If somebody asked you who the Memphis Grizzlies were going to take in the 2021 NBA Draft, you would not have guessed the names would be Ziaire Williams and Santi Aldama.
Memphis shocked the world by taking Williams at the 10th-overall pick, as Williams was thought of as a player who struggled at the college level. He wasn’t bad, but he never lived up to the hype of being a potential top-5 pick in this year’s draft. It looks like the Grizzlies didn’t care about his off-year in college, as they still traded up to pick him up at the 10th spot.
Rather than excitement, however, this pick left Grizzlies fans with a feeling of worry. Without a doubt, Williams didn’t meet his expectations in college, especially as a shooter. As shooting is an area of emphasis for Memphis, this pick seemed bad, at least on the surface.
Memphis Grizzlies wing Ziaire Williams will improve at the NBA level
The Grizzlies traded away Jonas Valanciunas, lost a starter in Grayson Allen, and picked up a player who nobody had their eye on. How is this a good situation, you ask?
Space.
Williams undeniably struggled to shoot the ball in college. The Stanford wing knocked down just 29.1% of his 3-pointers. Similar to Morant’s 2020-21 NBA season, Williams’ 2020-21 college basketball season saw him go ice-cold from deep. To continue the parallels, both of these players were clearly capable of knocking down their shots more consistently.
For Morant, it was simply a slump. For Williams, this can be drawn up to something much more tangible.
Space.
Yes, it’s the second time I’ve written it and there’s a reason behind that. Outside of Williams’ potential as a strong perimeter defender, the Grizzlies had to have their eye on this player since the high school level. Memphis must believe that Williams can take a huge step forward in the NBA when given more space.
We’ve seen it before — some players either struggle in college or are held back in a very compact game with high-level athletes defending them. To get a better idea of what I mean, I’ll give you a strong example of this in De’Anthony Melton.
Melton wasn’t as highly-touted of an NBA Draft prospect as Williams but still decided to leave USC for the NBA Draft after just a single season. In college, he made only 28% of his 3-point attempts, and to a general spectator, looked like a bad shooter. He was drafted to the league for his defense and playmaking ability.
Fast forward a few years and Melton is coming off of a season that saw him shoot 41.2% from deep. How does this happen?
For starters, Melton always had a smooth jump shot. At the college level, he didn’t have room to get comfortable shots off and his team’s offense relied too much on him. In the NBA, he isn’t expected to be a volume shooter right off of the bat. After a couple of years to settle in and on a team where he could be one of the primary floor spacers, Melton thrived.
This, in essence, is likely what the Grizzlies’ front office was looking at when they decided to draft Ziaire. Williams always had a smooth shot, he just didn’t get great looks in college. The rest of his game was there, so if he’s able to get back on track as a shooter, this could turn out to be one of the best picks in the 2021 NBA Draft.