I really don't get where the negativity comes from about this guy. Do you think this team is good right now? Athletic 7 footers don't grow on trees. That's why teams draft people like Saer Sene in the lottery even though they don't know how to play basketball and Samuel Dalembert is making 10 million a year to not box out and miss 2 footers. A defensive presence in the post is not just a minor piece of the puzzle, it's probably the biggest. Duncan, KG, Shaq. These guys are franchise players for a reason.
Justin Williams isn't a seven footer, but he's an elite rebounder and shot blocker at every level he's played at, and he's taller than everyone we're playing now except Miller. This isn't just some generic stiff who can block a few shots. He was the shotblocking king in college ball. Shotblocking is a skill. If it were just a matter of size, Yao would be getting 10 a game. It's taken him years to get to where he now blocks about 2 per game. We're talking about a player who is going to challenge layups. I think we're mostly in agreement that is our biggest problem on defense right now. We need someone there, period. And dreaming about KG isn't getting anything done.
And really, what have we got to lose? Mo Taylor? Potapenko? These guys are one year rentals sitting at the end of the bench. The only reason to keep them on the team is for their expiring contracts. That is literally the only reason. If you care about the product on the court, you would cut them tomorrow. Today if possible. But when you're losing games by the dozen and you know of a guy who could potentially help alleviate your biggest weakness, at what point do you decide that the product on the court has to take precedent over the contract situation? Hell, you could sign Justin Williams for three years on a minimum contract and he'd still be making less money than those bums. And if he actually does develop, you'd have a major bargain. It's a longshot, but a much safer gamble than bringing in Artest or trading for Miller or trading Webber or all the other moves this team has been making.
Remember Ben Wallace? Undrafted, hopeless on offense, seriously undersized at center, and unable to play any other position. But a last place team took a chance on him anyway because he could defend a little bit, and now you've got a two time defensive player of the year who someone just payed 14 million dollars a year on to average less than 8 points per game. Would you want Ben Wallace on your team? He didn't enter the league as an All-Star, it took a lot of work to get there. Now obviously Justin Williams turning into Ben Wallace would be way up there on the scale of 'best case scenario', but my point is that young players quite often get better. (Kevin Martin for example) and if you don't take a chance on developing one of them, you'll never know what they could be. In this case, we could add this guy and lose nothing. Hopeless on offense? Late on rotations? Looks intimidated by the NBA? Of course he is! That's why he needs to get on a team, practice, be coached, and get some game experience. Quincy Douby is getting that chance. Francisco Garcia is getting that chance. Kevin Martin got that chance. Why not Justin Williams? We literally have no size in our frontcourt. No athleticism. This is a huge need. Huge. We need someone now. Ben Wallace, KG, those guys would be great but they're not coming. They're just not. And the fact that Justin Williams is dominating now in the NBDL is even more of an indicator that he might be worth taking a shot and seeing if he'll develop. Again, what do we really have to lose? Nothing. We don't even have to cut anyone, we have open roster spots. Just move Mo Taylor and Potapenko to the inactive list. This is such a no-brainer obvious move, I'm kindof upset they cut the guy in the first place. Pick this guy up for two years from now. Teach him in practice, get him a few minutes, play him in the summer league, give him a chance. This is why teams go into rebuilding mode. Because they stop anticipating the future and only pay attention to what's happening right now. We're not winning a championship anytime soon with this team. So let's start making progress towards winning one in the future. That's the whole point right?
