The Memphis Grizzlies shocked everybody when they traded up in the 2021 NBA Draft to select Ziaire Williams. While nobody was necessarily upset to see Williams on the team, he was generally thought of as a player who was in the range of their original 17th-overall pick.
To give you peace of mind in that aspect of things, I can confidently tell you that Zach Kleiman wouldn’t have traded up to take Williams if not for two reasons. Firstly, he had to have had intel that Williams would have been taken earlier than the 17th pick. Why else would he give away Jonas Valanciunas, the most consistent player on the team in 2020, to move up?
Secondly, the Grizzlies had to have been confident that Williams is the guy they want. Why else would they have bothered to trade up and select Williams when a handful of other wings were available?
My primary advice would be to embrace Williams, a player who just turned 20 years old, as a future centerpiece for this team. Also — happy birthday, Ziaire.
Today, I’m going to go over what his stats could look like in the 2021 season.
What will Memphis Grizzlies wing Ziaire Williams look like on the hardwood in 2021?
It’s really tough to predict how Williams will do in his first season in the NBA. At the college level, he never looked truly settled in. Despite clear talent, he never seemed to reach his full potential, averaging just 10.7 points with poor shooting splits.
Williams can and should be a player, however, who benefits from a more spaced-out NBA. His shots will come easier, as he has a smooth jumper that simply hasn’t fallen as of late. Because of this, I believe that his scoring average will be higher than most fans expect.
The primary factor that may hold back Williams is the simple fact that the Grizzlies have a lot of wings on their roster. Between Dillon Brooks, Desmond Bane, De’Anthony Melton, Jarrett Culver, and a handful of other key guys, it may be hard for Williams to find enough playing time to put up impressive numbers in 2021.
Still, Taylor Jenkins will want to involve his recent draft pick as much as possible in the rotation. He’ll probably have minutes comparable to Desmond Bane last season, who was the team’s star rookie.
Unfortunately, one area where Williams will likely shine is on the defensive end, which was likely a large part of the reasoning why he was taken in the first place. The Grizzlies lacked perimeter defense last season and Williams was arguably the best in the draft at doing so. This won’t show up on the stat sheet.
Here’s what Williams’ numbers could look like next season.
PPG: 11.0
APG: 1.5
RPG: 4.5
STL: 1.3
You’ll notice that these numbers aren’t far off from his college averages — that’s by design. His playstyle is pretty concrete in that he’s not much of a playmaker. Jenkins has never been the type of head coach to try and fit a square peg into a round hole, and as a result, I think he’ll keep Williams’ game consistent with what we’ve already seen.
Overall, if he does average those numbers, it’ll be a hugely successful season for him in year one.