NBA Draft 2019 Prospect Watch: Grant Williams

What the experts say

ESPN [$] (Jonathan Givony): 32nd

The Ringer (Kevin O’Connor): 20th

Sports Illustrated (Jeremy Woo): 39th

Sporting News (Chris Stone): 25th

The Athletic [$] (Sam Vecenie): 29th

The Stepien (Composite Rank): 13th

The Step Back (Brandon Kleen): 22nd

Quotes:

Ranking him 12th on his final Big Board, Chris Stone of the Sporting News noted Williams’ high basketball IQ and untapped range shooting potential as reasons why he believes he’ll be a strong rotation player on the next level:

"“Williams is one of my favorite prospects in the class. As a junior, he won his second SEC Player of the Year award despite being the age of an average sophomore. He’s also one of the smartest players in the draft. The 20-year-old can be an interesting offensive piece thanks to his passing acumen and playmaking. He averaged 4.0 assists per 40 minutes last season. He also has some interesting shooting upside. While he only took 46 3-pointers and made just 32.6 percent of them as a junior, he shot 81.9 percent from the foul line and made 52.3 percent of his 2-pointers not at the rim, per Hoop-Math. There’s unexplored touch there. Williams will likely need to figure out where he can fit into a defensive scheme, whether it’s at the power forward spot or potentially in some sort of small-ball center role. I’m willing to trust that a player with his intelligence can do it.”"

Taking on a more skeptical approach, Sports Illustrated’s Jeremy Woo touched on why Williams is more of a polarizing prospect in some scouting circles around the league ahead of the draft:

"“Williams is clearly an exceptional college player, but there are questions about how the elements of his game translate at the next level. While he’d certainly be drafted, and his stock may never get higher, there’s some debate from scout to scout about whether he’s actually worthy of a first-round selection. His strength, smarts and scoring touch are all real positives, but Williams is going to have to make big strides as a jump shooter to stick around. His post-up game and rebounding seem likely to be hampered a bit against NBA frontlines, and he’s unlikely to ever create much of his own offense on the perimeter. While it’s reasonable to bet on him figuring out a way to be successful, his on-court limitations will likely require a strong system fit for him to carve out a long-term role, and his upside isn’t extreme.”"