Williams Audition For Spurs

[chrisrod2008]

The Spurs opened their practice facility to potential training camp invitees on Monday.
Jawad Williams were among the first players to participate.
"We're going to be looking at a lot of guys over the next few weeks," Spurs general manager R.C. Buford said. "Eventually, we'll decide on the players we want to bring to camp."


Looking for a backup to Jefferson...........

[lefty]

Looking for a backup to Jefferson...........
Is William ...... ?

[chrisrod2008]

Is William ...... ?


Yea he is a 6'9" forward.....averaged 4pts a game on an 11 minute average......only played 2 years for Cleveland. You know Ferry had a say in that invite

[lefty]

Yea he is a 6'9" forward.....averaged 4pts a game on an 11 minute average......only played 2 years for Cleveland. You know Ferry had a say in that invite
Thanks

[chrisrod2008]

Thanks

Anytime......I saw about 4 forwards being invited.....we are over the cap so hopefully we can pull a rabbit out of the hat cheap

[slick'81]

yeah ferry def told them to look at williams wonder if he can be brought in the fold

[G-Dawgg]

That's our man... Blam!! He's got a bit of range on his jumper, and he's a good defender too :)

See you later Mr. Gee

[kaji157]

I would like to see Gee play some in the Spurs.
Hope it happens.

[chrisrod2008]

Gee has played Off Guard not only in college but for the Spurs and for him to transtion to a SF would be tough. So he may be odd man out or at least back to the Toros. We have 4 Shooting Guards already so if anything him and Jerrells would be fighting for the 3rd roster spot at off guard becuase Hill plays both point and off.

[Interrohater]

From Draft Express a few years ago...

2003-2004: A very versatile player, has a nice all around game. Excellent athlete. He is North Carolina's utility man, he does all the small things needed to secure the win.Jawad has showed improvement in many aspects since entering college. His free throw shooting has improved leaps and bounds, over 20% from his freshman year. Williams isn't afraid of hard work, and is willing to put in time to get better as a player. His range has also dramatically improved since arriving in Chapel Hill, and he has put on over 20 pounds of muscle just in the last off-season. Right now he's a good rebounder due to his athleticism, wingspan and desire.

A good man to man defender, capable of playing the type of physical and exhausting lock down defense that opponents hate. He has a nice wingspan and he uses it well to block shots and come up with steals.

Jawad is extremely athletic, but he's also tough as nails, he's played through numerous injuries in his career so far. He broke his nose earlier this season and continued to play through the pain. Has gone through dozens of stitches on his face in his career at North Carolina so far. He has no fear of anything and no regard whatsoever for his own personal safety. He'll do anything to secure the win. Jawad is a very good transition player, he runs the floor well, and knows how to find the open man, although you do not want him leading the break. His court vision in general is impressive for a small forward, he's an unselfish player and usually moves the ball around well. In fact, you might say that passing is one of his strong points, and that might catch you off guard because of his rugged style of play.

This year in particular Williams has shown that he is a clutch shooter that wants to take the big shots at the end of the game.

[chrisrod2008]

Yea that was a few years ago....6 years ago

[yavozerb]

The Spurs opened their practice facility to potential training camp invitees on Monday.
Jawad Williams were among the first players to participate.
"We're going to be looking at a lot of guys over the next few weeks," Spurs general manager R.C. Buford said. "Eventually, we'll decide on the players we want to bring to camp."


Looking for a backup to Jefferson...........

Where did you get this info?

[ace3g]

JMcDonald_SAEN

Another name to add to list of those working out for #spurs this week: Ex Clips/Cavs/Blazers/Grizzlies forward Darius Miles.

___

Darius Miles is most likely working out for another team hopefully; I want no part of him

[SpursTillTheEnd]

hell yea darius and malik are both cold, darius is a beast damn injury fucked him up come on spurs sign malik and miles

[chrisrod2008]

hell yea darius and malik are both cold, darius is a beast damn injury fucked him up come on spurs sign malik and miles

I completley agree on the Miles thing he still has hops

[8FOR!3]

LOL Darius Miles. I don't know, as far as age goes he still hasn't hit his prime. And he went like 2 years without playing, so he doesn't have too many miles on him (didn't even try that pun,) it just depends on how he's recovering from the injury. 6'9 forward though, that's one thing I do support.

[DesignatedT]

Miles blows.

[Bruno]

Spurs have nothing to loose with working out Darius Miles but I don't see at all being invited to TC.

[SpursTillTheEnd]

shut up t stop hating on miles..

[Man In Black]

I remember that one game a while back when Miles was playing for Portland. They had no business beating the Spurs that night but Miles went off!
http://scores.espn.go.com/nba/recap?gameId=250124022

Oh well, if he's willing to play D and leave the attitude at the door, and he's willing to play for cheaper than cheap...let's see what he's got.

[ChuckD]

OMG, Williams is 6'9". Who cares if his shooting % is positively Iversonian? I'm STOKED.

[ChuckD]

shut up t stop hating on miles..


He's got the rep of being lazy and arrogant, and can't fucking shoot for shit. Other than that, I can't think of a reason why the Spurs wouldn't sign him. :rolleyes

OTOH, he is taller than 6'6"...

[DMX7]

He sucks.

[slick'81]

damn double micro fractures darius is done

[Hooks]

The fuck, I forgot about Miles, I haven't heard of that dude in years...I think the last time I heard of him was back in '06

[Russ]

Miles blows.

Miles Davis?

[DesignatedT]

much rather have jawad.

[rayray2k8]

He doesn't look half bad..

5oBMZB7SboE

[rayray2k8]

Found another one.

HJ_OWFVzdMI

[Hooks]

He won't get any PT even if we do sign him.

[rayray2k8]

Jawad William is a restricted free-agent, so who know if whatever they offer him will be matched by Cleveland..
Hopefully they're still in disarray from Lebron leaving the cavs. :lol

[MI21]

Jawad actually had some decent moments for the Cavs last season. Spurs could do worse than him as end-of-bench fodder.

Also, wasn't he on the Spurs summer league roster / Training Camp at some stage these past few years?

[Nathan89]

This guy looks good on those videos. He is also 6'9/220lbs, a better fit for players like lamar,dirk,melo,etc. I want this guy to get any backup sf minute that anderson is not getting this year. Spurs need to do their best to bring this guy in.

[analyzed]

The Spurs should try out New Zealand's Thomas Abercombrie , who currently is turning heads in Turkey with his athleticim on offense and defense. Here is a 6'7 forward who blocks Klieza and Rudy Fernandes and dunks on Marc Gasol and Rudy Fernandez

Profile below
http://turkey2010.fiba.com/pages/eng/fe/10/fwcm/player/p/eid/4728/orderby//ot//pid/51007/rid//sid/4728/tid/337/tid2//profile.html

[mountainballer]

Jawad William is a restricted free-agent, so who know if whatever they offer him will be matched by Cleveland..
it will take more than a minimum offer to discourage the Cavs from matching, that for sure. as mentioned before, it will likely be about a guaranteed 2nd year. this would cut into the Cavs cap space in 2011 and they will think twice before they sacrifice any cap space to keep a player like Williams.

[bbarry]

Found another one.

HJ_OWFVzdMI

highlight reels never look half bad.

[Solid D]

Jawad actually had some decent moments for the Cavs last season. Spurs could do worse than him as end-of-bench fodder.

Also, wasn't he on the Spurs summer league roster / Training Camp at some stage these past few years?

Yes, Jawad was on the Spurs' 2005-06 Training Camp Roster.

[mountainballer]

it will take more than a minimum offer to discourage the Cavs from matching, that for sure. as mentioned before, it will likely be about a guaranteed 2nd year. this would cut into the Cavs cap space in 2011 and they will think twice before they sacrifice any cap space to keep a player like Williams.

just checked. based on the current cap numbers and considering holds for minimum contracts (and assuming Hollins and Mo Williams don't opt out) they will have about 9-10 million in cap space. minus the 1st rounder (likely #10-15) they will have 7-8 M available.
so yes, it does make a big difference for them if they cut into this number and take them self the chance to beat out a MLE contract next summer.
my guess is, a 2nd year at 1.5-2 million will keep them away from matching.
(if Williams is worth this number is another story tough)

[SenorSpur]

I'm not familiar with him, but I liked what I've seen in the videos. The Spurs could do a lot worse at the backup SF position.

[TJastal]

I'm not familiar with him, but I liked what I've seen in the videos. The Spurs could do a lot worse at the backup SF position.

+1

If he has range (which IIRC he burned Bogans repeatedly last year from 3pt) and can play good defense he could potentially supplant Jefferson in the starting lineup because those are qualities that are needed as the spurs' starting 3.

Jefferson is very likely going to be (once again) a bad fit in the starting lineup and will end up coming off the bench w/Manu. So having Williams around might be a good idea in this case.

[TJastal]

I'm not familiar with him, but I liked what I've seen in the videos. The Spurs could do a lot worse at the backup SF position.

Isn't this the same guy who repeatedly burned Bogans from deep last year? To the tune of 17-18 pts IIRC

[ace3g]

yes it was the one game that James took the night off; and a lot of people here at ST said Williams would be the most likely candidate to burn the Spurs that night

[pad300]

just checked. based on the current cap numbers and considering holds for minimum contracts (and assuming Hollins and Mo Williams don't opt out) they will have about 9-10 million in cap space. minus the 1st rounder (likely #10-15) they will have 7-8 M available.
so yes, it does make a big difference for them if they cut into this number and take them self the chance to beat out a MLE contract next summer.
my guess is, a 2nd year at 1.5-2 million will keep them away from matching.
(if Williams is worth this number is another story tough)

They could also probably work a sign and trade. Just sending a 2nd rounder to Cleveland and signing Williams on under the vet min exception (or the LLE even).

[Bruno]

Jawad Williams is 27 years old, has played one year in NBA with a PER of 8.2.
Given that he isn't known as a defensive specialist, it's bad, really bad.

He has likely some qualities but not at the point to give him a two years contract or trade something for him. An one year guaranteed min contract woudl be fine but I rather have him with a contract guaranteed for $100K and let him fight with Gee for the SF backup spot.

And if Cavs match that, they can keep him.

[Rick Von Braun]

Miles Davis?

:lol

[Rick Von Braun]

Jawad Williams is 27 years old, has played one year in NBA with a PER of 8.2.
Given that he isn't known as a defensive specialist, it's bad, really bad.

He has likely some qualities but not at the point to give him a two years contract or trade something for him. An one year guaranteed min contract woudl be fine but I rather have him with a contract guaranteed for $100K and let him fight with Gee for the SF backup spot.

And if Cavs match that, they can keep him.

I don't completely agree. I've seen him Jawad play 3-4 times in the NBA, including last year lost to Cleveland at the beginning of March when he torched the Centerpiece, and I think he is a pretty decent player. PER numbers for players that play very few minutes have pretty high standard deviation.

He has the size, the body, the IQ and the range to be a decent backup SF for cheap.

2c :toast

[mountainballer]

PER numbers for players that play very few minutes have pretty high standard deviation.


totally agree. PER can be extremely misleading. even for regular minutes players.
Bowen constantly had some of the lowest PER numbers in the whole league. (he was this kind of defensive specialist that are not considered by any PER categories). some player types (especially big men, who are good rebounder) are loved by the PER system.
for example: a players like Drew Gooden constantly produced good PER numbers. so do you rather want Gooden or Robert Horry in his prime on your team? PER tells you to take Gooden, his PER is much better than Rob's. (even considering Rob's PO PER)

however. of course Williams isn't a good player. he also isn't a defensive force. but he isn't a bad defender either and it seems as if he has the ability and necessary smarts to also be a good team defender. he could be a poor man's James Posey at best. (I mean the 2007 Posey, last years version already was the poor mans version of Posey). he also isn't better than Bogans, but he is 3 inches taller. if it would have been a decision between re signing Bogans and signing Williams I take Williams every day.

btw. last years PER of Jarvis Hayes, who we discussed as an option for back up SF, was 9.7. that's not that much better, but compared to Hayes Williams is clearly the better defender and also better athlete.

[Chieflion]

What mountainballer said was correct. PER fluctuates a lot for players who play less minutes. It gets even lesser role such as Jawad Williams. Looking at Richard Jefferson, whose production dropped due to a lesser role, his PER will take a hit. The top players in the league have a high PER because of their role and per minute production which generally helps advanced stats.

At worst, the Spurs just sign a guy who is a practice player and at best make it into the rotation. Since he would be filling in cheaply, it wouldn't hurt the Spurs to sign him.

[MI21]

I don't completely agree. I've seen him Jawad play 3-4 times in the NBA, including last year lost to Cleveland at the beginning of March when he torched the Centerpiece, and I think he is a pretty decent player. PER numbers for players that play very few minutes have pretty high standard deviation.

He has the size, the body, the IQ and the range to be a decent backup SF for cheap.

2c :toast

Agreed. At a minimum, he is not a mismatch anywhere on the court physically which is something the Spurs often have problems with.

[Bruno]

I see that the captains obvious are here.

It's obvious that PER doesn't tell the whole story.
It's obvious that PER doesn't factor defense (see Bowen)
It's obvious that PER doesn't factor clutch (see Horry)
It's obvious that PER drop when the player role decrease (see Jefferson) ...

A player having a low PER doesn't automatically mean he suck but it isn't a good sign.

When you look at Jawad Williams, reasons why he has a low PER are that he is a poor scorer, poor rebounder and has bad FG%. He isn't also known for being great as what isn't in the box score like defense and being clutch. It starts to make a lot against him.

I don't put a player like Jawad Williams above Alonzo Gee to be Spurs' backup SF.

[Chieflion]

I don't think anyone could make a name for himself as a specialist or whatever backing up the best player in the NBA as a rookie. It takes time to build up a reputation or by getting a starting role.

[ceperez]

I don't put a player like Jawad Williams above Alonzo Gee to be Spurs' backup SF.

Agree. Gee definitely more talented. Williams may be 2" taller, but don't know how that translated to effectiveness.

[Bruno]

I don't think anyone could make a name for himself as a specialist or whatever backing up the best player in the NBA as a rookie. It takes time to build up a reputation or by getting a starting role.

Go read some Cavs fan forum and you will see what they all say about his defense.

[Chieflion]

Go read some Cavs fan forum and you will see what they all say about his defense.

Do they have any fans left? Does anyone talk about Jawad Williams? I think he will find a new team this summer.

From realcavsfans,


Jawad has shown that he has a very wide skill set, he can post up, hit spot up jumpers, has 3 point range, and plays solid defense.


He's also pretty lethargic for the SF position, and is too slender to play the 4. Classic tweener.


He is definitely not as athletic as he could be. I saw him body up a few guys last year. I think he could guard some smaller 4's. He actually seems pretty strong.


Not really a big fan of Jawad. he does have some offensive ability of which he could on a rare occasion expose a defense. In my opinion Jawad is not good enough at any one thing, or big or athletic enough to warrant retaining. Certainly wouldn't be pissed to see him at the end of the bench being a local product and all, but do not see him as a rotation player despite the hole left at the three spot. As JaYp146 said, classic tweener.


He's excellent at positioning himself and boxing out his man, which translates into rebounds for players other than himself. So while he doesn't have good rebounding numbers himself, he helps the team rebound.


What I have gotten so far that he is 6 foot 9, a tweener who can play the 3/4 and has some range providing some solid defense. Isn't this a classic off the bench energy type player who you can plug in when you need it?

[8FOR!3]

http://www.realcavsfans.com/showthread.php?t=33993

Here's a few pages about the Cavs fan's opinions of Jawad and the Spurs' interest in him.

[Bruno]

What I have gotten so far that he is 6 foot 9, a tweener who can play the 3/4 and has some range providing some solid defense. Isn't this a classic off the bench energy type player who you can plug in when you need it?

Except that Spurs likely won't carry more than 13 players for financial reasons. They don't have a lot of space at their end of the bench so they had to be very picky about their end of the bench.

[hater]

sounds like he is a hard worker but nothing more than an NBA 12th man.

[Chieflion]

Except that Spurs likely won't carry more than 13 players for financial reasons. They don't have a lot of space at their end of the bench so they had to be very picky about their end of the bench.

Well, what he will be signed for is definitely lesser than what Matt Bonner signed for and has that upside that Bonner obviously doesn't, which means the Spurs dug their own grave then. The position Jawad plays is definitely a position the Spurs have no players playing at, which is the tweener 3/4, which means that if the need to play small ball arises, Jawad Williams can be called upon way easier than Alonzo Gee who can't play the small ball 4. As a fan, I just want to see the team win. Whether they go all into the luxury tax area isn't much of my concern. I hope the Spurs try their best to win a title this year, luxury tax or not.

Obviously, this is a buisness, and if the Spurs want to save money by avoiding the luxury tax hit, that is their decision to make. As a fan, I don't own their 4 championships, nor their shares and the money they earn. They should do what is best for the organization. If they want to save money, who am I to criticize them for?

[Mel_13]

The Cavaliers are playing a waiting game with restricted free agent forward Jawad Williams.

They made a $1.03 million qualifying offer to the 6-foot-9, 218-pounder at the end of June. Unless Williams gets a better offer from another team, he'll likely accept the qualifying offer.

Cavs general manager Chris Grant is hoping to add Williams to the roster. He could become the starting small forward. If nothing else, Williams will compete for playing time with Jamario Moon and newcomer Joey Graham.

"We like Jawad," Grant said. "We'll get into training camp and see what happens. We have a qualifying offer out to him. I haven't heard one way or the other. Obviously, we'd like him to come to camp and compete and make his mark on being part of the team."

Williams, 27, recently worked out for the Spurs. If he gets an offer from another team, the Cavs have the ability to match the offer.

http://news-herald.com/articles/2010/09/03/sports/nh2980410.txt

[Bruno]

It looks like Cavs aren't high on Jawad Williams and aren't ready to offer him some kind of guaranteed money. It seems that they like more Joey Graham than him.

[analyzed]

Yesterday I witnessed a game between New Zealand and France. Where France had two Bowen like players in Batum and Pietrus. While NZ started this kid (Thomas Abercombrie) at small forward, who has no professional experience for any significant leaque. What happened? the kid outplays both Pietrus and Batum. Hitting a corner 3 at the end of the game to send NZ to a higher seed. Am I missing something here ?, this kid has just held his own if not outplays the following NBA players he has matched up against: Klieza, Rudy Fernandez, El-Khattib, Batum and Pietrus. While he dunks on NBA centers Marc Gasol, Joel Anthony. Somebody better check this guy out!

[Bruno]

Florent Pietrus and El Khatib aren't NBA player but I agree with you on Abercrombie.
I don't know his contract situation but if he is available, he could be worth a trainign camp invite with something like $50K guaranteed.

[analyzed]

Thomas contract situation is he is contracted to play for the NZ breakers for the Australian league and plays as well the New zealand domestic league ( simi- pro league) . However the player annual salaries are at a measly US $ 40K a year. So any invite from the NBA is a no brainer, where the local teams are more than happy to realease their players if given an NBA invite.( they will actually take it as a compliment that one of their team members got an NBA tryout invite)



Florent Pietrus and El Khatib aren't NBA player but I agree with you on Abercrombie.
I don't know his contract situation but if he is available, he could be worth a trainign camp invite with something like $50K guaranteed.