This workout was run by Joe Abunassar of Abunassar Impact Basketball (AIB), and was attended by representatives of the Portland Trailblazers, Los Angeles Clippers, Toronto Raptors, Miami Heat, Sacramento Kings and other NBA teams.
It began with brief warm-ups before going into plenty of shooting drills. The players attempted more shots from mid-range than anything; from either side of the elbow both static and off the dribble, taking one long dribble and step in from the 3-point line for a pull-up, running in at game-speed from the half-court line for a pull-up jumper from just inside the free-throw line, coming off short curls, off one short dribble for a pull-up, adding a jab-step left and then shooting off the bounce going right, off a pick and roll, etc, etc. Less emphasis was put on full-court ball-handling and shot-creation skills, and the players practiced coming off a screen with the move of their choice and finishing with a dunk, floater or layup. The players then played a bit of 1 on 1 and 2 on 2, with the teams being Epperson and Jacobson against Williams and Gardner. A short spot-up NBA 3-point shooting drill capped things off.
Player Evaluations
Shawne Williams, 6-9, Freshman, Small Forward, Memphis
Jonathan Givony
The headliner of this workout, Williams is a player we never really felt that we had a great handle on from the game footage weve seen in the past and recently acquired. There was always a feeling that he could be showing slightly more, and that was somewhat the case walking out of this workout as well unfortunately.
Just looking at him, its not hard to tell why NBA types like him and especially his potential. He passes the eye test and then some, with great size, a phenomenal frame, long arms, wide shoulders and excellent lower body strength. He looks the part of your Boris Diaw/Tim Thomas small-ball forward, and has most of the budding skills youd like to see from a player in that mold.
Williams was excellent in most of the mid-range drills conducted here, looking very good knocking down unguarded shots from both off the dribble as well as with his feet set from 14-18 feet out. He has smooth mechanics on his jump-shot, even though he jumps forward a bit on each attempt, with very good elevation and a high release point that will make his shot nearly unblockable when taking into consideration his height. Abunassar pointed out that this workout was intended to work on and show the type of shots hell get and hopefully knock down in the NBA, as he projects mostly as a face-up forward whose bread and butter lies in his ability to pick and pop, which is what the NBA seems to be all about these days.
When attacking the basket in the one on zero drills, Williams looked quite effortless putting the ball on the floor and elevating quickly and impressively off the ground to dunk with either hand. Much like during the regular season, he did not stand out in any one particular area in the drills, but did a good job showing off his all-around upside here.
In the 2 on 2 was where we were allowed to learn a little more about the type of player he is at the moment, rather than what he projects to become in a few years. He looked smooth on the catch and shoot with his feet set, but did not show much in the ways of putting the ball on the floor and making his way all the way to the basket.
Williams is, at this point, more comfortable creating a mid-range shot off a short jab-step and pull-up rather than slashing hard and finishing with contact at the hoop. Similar to the impression we got watching Rudy Gay last weekend in Washington DC, Williams gets his shot off from the perimeter almost whenever he pleases due to his size, high release point and terrific elevation, and therefore has a tendency to settle for tough, contested shots that sometimes go in. It might be unfair to criticize someone who only played college basketball for one year, but at this point he lacks the improvisation skills, experience, ball-handling ability, explosive first-step and shot-creating polish in terms of hesitation moves and overall craft to be a reliable and consistent offensive threat outside of the pick and pop. He is still stuck a bit between the 3 and the 4 positions on both ends of the floor.
He wasnt the most intense player we saw in our 4 days/4 workouts in Los Angeles, particularly on the defensive end where he struggled to stay in front of his man. This might have had something to do with the nature of the workout and the fact that he was clearly the most talented player on the floor at all times. His potential here did come out at one point, though, with a super-quick recovery on the perimeter and an impressive blocked 3-point attempt on the 6-8 Rodney Epperson. In the NBA 3-point shooting drills at the end of the workout, Williams struggled to a certain extent, hitting 5/11 from the right corner, 5/14 from the left corner, and 5/8 from straight-away.
All in all this workout did a good job of showing the player Shawne Williams might develop into in the future, but was inconclusive at best or underwhelming at worst in terms of showing the player he is right now. The NBA draft is all about upside, though, and this is something that he clearly has plenty of. Most of his weaknesses are hopefully the type of things that can be developed under the right coach, but hes more of a down the road type guy than someone who will be expected to step in right away and produce. Williams is projected by most as a top-20 pick and is working out for teams accordingly, and according to his agent Happy Walters has been invited to the physical-only portion of the NBA pre-draft camp, which should tell you that his stock is indeed where it needs to be right now in the eyes of the people that count most.