Derrick Williams is playing the best basketball of his career with the Cleveland Cavaliers and regained his respect in the league thanks to LeBron James.
In his short time with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Derrick Williams seemingly has resurrected his career alongside the best player in the NBA today, LeBron James.
Back in June of 2011 the Cavaliers had the number one overall pick in the NBA Draft and there was some debate on who to take, Kyrie Irving or Derrick Williams? Looking at it now, it is obviously a ridiculous question and the Cavaliers made the right choice in selecting Irving over Williams.
However last month when the Miami Heat parted ways with Williams, the Cavaliers were quick to add him to their team.
Williams always had potential but never lived up to the hype of being the second overall pick.
Based on the ups and downs of his career, the Cavaliers had to be unsure what they would get from Williams, who never really had chance to play for a quality NBA team.
However, the Cavaliers quickly saw that they had struck gold with the signing of Williams.
In large part this was due to the fact that Williams was getting to play with James, who has a track record of resurrecting players careers. Think of J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert’s reputations before they arrived in Cleveland. Think of Channing Frye becoming an afterthought for the Orlando Magic. Think of Kyle Korver’s production dropping off in Atlanta, only for him to be playing his best basketball in years with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Williams is being used in the best way possible; he is an energy guy coming off the bench and provides a spark when he steps on the floor. In his time with the Cavaliers so far, Williams looks nothing like that player everyone deemed a bust.
The reason for this is that unlike any other stop for Williams, he does not need to be a top-level player, which is why he is already thriving with his new team.
Playing with James seems to always bring out the best in players, and the same can be about Williams. He has more of a bounce in his step and is attacking the hoop as well as shooting the ball with much more confidence then at any other time in his career.
James has been to six straight NBA Finals and a track record that speaks for itself. He knows how to get players to buy in to what his team is doing and it didn’t take Williams long to fit right into what the Cavaliers were doing.
Williams is averaging 8.7 points, 2.9 rebounds and is shooting 53.0 percent from the floor and 41.9 percent from behind the arc. You can’t ask for much more from a player in the second unit.
As I alluded to earlier, when J.R. came to the Cavaliers two years ago the talk was that Smith he wasn’t a guy who would buy into the Cavaliers system and he would hurt Cleveland’s chances at winning a title. But when he got to the Cavaliers and started playing with James, he bought in and became a player that no one thought he could be on a championship caliber team.
While Williams is not the player Smith is, the concept of James being able to turn questionable players into key role players on a championship team remains the same.
With Williams fitting in so nicely with the team, it only makes the Cavaliers that much better heading into the playoffs and gives James one more playmaker he can trust on his quest for a fourth championship.
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