams is showing up on various big boards ranking the best NBA Draft prospects:
The Ringer: 9th
The Athletic: 16th
CBS Sports: 19th
Tankathon: 19th
NBA.com: 21st
NBC Sports: 23rd
ESPN: 31st
The obvious outlier here is The Ringer. Their analyst, Kevin O’Connor, lists Williams as the ninth-best overall prospect in the draft. O’Connor states that Williams’ best selling point is his “glue-guy skills” and likens him to P.J. Tucker or a San Antonio Spurs-era Boris Diaw.
O’Connor describes Williams as a “team-first player who runs the show from the post in college but will need to expand his game to the perimeter at the next level.” Among his plusses are his passing skills, improved three-point shooting as a junior, and high defensive IQ. O’Connor also says Williams is a “crafty interior scorer.”
The drawbacks of Williams’ game according to O’Connor are his reluctance to shoot threes, his lack of vertical explosiveness, and his lack of shot creation.
Williams is also listed as one of the “five best playmakers regardless of position” by Jonathan Tjarks on The Ringer.
“Tennessee ran its offense through the junior forward, who averaged 18.8 points on 56.4 percent shooting and 3.2 assists per game,” Tjarks writes. “His size (6-foot-8 and 240 pounds) means that he won’t be able to play in the post in the NBA as much as he did in college, but he has the skill set to transition into more of a secondary role on the perimeter. Williams could thrive making plays as the roll man in the two-man game, much like Draymond Green.”
Not many outlets provide analysis of the prospects on their big board outside of the top few selections, but Kyle Ratke’s big board on NBA.com did provide a brief synopsis of why Williams came in at No. 21 on his list.
“Undersized as a power forward, who might have to play more of the three in the NBA, which means he’ll need to improve his shooting,” Ratke states. “A very tough player, though, and isn’t afraid to do the little things.”
Over on ESPN, their analysis is a little harsher, and that’s a reason why Williams is just outside the projected first-round draft pick range at No. 31 overall.
“Standing just 6-7 (at best) with a reported 6-11 wingspan and unspectacular athleticism, Williams needed to round out his game to become a more viable NBA prospect,” says the ESPN write-up on Williams. “He has done exactly that this season, improving his rebounding numbers considerably, nearly doubling his assist rate and shooting more than twice as many 3s.
“Williams is still not the most confident outside shooter, often passing up open 3s to execute the Vols’ methodical and unselfish offense, but the flashes he has shown in this area are very encouraging. He steps into trail 3s confidently, attacks closeouts to pull up for midrange jumpers on occasion and shows a high release point and great touch that indicate there’s plenty of room for optimism. The fact that he’s also an elite screener, a tremendous rebounder, an intelligent defender and a reportedly awesome teammate will also work in his favor. He just turned 20 and is younger than all but four of the 17 sophomores — and all of the juniors — currently in our top 100.”
Aside from ESPN, though, Williams is largely viewed as a mid-to-late first round type of talent. That stays true when looking at the latest mock drafts, too.
Here’s where Williams is projected to be picked in the most recently updated NBA mock drafts:
The Ringer: 20th to the Boston Celtics
Bleacher Report: 22nd to the Boston Celtics
NJ.com: 22nd to the Boston Celtics
Tankathon: 23rd to the Utah Jazz
CBS Sports: 25th to the Portland Trailblazers
NBC Sports: 32nd to the Phoenix Suns
NBADraft.net: 34th to the Philadelphia 76ers
For the most part, Williams is viewed as a player who will be taken in the final 10 picks of the first round. The Boston Celtics have been a team Williams has been frequently projected to, as have the Utah Jazz and Portland Trailblazers. But the biggest shift lately has been that more mock drafts have Williams being taken in the early second round now.
One person that projects Williams to be picked in the first round is Gary Parrish of CBS Sports. He thinks that while Williams’ lack of explosive athleticism is a knock against him, he has the ability to carve out a large role in the NBA.
“Williams is a two-time SEC Player of the Year who averaged 18.8 points and 7.5 rebounds in 31.9 minutes per game this season. The CBS Sports First Team All-American was so consistently productive that NBA scouts who previously questioned whether what he does will translate to the next level are starting to wonder why it won’t,” Parrish writes. “It’s true that the 6-7 forward is neither a great athlete nor a serious threat from the perimeter. But Williams really knows how to play. And, more and more often, players who are described that way are carving out roles for themselves in the NBA. Perhaps Williams can be the next.”
On the flip side, Ben Standig on NBC Sports thinks that lack of athleticism and unclear position home in the NBA will make Williams fall to the second round.
“The undersized power forward isn’t a stretch-4 now, but the effort is always there,” Standig says while projecting Williams to go to the Suns with the third pick in the second round.
It’s likely that Grant Williams will be selected anywhere between the 20th and 40th overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft. Anything significantly earlier or later than that would be surprising, though.
