Brooklyn Nets Film Room: The Promise of Ziaire Williams

Can Ziaire Williams break out in Brooklyn?

Feb 28, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Memphis Grizzlies forward Ziaire Williams (8) shoots against the Minnesota Timberwolves in the third quarter at Target Center. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images / Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images

The Brooklyn Nets offer Ziaire Williams a fresh slate and the chance to stick in a rotation long term.

"It's been exciting to see what he's shown out there in just pickup games, so when camp starts and coaches really get to coach him, that's exciting for me," Nets general manager Sean Marks said on Thursday. "He has things that you can't teach."

Williams, the no. 10 pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, was traded from Memphis to Brooklyn this summer. The swap was for Mamadi Diakite and the draft rights to 31-year-old Nemanja Dangubic, who will likely never set foot in the NBA. 

The former Grizzlies wing already has 150 NBA games under his belt, averaging about 20 minutes and 7.5 points, which is nothing to scoff at. But Williams’ performance and role have been more up-and-down than what many expected.

In high school, his head coach at Sierra Canyon called him “amazing.” He was a five-star recruit heading into Stanford, where then-coach Jerod Haase said Williams was “as talented as anyone I’ve ever seen.”

But Williams is yet to reach those same highs. His sole season in college was severely curtailed by the COVID-19 pandemic, among other serious elements, which first cut short his senior high school season and then forced Williams and his Stanford team to basically live out of hotels. In Memphis, his rookie season was encouraging, but injuries affected him afterward and other wing prospects were gradually prioritized.

However, Williams is still very young — he turned 23 years old earlier in September — and continues to show flashes worth investing in. The buzz out of Brooklyn early on was that members of the Nets organization across the board had been impressed by Williams, and Marks’ comments on Thursday appeared to confirm as much.

Williams’ game with Memphis against the Milwaukee Bucks on February 15, 2024 provides tape worth rewatching to tap into the Nets wing’s upside.

In my evaluation, I find that Williams plays at his best in the NBA when his defense sets the tone for the rest of his game. 

This game vs. the Bucks is a great example of this, with the then-Memphis wing finishing with 27 points (9-of-13 from the field, 4-of-7 from three), four rebounds, four assists and three steals in 36 minutes. That's close to a perfect game for the standard Williams should be held to.

In the first clip, Williams chases Lillard around the screens, gets a hand up to contest and draws the offensive foul from Bobby Portis' pick. This attachment to Lillard was a constant for Williams all game, who relished the chance to deny the Bucks' point guard touches on the ball — even if that meant picking him up full court.

Here, Williams starts defending 94 feet from from his basket. He stays in front of Lillard, making multiple efforts and disrupting his handle. Finally, he denies the eight-time all-star off the ball and really blows up Milwaukee's play.

Pat Connaughton ends up dribbling into a hand-off for AJ Green to shoot a movement three. Green is a good shooter, but any team would prefer this over keeping the ball in Lillard's hands.

Williams seals the victory for the Grizzlies here. It's Bucks ball with 11 seconds left and the ball goes to Lillard.

Williams navigates the screen from Brook Lopez, uses his length to bother Lillard's handle into a turnover and dives on the floor to further disrupt the play. The Bucks can't get a clean look after Williams' defensive effort and Memphis wins the game.

Generally, Williams will need to show this type of defensive effort on a nightly basis for the Nets. He has defensive tools which he's proven are valuable, but needs to tap into them more often.

In many ways, defense opens up Williams' rhythm offensively, as this game shows. The biggest item against him is strength — he's long and fluid more so than stubborn or bulky — but he can defend 1 through 3. At the 2021 NBA Draft combine, Williams measured at 6-foot-9.75 in shoes with a 6-foot-10.25 wingspan.

Going down the other end, Williams has offensive potential to be tapped into as well. Early in his basketball journey, he was more so known for what he could do on this end of the floor as a lanky pull-up scorer. In the NBA, however, his game has definitely been at its most effective when narrowed down.

That starts with stationary threes, meaning spot-ups and catch-and-shoots. However, actually converting threes is another area Williams needs to achieve more consistency in. The 23-year-old's career average from deep is 30.1%, which is very improvable. So far, most of Williams’ shot diet comes from downtown and his volume (when healthy, a little under four attempts per game) is fine enough, so he needs to be hitting triples in the mid-thirties.

If Williams is making his threes, or at least maintaining his leverage from deep, he can make quick decisions off the catch. That's key, as most players in the NBA broadly need to catch and pass, catch and attack or catch and shoot. The last part needs better conversion, but it exists for Williams.

As for the rest, Williams has enough versatility once he receives the ball. He probably prefers pulling up, as opposed to driving to the basket, so there is a better balance to be struck. However, Williams' pull-up is intriguing. He theoretically has the height, release point and touch to shoot over most defenders.

In the first clip of this video, Williams cuts into the paint from the corner and rises over the top of Lillard. In the second, it's the Bucks point guard who again is forced to defend Williams. The Grizzlies wing hits a shot from the left elbow. Shots like these are particularly valuable for Williams if teams try to "rest" one of their best players on him defensively, betting on the Stanford product to not punish them on this end.

Off the ball, Williams also has the means to be a cutter. It's again more so about length and fluidity than force for him, so there are limitations, but the Nets prospect can still add value.

Williams has above-the-rim athleticism, so he can be used to finish lobs or play fast in transition. The Nets have the guards to do the latter, especially if Ben Simmons is at full health. But again, Williams needs to find more consistency and aggression in the paint and at the rim.

As mentioned before, Williams initially made his name as a versatile score with flashes off the dribble but hasn't quite found that part of his game since high school. His jumper went cold last season, shooting 33% (11-for-33) on his long midrange twos, per Cleaning the Glass. But his first two seasons were more encouraging, albeit on a small sample size. As a rookie, Williams made 61% of those shots (20-for-33) and, in his second year, 58% on a tiny 7-for-12 sample.

This is Williams' fourth NBA season, so there is optimism involved, but the Nets' current context might give him a chance to try to recover some of that pull-up versatility.

Another area of improvement for Williams is his handle. The Nets wing cannot get to his preferred spots, partly because of his strength but also because of his ballhandling. Williams doesn't create advantages off the dribble that often, both for himself and others. He also needs to get paint touches more often.

Last season in Memphis, Williams shot 65% at the rim (60-for-92). But his first two seasons offer some encouragement, as he made 82% (66-for-80) of his shots at the basket as a rookie and 74% (35-for-47) in his second season.

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