If Danny could get that for Kemba, I'd do it. pushes our not-ready-for-primetime players back to the end of the bench. cut Edwards and Green if they don't go out in the deal
I would get rid of Grant too, his ceiling is finite and it is not good. We are 7-2 when he does not play this season. I think depth is a our main issue.
he played much better as a rookie. not sure why the drop off this season but not ready to write him off just to clear a roster spot - particularly with him still on his rookie deal. would like to see what he does next season after training camp. not saying I wouldn't include him in a deal for a better player but he's not someone I'd cut just for roster space. Edwards and Green are a different story
Is it less minutes at the center position?
This is not to say he is preferred option at center. Just that it is part of what made him useful last year. Being the only big man who could pass and make decisions on the ball consistently to enable ball movement on those nights when ball movement sucked and CBS had to try something creative to get it going. Grant Williams sometimes succeeded in doing that. He also succeeded in giving more quickness / perimeter defense at center position than slower bigs like Kanter on nights where that was needed.
However, this season with Theis, TT and Rob Williams ... there has been less need for minutes of Grant Williams at center. So he has missed out on those useful minutes from last season and is instead playing solely as a PF and the results haven't been great.
As a PF, Grant Williams is way below average as a shooter, ball-handler and passer. He is a stationary figure. Too slow, unathletic and low-skilled to drive the ball against opposing defenses. To unable to probe defenses with his ball-handling / passing against scrambling team D as the ball moves to the weakside. And too limited a shooter (low volume) to punish scrambling team D. So he bails out opposing Team D by not punishing them. He simply is not skilled enough to be a PF full time.
He is a PF/C and nobody with good options at C will want to use him as a C because he is so small and gives no rim protection. And his value at PF is minimal because of his low skill level and lack of quickness.
-------------------------
I keep thinking about Ibaka at the PF position and how he had to transition away from the PF position over the last 5 years or so and it was because PFs were asked to me more than a stand still shooter. To be able to handle the ball and pass the ball. Ibaka couldn't do it.
So even though Ibaka could hit the 3 at a reasonable clip and the long 2 at a good clip, he was still a below average offensive player because he could not pass the ball or drive the ball.
And with the defensive responsibilities shifting to more perimeter D and less interior D, his shot-blocking was less valuable on defense as well. So Ibaka had to shift to center -- which unfortunately for him he fought for several years before his legs started to go which made both him and his teams less successful.
------------------------------
To play the PF position nowadays you have to either be a SF or a SF/PF.
Grant Williams is not that. He is a PF/C in the mold of Glen Davis. Not a SF/PF like PJ Tucker.
And the league is no longer built in way that makes players of that ilk valuable. So Grant Williams has a long and steady climb ahead of him in terms of skill-level to become playable as a rotation player at PF ...
... and even then, it is questionable how good he can become because of his lack of quickness and ability to probe defenses on the drive + his limited defensive quickness in covering quicker more mobile SFs/PFs on the other end of the floor.
So are we investing in a guy who will take years of hard work to develop enough offensive skill to merely be passable on offense & defense but never good enough to be good (nevermind excel) on either end of the floor?
Is this really a good investment?
