13. Indiana Pacers – Ziaire Williams, F, Stanford University
Ziaire Williams’ lone season as a member of the Cardinals left a lot to be desired.
Williams finished in the 11th percentile in ShotQuality’s points per possession rank, which is absurdly low for someone as talented as him. In addition, 14 percent of Williams’ passes were considered part of ShotQuality’s good passing percentage, whereas 48 percent of his passes were in the bad passing percentage.
It’s not like Stanford was devoid of talent, either.
Oscar De Silva, Bryce Wills, and Spencer Jones are all talented basketball players, so it’s possible that Williams’ lanky frame combined with his knee injury played into his disappointing season; because he is more talented than the guy who shot splits of 42/29/76 from the field.
Back to back possessions of Ziaire Williams making tough shots pic.twitter.com/42N9I6gFrq
— Mavs/Magic Draft (@MavsDraft) June 25, 2021
Ziaire Williams keeps getting billed as a dynamic shot maker (I think he eventually gets there) but that's not who he is right now. I expect him to get his early minutes based on his DEF.
— Tyler Metcalf (@tmetcalf11) June 29, 2021
Tremendous perimeter footwork, great instincts, and very good at getting over screens pic.twitter.com/ySDCwbP16y
The Pacers are a team stuck in perpetual mediocrity at the moment. Kevin Pritchard knows that his job is on the line after the Nate Bjorkgren disaster, but I implore him to blow it up because the roster is not remotely good enough to have a chance to compete for a title anytime soon.
Williams is going to need time to develop and add muscle onto his skinny 6-foot-8 frame, but his defensive capability should give him time to develop into a better offensive player.