Milwaukee Bucks: Getting to know veteran forward Marvin Williams

Playing style

After initially coming into the league as a versatile forward capable of playing both forward spots, Williams has naturally slotted up to both the 4 and 5 spots as his game has aged.

And with that, Williams’ value as a frontcourt floor spacer has made him a serviceable piece for the Hornets over the last six seasons for head coaches Steve Clifford and James Borrego and naturally attracted the Bucks in light of being phased out and his buyout from Charlotte.

The fact that Williams comes to the Bucks as a career 36.2 3-point shooter is something to marvel at, considering that was a long-standing flaw for the former Tar Heel in his first few years in the league. And the 37.6 percent Williams has connected on this season just makes him the best 3-point shooter in the Bucks’ revamped frontcourt options between Giannis Antetokounmpo, Ersan Ilyasova, the Lopez brothers and D.J. Wilson.

Furthermore, Williams is almost exclusively a shooter off the catch and he’s been able to connect on 38.4 percent of his 99 3-point attempts on such situations, per NBA.com/stats. Whether his range can hold up from beyond the 3-point line is an interesting question as Williams has gone 23-of-61 on 3-point looks taken from 25 to 29 feet this season, good for 37.7 percent.

While Williams’ main appeal offensively comes with him being a knockdown shooter, he does offers a little more variety and can punish opponents on the block, especially on mismatches. By using his size and strength to outmuscle opposing defenders, Williams is averaging 1.11 points per post up possession this season, good for the 93rd percentile of players.

Outside of those two areas, Williams doesn’t veer much out of his complementary role and is a willing passer of the ball and more importantly, doesn’t make many mistakes moving the rock within the flow of the team’s offense, as evidenced by his career 9.3 turnover percentage for his career.

Switching sides, Williams’ declining athleticism and foot speed has sapped much of his ability to guard multiple positions or even make decisive plays when guarding in space. However, it’s Williams’ defensive awareness and intelligence that makes him a strong communicator on that side of the ball and the fact that he’s taken on a more paint defender-type role helps him patrol and disrupt sets for the opposing team.

At 6’8″ and with a 7’3.5″ wingspan as well as a 9’0″ standing reach, though, no one should mistake Williams as an outstanding rim protector. Perhaps that could change within the Bucks’ defensive infrastructure where he’ll be flanked by either Lopez brother and Antetokounmpo to defend the paint, which will be a far cry from the situation he was in with the Hornets as they rank as the fourth-worst defensive team by defensive efficiency.

Of course, there’s plenty of value of having someone who understands and excels in team defending and surely Budenholzer won’t ask Williams to go outside of that box within his reserve role for the Bucks for the rest of the season.

Williams’ former coach in Clifford surely summed it up best to Matt Velazquez of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel with what the Bucks are getting in the forward once he joins the fold in a couple of days:

"“I’m happy for him because it will give him an opportunity to – you know, look, they’re capable of winning a championship,” said Orlando Magic coach Steve Clifford, who coached Williams in Charlotte for four seasons. “So, I’m happy for him and he’s the kind of guy that will play well for them. He’s a veteran player, he’s high IQ, he can really shoot, he knows when to take his shot and then defensively, in terms of team defense, he’s one of the best guys I’ve ever been around.”"

Hopefully, we’ll see all of that and more in the role Williams will carve out for the Bucks as they look to make their push for an NBA title in the coming months.