The Ziaire Williams era with the Memphis Grizzlies peaked during his rookie season when the Grizzlies made a run to their first of their back-to-back two-seed seasons in 2021-22. The 6'9" former 10th overall draft pick in the 2021 NBA Draft started 31 of the 62 games he played that season and shot a career-high 45% from the field and 31.4% from three while averaging 8.1 points in 21.7 minutes per game
In the Grizzlies' second-round playoff series against the Golden State Warriors, Ziaire Williams scored 14 points, including four threes to help the Grizzlies tie that series 1-1 before they ultimately lost in six games. A promising rookie year was slowed by injuries and disappointing on-court performance for the highly touted wing leading to him being traded to the Brooklyn Nets this summer.
His performance with the Nets hasn't exactly inspired confidence in his ability as a slasher and wing defender as his play has remained mostly the same as it was in his role with the Grizzlies.
Ziaire Williams hasn't elevated his play
tell us how you really feel, @Ziaire 😂 pic.twitter.com/x5GknvGuJA
— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) December 13, 2024
The comment section in the video above speaks volumes of how the Brooklyn Nets fanbase feels about Ziaire Williams. The upcoming Restricted Free Agent is averaging 8.6 points and a career-high 4.4 rebounds on 40.3% shooting from the field and 27.3% from three in what has mostly been a roller coaster of a season for the former Grizzly.
In the video the Nets social media team posted on X (Formerly Twitter), Ziaire Williams gave quite a few answers to the question, "What is your basketball ick?" His last answer was that he "hated when guys jack up shots and they don't go in," which was met with some comments stating that is his time with the Nets in a nutshell.
Ziaire Williams is in year four of his NBA career and his game hasn't improved since his rookie season. His disappointing time in Memphis reached its height last season when he began the season with the first shot at starting at small forward and didn't do anything to produce at a high enough level to take the reins of the position.
He was later surpassed by GG Jackson, Vince Williams Jr., and even Jake LaRavia before the drafting and signing of Jaylen Wells officially ended his time with the team. He had his one shot at getting revenge with one of his best games of the season against the Grizzlies in Memphis last month with 17 points on 6-10 shooting.
However, his game continues to be inconsistent and his shooting has gotten worse while his defense is a mixed bag. The Nets took a swing on a young wing whose time in Memphis was worn out and now they are learning why the Memphis Grizzlies gave up on their highest draft pick outside of Ja Morant and Zach Edey since 2019.