Alondes Williams is intriguing 2nd-round target for Cavs in 2022 NBA Draft

Examining Williams’ skill set, and how he could help the Cavs

He’s a combo guard that could help the Cavaliers as a lead playmaking presence in stretches when Darius Garland is getting a breather, and Williams could generate some nice catch-and-shoot looks for others then, and make sound dishes to bigs. He displayed solid pick-and-roll playmaking feel with more chances at Wake Forest, and in coming years, he could help Cleveland there for some stretches, also.

Williams led the ACC in assists in 2021-22, and with his terrific playmaking instincts in being able to proactively anticipate feeds, combined with his rim pressure as a driver, I do believe he could work well in tandem with either Darius Garland or Collin Sexton/Caris LeVert.

Williams can make quick skip passes either in secondary transition to shooters in early-clock situations or hit hustling bigs with lead passes. And in set offense, he does a nice job of hitting guys in their shooting pockets, and delivering pocket passes to cutters.

As we hit on, Williams could be another impactful driver for Cleveland in rotational stretches, where he could get to the rim and finish through or around contact with great body control, or get to the free throw line. He had 5.2 free attempts per game with Wake Forest, and in three collegiate seasons, shot 57.8 percent from two, albeit on 6.1 shots per game, given the first two years.

Now, in regards to improvement areas, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that Williams has a ways to go as a shooter, both as a jump shot creator and on catch-and-shoots. He hit only 28.2 percent from three on 4.1 attempts per game with Wake Forest this past season, and shot 25.0 percent from three on 1.5 attempts per outing in two seasons with Oklahoma.

Williams will need to develop that gradually in the near future with NBA player development staff. I’m not disputing that, clearly, and his free throw hit rate in college was 69.9 percent, which was not stellar for a guard.

He had 3.6 turnovers per outing this past season, too, and at the NBA level, he’ll need to find subtle ways to attack here and there to prevent defenses from overplaying his drives, when it comes to helpers. But I don’t personally believe passing turnovers are nearly as much of a concern, and if the opportunities come for him, he can clean up this area overall, I’d imagine, with other spacers and if he can develop some of a mid-range shot.

On the other end, while Williams does have nice size for a combo guard at 6-foot-5 and 209 pounds, defensively, lateral quickness limitations could limit his impact early on that end. The team defensive feel needs to improve as well, and with him set to turn 23 before the draft, that’s far from ideal.

Taking everything into account, however, Williams is a player that could be a capable reserve playmaking presence for the Cavaliers, I believe, or could be a quality depth guard if Cleveland adds a backup point guard via free agency. And as we mentioned, for stretches, Williams could play some off the ball as a meaningful driving presence/more score-first guy in time in at the 2 with Garland/Sexton, for instance.

To me, based on what Williams demonstrated in 2021-22 with Wake Forest, he’d be an intriguing second-round target for the Cavs, maybe at #39. His range has some variance, and him set to be 23 as a rookie plays into that, so we’ll have to see.