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Cleveland Cavaliers: It is time to unleash Derrick Williams

By Nathan Beighle

May 25, 2017; Boston, MA, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward Derrick Williams (3) and guard JR Smith (5) walk off of the court after game five of the Eastern conference finals of the NBA Playoffs at the TD Garden against the Boston Celtics. Mandatory Credit: Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports
May 25, 2017; Boston, MA, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward Derrick Williams (3) and guard JR Smith (5) walk off of the court after game five of the Eastern conference finals of the NBA Playoffs at the TD Garden against the Boston Celtics. Mandatory Credit: Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports /
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Following a troubling Game 3, the Cleveland Cavaliers have nothing to lose by allowing former No. 2 pick Derrick Williams some court time.

Derrick Williams was one of the additions the Cleveland Cavaliers made in order to improve their bench. He has been useless in this postseason due to his mere 35 minutes of court time.

Just because Williams has been mostly ignored in the playoffs doesn’t mean he can’t contribute.
Over the course of his disappointing career, Williams has played most of his time at power forward.

A lineup with Kyrie Irving, Kyle Korver/J.R. Smith, LeBron James, Kevin Love and Williams could pay off. Williams has shot better than 40 percent from deep since coming to the Cavs and this lineup could allow Cleveland to go bigger without taking away spacing for James on the perimeter.

The Cavaliers could desperately use his size. In two of the three Finals games, the Cavaliers have been out-rebounded. The only game that they managed to snag more boards in was their 22-point loss in Game 1.

Outside of the starting lineup, the Cavaliers most-used lineup is one consisting of Irving, Smith, Korver, James, and Love. While Love has been a rebounding monster, snagging 19.8 percent of the total rebounds while he’s on the court, the addition of Williams could provide more strength on the glass for Cleveland.

Game 4 is a must-win for Cleveland. For the most part, they played an excellent Game 3. Irving and James combined for 77 of the team’s 113 points, and Love managed to rack up six steals. Even Smith snapped out of his ugly Finals form and scored 16 points.

While all of that is great, the Cavs got a combined 55 minutes from Tristan Thompson, Richard Jefferson, Iman Shumpert and Deron Williams.

Those 55 minutes produced three points on 0-of-8 shooting, five rebounds, four assists, two blocks, two turnovers and seven fouls. The quartet was a combined minus-7.

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We don’t know what Derrick Williams can do in The Finals because he hasn’t gotten an opportuinity. Down 3-0 and facing elimination, it would be nice to see coach Tyronn Lue give Williams some minutes. I mean, it can’t get worse, can it?