On Draft Night time, the Boston Celtics traded the thirty second total decide in trade for choices 46 and 57, together with two future second-round picks. When their flip got here once more at No. 46, they chose Amari Williams, a 7-foot heart from Kentucky. The 23-year-old averaged 11 pts, 8.5 rebs, 3.2 asts, and 1.2 blks on 56/25/62 splits final season after transferring from Drexel the place he gained two CAA Defensive Participant of the Yr awards.
Getting Williams that deep into the draft was an enormous win to me as a result of he has a really distinctive ability set.
Mike Zarren, the Celtics’ Vice President of Basketball Operations and Crew Counsel, described Williams as “among the finest passing large males in faculty for a very long time,” and the numbers again that declare up. As a Wildcat, Williams posted a 24.7% help fee, inserting him within the 99th percentile amongst gamers at his place. He was, in some ways, the engine of the Wildcats’ offense, as mirrored in his 26.9% utilization fee. Whether or not working from the publish, the highest of the important thing, or the elbow, Williams constantly demonstrated an distinctive potential to learn the ground.
In a post-draft press convention, Brad Stevens mirrored on the Celtics’ playoff loss to the Knicks, noting that what stood out to him “greater than something was after we acquired stagnant and performed with out tempo.” He adopted up by saying, “we’re gonna attempt to handle a few of that.” Williams seems to suit that directive. He has proven the power to seize a defensive rebound and instantly provoke the offense and even take it coast-to-coast himself.
Along with his passing, Williams ranked within the 99th percentile in each defensive rebound share (29.7%) and free throw fee (74.4%). Whereas Williams shot simply 62% from the free-throw line in faculty, there have been encouraging indicators of enchancment throughout Summer season League play, the place he went 9-for-10 from the stripe. For a 7-footer, excelling in playmaking, rebounding, and drawing contact offers a powerful basis to construct upon.
Defensively, I believe Amari Williams is strong, too. He dominated at Drexel, as soon as once more incomes two DPoY awards, however I didn’t suppose he was at that degree as a defender. His 12 months at Kentucky was extra of how I’d view him. He averaged 2.0 blocks per sport over his remaining three seasons at Drexel, earlier than that quantity dipped to 1.2 final season.
Primarily based on his faculty and Summer season League performances, I’d classify Williams primarily as a drop protection large, although he has proven the power to change every so often. It’s not all the time clean, and I wouldn’t advocate frequent switching at this stage, however he has demonstrated flashes of having the ability to keep in entrance of NBA-level guys. That mentioned, I consider he may benefit from getting leaner and enhancing his lateral quickness to turn out to be extra snug and efficient in these conditions.
The primary weak spot for Williams is placing the ball within the basket. He shot 56% from two-point vary (profession excessive) and 46% within the paint at Kentucky — 67% on the rim is barely higher however all these percentages are low for a middle. He at present poses no menace from past the arc, and total, his lack of contact is obvious. Creating a minimum of a dependable push shot would go a good distance in unlocking extra of his offensive potential as groups would possibly determine to not guard him intently.
That mentioned, I do consider he was considerably miscast as a shot creator at Kentucky, which doubtless contributed to his inefficiency.
As I discussed earlier, Williams was the point of interest of Kentucky’s offense, with a good portion of his touches coming within the publish. Whereas I actually favored when he operated as a playmaker from that space, he was additionally often relied upon to be a main publish scorer and that’s NOT the place I consider he’ll make his dwelling on the subsequent degree.
His publish sport isn’t polished sufficient to translate successfully on the NBA degree at this level. Williams would sometimes flash some contact on hook pictures, however most of the time, he relied on his power to overpower defenders within the publish. My expectation is that, whether or not within the G League or ultimately with the large membership, his offensive position will likely be simplified, primarily serving as a roll man when scoring. This could naturally scale back each the quantity and problem of his shot makes an attempt, ideally leading to extra environment friendly scoring numbers.
He shot 44% at Summer season League, however there was an outlier sport the place he shot 3-of-10. He didn’t have one of the best summer season outing, however his final sport was actually encouraging. Williams stuffed the stat sheet with 6 pts, 8 rebs, and 4 asts regardless of solely taking part in the primary half. He was given extra of a chance to provoke actions, and it actually paid off.
It took longer than anticipated, however Williams ultimately signed a two-way contract with the Celtics. My expectation is that he’ll spend many of the season in Maine, although accidents can rapidly shift these plans. If he does see common season minutes, he has the instruments to contribute as a screen-setter and passer. I additionally belief that Joe Mazzulla can have a plan to successfully area the ground round a non-shooting large, as he’s efficiently achieved prior to now.
To earn and hold these minutes, Williams might want to show he can maintain his personal defensively and be constant on the glass. In the end, I believe his rookie season may comply with a trajectory much like Baylor Scheierman’s final 12 months which consisted of a sluggish begin within the G League, displaying little in restricted garbage-time minutes, however step by step discovering his rhythm in direction of the top of the 12 months.
I like Williams as a prospect and hope that he does properly if given a chance.
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