Trade for Derrick Williams - Yay or nay?

[BballTim]

I think he needs a new start. When you're drafted #2 to a team with Kevin Love as your starting PF and Michael Beasley as your starting SF who plays a lot of PF as well, and you're a forward, it's gonna be tough. He hasn't found his groove in Minny and I think he needs a new start with a rebuilding team.

  OTOH, if you have trouble prying minutes from Beasley that's not a good thing.

[Fafnir]

I think he needs a new start. When you're drafted #2 to a team with Kevin Love as your starting PF and Michael Beasley as your starting SF who plays a lot of PF as well, and you're a forward, it's gonna be tough. He hasn't found his groove in Minny and I think he needs a new start with a rebuilding team.

  OTOH, if you have trouble prying minutes from Beasley that's not a good thing.

That was more on the coaching and GM of the Wolves. They insisted on running Beasley into the ground at SF costing their team game after game.....

Even beyond Williams their other options at SF were better by a large margin.

[sofutomygaha]

I would be down for a Wallace for Williams and Shved deal.  It even got the stamp of approval from the ESPN trade machine.

If all these three were on one-year deals, making it a talent for talent trade, I think Minnesota would take it.  I don't think they've been impressed with Williams and it doesn't appear they'll pick up his option for next season, making him a free agent.  Shved was very erratic last season and has continued to be so this preseason.  If Wallace only had two years left they might take it but three years might understandly be too much for them.  If Wallace resumes playing like he did before last season, which is a definite possibility, I think it's possible Minnesota could be interested during the season.  They've basically already committed to their core so they're trying to win now.  Wallace would help them more than Williams and Shved.


I'd be more interested in Shved than Williams because I liked what I saw when I watched his CSKA Moscow games but it's hard not to see him as a worse shooting Russian Jordan Crawford.  Williams is a tweener who lacks the ability to drive and finish around the hoop or be highly proficient from deep.  This deal would be more about clearing Wallace's salary.  The Celtics still wouldn't have a ton of cap space but seeing how they scouted well with Vitor, I'd like to see who else they can get.

Galeto has the right idea. If what we are really talking about here is trying to get young talent back in exchange for our midseason trade chips, by which I'm primarily referring to Hump and Wallace, then Williams is the sort of guy we should be targeting- a young post-prospect with some clear skill who has been devalued by being blocked or misused.