Derrick Williams
Williams was yet another newcomer to the Heat this season. But unlike the aforementioned Ellington, Waiters, Reed and James Johnson, Williams has not received the warmth of the Heat coaching staff. He commenced the season playing a total of three minutes in the first seven games of the season. He has now played just 23 out of the 43 total games despite only being unavailable once through injury.
Many, including Williams, thought that with the absence of Chris Bosh, Williams would be presented with the perfect opportunity to live up to his billing as the No.2 overall pick of the 2011 NBA draft. But this has been far from the case. In his 11 games as starter, Williams has averaged just 16.7 minutes per game. For the season as a whole, Williams is averaging 6.3 points and 3.1 rebounds while shooting just 39.3 percent from the field.
Williams has demonstrated to be a very streaky perimeter shooter. Therefore, in his primary role as a stretch power forward, it can make it difficult for the coaching staff to have full faith in his abilities. Having said that, the confidence shown in him from the start of season has been extremely scarce.
Williams has played a total of 369 minutes for the season. By way of comparison, Luke Babbitt has played 534 minutes and Rodney McGruder has played 1005. Considering the season the Heat are having, this makes no sense. Williams’ talent level and upside is clearly superior to these two, and the returns produced by Babbitt do not justify these playing time discrepancies.
Having been rewarded with the faith shown in other newcomers this season, the Heat could do a lot worse than to give Williams some meaningful, consistent playing time in the back half of the season.
Williams’ best scoring game this season came in a road loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers. In 31 minutes off the bench, WIlliams notched 17 points on 6-of-11 from the field, along with two rebounds and two steals.
Check below for highlights of Williams’ 13 point, four rebound performance against the Charlotte Hornets.