Cody Williams

[Lipoli390]

The point of the Josh Green trade was to make financial room for Kuminga and avoid having to stretch Josh Green. Mission accomplished. But let’s not overlook the fact that, in addition to freeing cap room to sign Kuminga, we acquired the 10th pick in the NBA draft just two years ago. He hasn’t come close to meeting expectations in his first two NBA seasons; however, he was playing on a terrible team and is still only 21 years old. It’s also worth noting that his older brother was a late bloomer. Here’s an interesting take on him immediately after Utah drafted him:

https://youtu.be/tQcdblNiDXo?si=jporIyC-qWweesPQ

And here’s the draft review of Cody from “The Draft Room” two years ago:

Draft Notes

The younger brother OKC wing Jalen Williams, Cody is an elite level prospect with all the skills and tools to be a star in the NBA. After a slow start at Colorado he’s coming on strong and starting to dominate on the court, showing why he deserves to be in the top 5 discussion.

He has ideal size on the wing at 6-8 with good length, allowing him to play above the rim with ease and impact the game on both ends. He’s an excellent ball handler, driver and finisher who can go left or right and finish over length.

Cody is a solid rebounder and defender who can guard 1-4 and is a good shot blocker for a wing.

Is great with the ball in his hands; can run the offense, set up teammates and create offense for himself. Has a good first step and likes to get downhill and attack the rim. Does a good job of playing with his head up and finding open teammates after collapsing the defense.

His stock is trending up.

[Monster]

Thanks for teeing this thread up Lip I've been looking up stuff about Williams too.

Look I'm not wildly excited about Cody williams or anything and who knows they could trade him before the season starts but after spending a little time learning about him this is my take.

He was pretty terrible his rookie year no doubt. I watched a video of a fan that likes him and they pointed out how much better he was this year over his rookie year. He had 5 dunks his rookie year. Last year he had like 65 dunks. The jump from being a bad offensive player to one that was at least good shooting from 2 point range was pretty massive. He still didn't hit 3's but there was some legit improvement. Watching some workout videos and stuff from college he was a very straight up and down guy. He barely flexed his legs doing things on either end of the court. Watching more highlights this year he was getting down handling the ball and looked more like a basketball player. His upside is probably more of a complimentary player and yes if he can't shoot the 3 that's pretty limiting but it seems like he has some other stuff going for him. I'm sure some of the games were nearly G-league in talent but he did average 5.7 assists and only 2 TOs a game in April. Of course Konchar had back to back triple doubles in April so...

Sam V from the Athletic tweeted he thought Williams was a worthwhile flyer for the Wolves if you think about him as a top half of the 2nd round pick type guy. I think that's a good way of thinking of him as a prospect. He has played quite a few NBA minutes...the bad thing is it was for a terrible team in Utah. He is a developmental project and the Wolves have some guys they have helped improve.

[SameOldNudityDrew]

I saw a video from a Utah fan who said he couldn't guard anybody in summer league. If he can't defend, there's no way he'll see the floor.

I suspect he'll be, at best, the 12th man, and that's assuming Evans doesn't play at all. The following 11 guys will almost certainly hit the floor before him, right?

Ant
Melo
Jaden
Rudy
Kuminga

Ayo
Beringer
TJ
Clark
Bones

Lyles

Plus:

(Evans-probably G-League most of the season)
(Donte-will clearly be back in the rotation when he's back)

I think he's injury insurance for our forward spot. Nice to see that our insurance policy can do a bit, and it's always great to have lots of athletic wings, but I don't expect we'll see this guy much at all this year.

[60WinTim]

I think Lyles will see the floor before Bones...

As the 10th pick, Williams makes a pretty good salary. October 29th is the date the Wolves need to decide on picking up the team option for Williams' 27'-28 season (the season after next season). I would bet a lot of money on the Wolves not picking up that 7+ mil team option. But that wouldn't preclude the Wolves from re-signing him down the road at a lower amount if both sides were satisfied with his progression.

TC has given himself some tradeable assets, and options down the road for choosing who should continue to develop with the team.

[Lipoli390]

I thought it was interesting that the Wolves waived Konchar and kept Cody. My sense is that it would have been the reverse if the Wolves draft cupboards were not so depleted. Konchar seems like a guy who could help the Wolves in a pinch next season if necessary and I don’t have any confidence that Cody can help us. But as the 10th pick in the 2024 draft and still only 21 years old, Cody has considerable upside. TC understands that he needs to compensate for our lack of draft assets in other ways. That’s part of why he re-signed Clark and hasn’t traded any of our younger bench guys or prospects like Clark, TSJ, Rocco, etc. He even had Beringer on his no-trade list. I’m sure he had offers for TSJ, but he’s held onto him and used other means to change and bolster the roster this summer.

Cody also gives the Wolves optionality. They can decline the team option on him for 2027-28 this Fall and see what if anything he does for them next season - possibly keeping him beyond next season on a minimum or near-minimum deal if he looks promising.

[SameOldNudityDrew]

I think Lyles will see the floor before Bones...

As the 10th pick, Williams makes a pretty good salary. October 29th is the date the Wolves need to decide on picking up the team option for Williams' 27'-28 season (the season after next season). I would bet a lot of money on the Wolves not picking up that 7+ mil team option. But that wouldn't preclude the Wolves from re-signing him down the road at a lower amount if both sides were satisfied with his progression.

TC has given himself some tradeable assets, and options down the road for choosing who should continue to develop with the team.

Agree. I think his floor spacing at the 4 should actually get him about the 8th man role, maybe even 7th if the Kuminga thing goes badly. We need that combo of size and spacing.

[Monster]

Just for fun here are the 10th overall NBA draft picks in the past 25 years. There are some misses for sure.

https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask/10th-n ... raft-picks

[FNG]

Okay, I admit my day has started out rather slow after too many beers at the 3+ hour Jimmy Jam/Terry Lewis and friends concert at the fair last night. So I took advantage of my brain fog to read all 80 pages of the Cody Williams thread on the Jazz forum. Obviously the opinions are mixed...some see him as a bust because of his poor 3-point shooting, while others see a likeness to Jaden McDaniels or Paul George! What I liked best is that the opinions are much more positive after watching him in SL. Despite deferring to rookie Peterson, he still put up an efficient 17/4.5 and even made 5 of his 10 3-pointers. Some also talked about how much stronger he looked compared to last year with his additional weight, and raved about his defense. I also was quite impressed with his interviews...very reflective and well-spoken.

Lip did a good job teeing up this thread, but I'll push back a little on his assessment that Cody hasn't come close to meeting expectations in his first two seasons. Let's not forget that he was only 20 and 21 in his first two seasons, and didn't get much of a chance to show his abilities until the last two months of last season (when Utah was admittedly tanking). But when he was moved into the starting lineup in early March, he finished 15.3/4.3 in even averaged 5.7 assists per game in April with only 2 turnovers. Yes, he shot the three poorly all season and didn't get any better when he was starting. But he does get to the rim well for some spectacular dunks, and also has a decent midrange. I his performance in his second year was pretty good for a player just turned 21.

But Tim raises a good point. The Wolves have to make a decision whether to pick up a $7 million option before the end of October. While I can't help but be intrigued by Cody, I can't see him getting into the rotation in October to show TC enough to extend him. That's why I'm hoping he will get regular minutes in the G League in October to see if he can convince the Wolves he is worth the $7 million. But if I had to guess, TC will find that option not very attractive.

[60WinTim]

Okay, I admit my day has started out rather slow after too many beers at the 3+ hour Jimmy Jam/Terry Lewis and friends concert at the fair last night. So I took advantage of my brain fog to read all 80 pages of the Cody Williams thread on the Jazz forum. Obviously the opinions are mixed...some see him as a bust because of his poor 3-point shooting, while others see a likeness to Jaden McDaniels or Paul George! What I liked best is that the opinions are much more positive after watching him in SL. Despite deferring to rookie Peterson, he still put up an efficient 17/4.5 and even made 5 of his 10 3-pointers. Some also talked about how much stronger he looked compared to last year with his additional weight, and raved about his defense. I also was quite impressed with his interviews...very reflective and well-spoken.

Lip did a good job teeing up this thread, but I'll push back a little on his assessment that Cody hasn't come close to meeting expectations in his first two seasons. Let's not forget that he was only 20 and 21 in his first two seasons, and didn't get much of a chance to show his abilities until the last two months of last season (when Utah was admittedly tanking). But when he was moved into the starting lineup in early March, he finished 15.3/4.3 in even averaged 5.7 assists per game in April with only 2 turnovers. Yes, he shot the three poorly all season and didn't get any better when he was starting. But he does get to the rim well for some spectacular dunks, and also has a decent midrange. I his performance in his second year was pretty good for a player just turned 21.

But Tim raises a good point. The Wolves have to make a decision whether to pick up a $7 million option before the end of October. While I can't help but be intrigued by Cody, I can't see him getting into the rotation in October to show TC enough to extend him. That's why I'm hoping he will get regular minutes in the G League in October to see if he can convince the Wolves he is worth the $7 million. But if I had to guess, TC will find that option not very attractive.

I think the best case scenario is we decline his option, but re-sign him next offseason to continue his development, assuming all sides are happy with that type of progression.

Something that has largely flown under the radar is how the "lob game" might play a role in the upcoming season. In recent years, we haven't had any real lob targets other than Rudy, not to mention we didn't have any reliable lob passers, other than Conley, who didn't play much. Melo excels at throwing lobs, and we have replaced our two "grounded" PFs with Joan and JK who should excel as lob targets. Williams adds to that pool of lob targets! Although it won't be for the upcoming season. My hope is that Melo's lob passing rubs off on ANT and Ayo, further expanding our lob game.