Having only recently joined the Milwaukee Bucks before the season was suspended, Marvin Williams could benefit from the break over the last few months.
There’s been nothing normal about the 2019-20 season, but that doesn’t mean that it’s not true to say that it still has been even a little more unusual for some players than others.
A prime example of this comes in the form of veteran forward Marvin Williams.
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After five-and-a-half years with the Charlotte Hornets, a contract buy-out that made him a midseason free agent would have made for a big enough disruption to Williams’ career and day-to-day life, but that was only the beginning of what’s turned out to be the strangest few months in NBA history in a wider sense.
Signing with the Milwaukee Bucks, Williams at least latched on with a top tier contender before the coronavirus pandemic brought the NBA to a standstill. But with only 11 games played with his new team, it was still very much a process and adjustment period that the former second overall pick was going through.
The break in the season may well allow Marvin Williams to perform to a much higher level with the Milwaukee Bucks when play resumes.
If truth be told, although there were some positive signs in terms of how Williams was slotting in defensively, and an instant trust from Coach Mike Budenholzer when it came to allowing the former UNC Tar Heel to soak up minutes, it wasn’t exactly the most glowing beginning on all fronts to his career with the Bucks.
Williams was brought in with a view to being the kind of experienced, versatile and mobile big who could also knock down shots, space the floor, and give the Bucks a different option to what they already had in terms of power forward depth with Ersan Ilyasova and D.J. Wilson.
In that regard, Williams’ 29.6 percent from deep over his first few games in Milwaukee has been less than ideal, and considerably worse than he’s shot the long ball in quite some time. Also troubling is Williams’ incredibly high foul rate (4.1 per 36 minutes), given the emphasis that Budenholzer and the Bucks place on defending without fouling.
Against that backdrop, and given that Williams has just turned 34 and has 15 NBA seasons under his belt at this point, there’s every chance that he could benefit more than most from the chance to rest and regroup that the past few months have offered.
Not only could the break allow Williams to snap out of the shooting funk that he had found himself in with his new team, but it will also have allowed him the time to really take the time to watch film and get to know his new team and teammates’ tendencies.
Additionally, although the focus of mini camps ahead of the resumption will likely be about regaining sharpness and conditioning as much as anything else, Williams will clearly stand to gain from a mini preseason with the Bucks, something which would never usually be available to a player who signs during the season.
If Williams can resume the season in better form, and with a better of understanding of his role and what the team needs from him to win, it could prove to be a true game-changer for Milwaukee heading into the postseason.