Free Agent: Shelden Williams

[Bruno]

http://www.nba.com/media/act_shelden_williams.jpg

Shelden Williams | F - C
Born: Oct 21, 1983
Height: 6-9 / 2,06
Weight: 250 lbs. / 113,4 kg.
College: Duke
Years Pro: 2

info (http://www.nba.com/playerfile/shelden_williams/index.html)

[DPG21920]

He has shown some flashes and his rebounding numbers are pretty good. His shot blocking and fouls could use some work, but he is not a bad project or back up option.

[exstatic]

His rebounding rate in MIN was ridiculous. Five boards in 13.8 minutes? Where do I sign?

[EricB]

Worth giving a look if nothing for having a big body to throw at Yao, Shaq, and others.

Could do some nice stuff on the weak side as a defensive big whos only job is to rebound, block shots, and get garbage points.

[Mr.Bottomtooth]

:tu

[mountainballer]

Bump!
could have become even more a pretty nice under the radar signing. (btw. he is unrestricted, some boards like hoopshype still have him listed with a TO).
he might feel that the Spurs are the right team to re start his career and sign for small bucks. (BAE?) he could pretty well play the new version of Malik Rose and for some time this worked nice, as we know.

[Tully365]

He could be the bargain of the off season for the Spurs, who I imagine are seriously looking for a few now that they've acquired Jefferson. He's smart, tough, slightly undersized for a big, but with a 7'4" wingspan. He has never lived up to being picked #6 in the draft, but who cares about that? If he and Mahinmi could together supply 25 quality minutes of play per game, Pop would be ecstatic...

[benefactor]

This would be a great depth move IMO. As Tully said, he has never really lived up to the hype but if he would be willing to come aboard for cheap I think he would be a nice young piece.

[Marcus Bryant]

Might be a good LLE candidate.

[SCdac]

Would definitely be a low-key pickup for the Spurs, but with possibly high reward. I wouldn't mind seeing him as a malik rose-light for us. If we could get him for cheap, do it. He didn't quite flourish in Atlanta, but off the bat he was competing with marvin williams, josh smith, and zaza pachulia for minutes. At the moment, a player like him should be on our radar more than ever. At 3.4 rpg last season, he averaged almost as many boards as Bonner (4.9) in half the minutes (11.3 mpg). If you take three point shooting out of the equation, him and Bonner are almost a wash (imo). Bonner has three years as a Spurs on williams, and knows the system, which does counts for something. But it wouldn't hurt to mix it up, take a chance on williams. He played for a solid organization in Duke, and had some DPOY awards in college, could still pan out.

[loveforthegame]

Not a bad option but I'd rather go after Ike Diogu first.

[coyotes_geek]

not a bad option but i'd rather go after ike diogu first.

+1

[mountainballer]

Not a bad option but I'd rather go after Ike Diogu first.

I guess both Williams and Diogu lost some appeal the moment the Spurs lucked into Blair.

[Tully365]

I still think that the hope for a full MLE signing of a Gortat/Zaza/Rasheed/Dice type of player is a long shot and the more likely plan of attack is a Center by committee approach that could include Mahinmi plus a couple of low cost options like Shelden and/or Diogu.

[lefty]

If he comes to SA, he'll have some' splaining to do.

How the fuck did he end up with Candace Parker?

Are WNBA players so underpaid ?

[Tully365]

After doing a little more research, I like Shelden even more as a back up big. His rebounding, blocks, steals, and efficiency numbers per 48 minutes are all good, and 82games.com gives him a +3 Roland number, with stats that show team defense was better with him on the floor than off. Since he wouldn't be needed to score, his difficult adjustment to doing that in the nba would be minimized, and he'd be able to focus on D. He's still only 25 years old, and I think he has the potential to provide 12-15 solid minutes a game.

In limited minutes his on court/off court stats (also from 82games.com) are impressive: at Sacramento, he was +3.1; at Minnesota, he was +9.6. Compare that with Gortat's -12.2 and Frye's -16.1.

One of the problems for Shelden last year is he was misused as a center in some instances instead of a PF. His PER according to position last year with both teams:

Sacramento
at C: 7.1 PER
at PF: 15.8

Minnesota
at C: 14.0
at PF 33.3

Again, these are smallish sample sizes, but they show that he might flourish as a PF next to Duncan at Center. For comparison, Glen Davis's PER at PF this last year was 13.4, and at C was 11.1. Antonio McDyess registered a 19.0 PER when playing PF and 15.4 when playing center.


I'd say he's the deep sleeper pick of this year's FA bigs.

[benefactor]

I guess both Williams and Diogu lost some appeal the moment the Spurs lucked into Blair.
Agreed. I wouldn't have minded him at all if we have taken McClinton at 37, but now that we have Blair there is just not enough room for him.

[Mr. Body]

Why hasn't he worked out, and why doesn't he get more floor time? Might be a decent pick-up, even with Blair on.

[Biggems]

Isn't he Mr. Candice Parker?

[Mr.Bottomtooth]

Yup.

[Darkwaters]

If he comes to SA, he'll have some' splaining to do.

How the fuck did he end up with Candace Parker?

Are WNBA players so underpaid ?

Hes from Oklahoma City.

[Darkwaters]

I'm all about signing the Landlord up. I don't think he got a fair shake in the ATL and he was downright dominant in college. For the LLE he'd be a fair steal....especially with our lack of depth in the frontcourt. Especially if we consider Gist a wing and not a big.

[NicolasBatum]

http://www.realgm.com/src_wiretap_archives/60947/20090803/boston_signs_shelden_williams/

No Bowen for Boston...
I hope !

[Mel_13]

To Celts for vet min.

http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/extras/celtics_blog/2009/08/celtics_sign_sh.html

Forward Shelden Williams has agreed to a one-year contract with the Celtics, according to an NBA source. Williams is expected to sign a deal worth the veteran's minimum salary of $1.306 million.

[bostonguy]

This either means we arent chasing Bowen anymore or adios to Glen Davis. Either way, Im meh on this signing. He will be at the end of the bench.

[bishopospurs]

signing vets for the minimum doesn't affect much other than roster spots, they very well could still sign bruce if they wanted to sign him. It is between Bowen and Daniels not Bowen and Williams.

[Gant]

The Shelden Williams signing has nothing to do with Daniels or Bowen or Glen Davis for that matter. Williams replaces Leon Powe.

[loveforthegame]

Solid signing for Boston. I'm surprised he didn't go to a team where he could get more playing time though.

I agree that this doesn't have anything to do with Davis or Bowen or anyone else but replacing Powe.

[eisfeld]

Agreed... solid signing for Boston. Williams puts up some ridiculous rebounding numbers in limited minutes. I don't think that he could get much more playing time elsewhere as he is still a very raw player especially on the offensive end. I can still see him improving his offense in Boston with some vets mentoring him.

[Gant]

Williams has started his career slowly but it's true- Boston has the league's best big man coach in Clifford Ray who has done an excellent job with Dwight Howard, Al Jefferson, Big Baby, Leon Powe, and Perkins. So if Williams works hard he might turn things around in Boston.

If they re-sign Big Baby, Shelden might not even dress for games though.

[Darkwaters]

If we hadn't landed Blair I would have been a big fan of pursuing Williams. Hes a got that has stumbled off to a slow start, but I think he'll produce solidly before it's all said and done.

[angelbelow]

Good signing for boston, at the vet mins its not much of a risk.