Tag: Ziaire Williams

Grizzlies’ Ziaire Williams a late scratch vs. Pistons on Monday

Williams was listed as questionable on the injury report but was eventually ruled out prior to the start of the game.

Memphis Grizzlies rookie Ziaire Williams was a late scratch from the lineup on Monday versus the Detroit Pistons with a left thigh contusion, the team announced.

Williams was listed as questionable on the injury report but was eventually ruled out prior to the start of the game. He attempted to go through pre-game warmups but did not feel comfortable with the injury and was held out of action.

“He kinda got knocked in his quad the other day so we’re just going to be smart,” Grizzlies said head coach Taylor Jenkins said during his pre-game media availability. “We don’t want to push it today with two more (games left in the preseason).”

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Williams is averaging 4.7 points, 2.3 assists, 1.3 steals and one assist through three preseason games. The team doesn’t want to rush him back into action too quickly and, with two games left after Monday, he could be ready to play on Wednesday versus the Indiana Pacers.

The Grizzlies, who are playing six preseason games this year, opted to go with a heavy schedule in order to get players acclimated to the system and each other on the court. They can afford to have players sit a game or two before the regular season begins.

This post originally appeared on Rookie Wire! Follow us on Facebook!

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Yes, Grizzlies’ Ziaire Williams is still eating 5,000 calories per day

Williams revealed this week that he is essentially eating around the clock to gain weight ahead of the season.

Memphis Grizzlies rookie Ziaire Williams revealed this week that he is still adhering to a 5,000-calorie diet in an effort to bulk up ahead of the 2021-22 season.

Grizzlies announcer Pete Pranica first broke the news on a telecast during summer league that Williams was eating upward of 5,000 calories per day to pack on muscle. Pranica followed up with Williams this week at media day and the 10th overall pick offered more details about his diet.

I’m on a meal prep plan. I’m basically eating a full meal every 2-3 hours. It can be salmon and potatoes or chicken and rice. I have this meal prep company that kinda sends me stuff back home. I’m basically eating full meals whenever I’m not hungry. At first, it was tough but when you’re consistent at it, it kinda gets easier as time goes on.

It is not certain just how much weight Williams has been able to add since joining the team. He weighed in at 188.4 pounds at the draft combine and was listed at 185 pounds by the Grizzlies on their official training camp roster.

Certainly, Williams and the team know adding weight to handle the physicality of the NBA will be a necessity this year. He projects to fit in as a strong defensive option for the Grizzlies, and could even develop into a strong 3-and-D player.

In the meantime, he’ll continue to eat around the clock.

This post originally appeared on Rookie Wire! Follow us on Facebook!

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Ziaire Williams reacts to playing ‘Uncle’ LeBron for the first time

Williams, 19, will go from being teammates with Bronny in high school to facing LeBron in the NBA.

Memphis Grizzlies rookie Ziaire Williams shared the court plenty of times with Bronny James at Sierra Canyon High School, but facing his father in the NBA will be an entirely different experience.

Of course, Williams spent his senior year of high school at Sierra Canyon and was teammates with James and Zaire Wade, the sons of LeBron James and Dwyane Wade. He grew quite close with Bronny and Zaire and even looks to LeBron and Dwyane as uncles.

“Uncle ‘Bron and uncle D-Wade, I talk to them all of the time, especially Dwyane,” Williams said. “He just reached out to me last night just to congratulate me. They have been super supportive. When I first met them, I was almost starstruck but the moment you meet them, you forget who they are just because they are so down to earth and so humbled and laid back.”

Williams, 19, will now go from being teammates with Bronny in high school to facing LeBron in the NBA within a two-year period. The reality of facing such a close family friend hadn’t yet set in as Williams was introduced to the media on Friday.

“That is going to be a crazy night, for real,” Williams said. “That’s crazy. It really just hit me that I’m really going to play LeBron. That’s going to be a fun experience.”

While the experience of facing LeBron will be something in itself, Williams is simply just excited to begin his career with the Grizzlies, a team that he wanted to land with. The organization welcomed him in with open arms and has high expectations for him as the 10th overall pick.

Williams, who was the highest-rated recruit to commit to Stanford, averaged 10.7 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.2 assists last season. He posted just the second triple-double in program history, recording 12 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists against Washington on Jan. 7.

He pointed to the Grizzlies’ youth and coaching staff as some of the reasons why he wanted to join the team. He also believes he can be the big wing player the Grizzlies need on both ends of the floor while playing a key role in the rotation.

“I am super excited to be a Memphis Grizzly,” Williams said. “This is where I wanted to be. I kept that a secret because I didn’t want to mess it up but this is, honestly, really where I wanted to be. Words can’t express just how excited and blessed I am to be part of this organization.”

Williams’ rookie season in the NBA will be filled with plenty of firsts, of course. But the opportunity to play LeBron on the court will likely be among the most memorable experiences for Williams. It should certainly be a fun matchup to watch next season.

This post originally appeared on Rookie Wire! Follow us on Facebook!

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A roundup of NBA sleepers draft analysts are higher on than others

Who owns the most real estate on Davion Mitchell Island? Who is buying stock in Sharife Cooper?

Everyone loves Cade Cunningham. It’s not a hot take for an analyst to say that Cunningham is their favorite player in the class. That’s not particularly interesting to read, either.

But what is fascinating, however, is when an analyst deviates from the norm and ranks someone significantly higher than where the prospect falls in other rankings. What does that tell us about their individual scouting process and what they value? Further, what does that tell us about the potential draftee?

Some folks call it “buying stock” in a player. Others, like ESPN’s Zach Lowe or The Ringer’s Bill Simmons, call it owning real estate on a player’s island. I like to refer to it as a “draft crush” when I wind up higher than consensus in my evaluation of a player.

My process is ridiculously tedious but the results can be fairly useful. I’ve tracked the evolution of more than sixty unique mock drafts, big boards and draft models from trusted analysts and popular accounts on Twitter.

Each placement is assigned a value based on Kevin Pelton’s draft pick trade value chart. I do this because, as Pelton notes, the difference in relative value between the No. 5 overall pick and the No. 7 overall is much more stark than, say, that of the No. 45 pick and the No. 47 pick.

After composing an aggregate score based on each ranking, I can see where each analyst strays from the pack.

I’ll leave the conclusions drawn from these results up to the reader. But if nothing else, this can eventually be used as a bragging point if one writer was higher than consensus on a draftee who eventually ends up outperforming his draft position.

Rumor: Ziaire Williams ‘a real possibility’ for Magic at No. 8

With the NBA draft less than one day away, Stanford guard Ziaire Williams is reportedly drawing interest from the Magic.

With the NBA draft less than one day away, Stanford guard Ziaire Williams is reportedly drawing interest from the Orlando Magic, according to Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report.

Williams, who was the highest-rated recruit to commit to Stanford, averaged 10.7 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.2 assists last season. He posted just the second triple-double in program history, recording 12 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists against Washington on Jan. 7.

The 6-foot-9 guard is most commonly projected to be a mid-to-late first-round pick. Williams largely didn’t live up to expectations last season as a five-star prospect but still has immense talent and could thrive in the right situation.

The Magic enter draft night with pick Nos. 5 and 8, which makes their apparent interest in Williams a bit surprising since he isn’t expected to go that high on Thursday. However, if the Magic really like him, they may feel inclined to take him a bit higher than anticipated.

The Magic will be a team to watch on Thursday as things could get a bit interesting when they are on the clock with two picks in the top 10. The top-four prospects appear to be settled, in some order, and Orlando could be the first wildcard at five, and then again at eight.

In any case, the draft often provides plenty of twists and turns with plenty of trade rumors and speculation, and Thursday is proving to be no different this year.

This post originally appeared on Rookie Wire! Follow us on Facebook!

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Final 2021 NBA Mock Draft: Latest intel, trade rumors and predicting all 60 picks

Wasn’t it just the 2020 NBA draft? How is the 2021 NBA draft already here? Crazy, maybe, but the league is about to have a ton of new faces.

Wasn’t it just the 2020 NBA draft? How is the 2021 NBA draft already here? Crazy, maybe, but the league is about to have a ton of new faces.

The names that you’re most likely to hear at the top are Cade Cunningham, Jalen Green and Evan Mobley. But the draft will start heating up once guys like Jalen Suggs, Scottie Barnes and Jonathan Kuminga start to find their new homes.

This draft will also be unique in that there will be fewer players in attendance than usual. According to one prospect who recently spoke to For The Win, due to COVID-19 restrictions, those not invited to the green room are not allowed to come to the stage and shake the hand of the commissioner as they have been in years past.

Regardless of who is actually in the building, however, it is certain to be an exciting and life-changing night for the next generation of NBA talent.

Based on conversations I’ve had with scouts around the league, and from reports and tea leaves left in other mock drafts from trusted draftniks, below is how I project the events will unfold at Barclays Center and on ESPN and ABC at 8:00 p.m. ET on July 29.

2021 aggregate NBA mock draft 7.0: Ranking the full class of prospects

The 2021 NBA draft is less than a week away and we finally have an idea of who is in — and who has withdrawn — from the class.

The 2021 NBA draft is less than a week away and we finally have an idea of who is in – and who has withdrawn – from the class.

In order to get a better sense of where all of the prospects stand as of right now, we compiled mock drafts from NBADraft.net, CBS Sports, Bleacher Report, Yahoo, The Athletic, The Ringer, Yahoo, NBA Big Board and USA TODAY Sports Media Group’s For The Win to see where the prospects rank at the moment.

Please note that these rankings reflect the composite score to get a feel for consensus, not our own opinion.

Since our previous update last month, some of the players with the most positive momentum include Quentin Grimes, Joe Wieskamp, Vrenz Bleijenbergh, Aaron Wiggins, Justin Champagnie, Jericho Sims, Jason Preston, Josh Primo, Neemias Queta, Trey Murphy and Bones Hyland.

Among players who ranked on our previous update who have since withdrawn from the draft include Roko Prkacin (32), Marcus Bagley (39), Terrence Shannon (48), Ariel Hukporti (50), Max Abmas (53), Johnny Juzang (54), Jordan Hall (66), Carlos Alocen (69) and Ochai Agbaji (75).

The most notable omissions who remain in this class but not these rankings are Yves Pons, Scottie Lewis, Jay Huff, Marcus Zegarowski, Aamir Simms, Dalano Banton, Matt Mitchell, Jose Alvarado, Carlik Jones, Derrick Alston Jr., Romeo Weems, Balsa Koprivica, Chaundee Brown, Isaiah Miller, Jordan Schakel and D.J. Carton.

Note that for the offensive roles, we borrowed a fun idea from Todd Whitehead (formerly of Nylon Calculus) with help from our friends at Bball-Index.com to create a slightly tweaked formula from the version they use.

The goal of that is not to explain how well a player scores but rather offer context for the way that he was used on his most recent team. This should help you predict how he might be used at the next level.

Meanwhile, you can learn the latest updates on every single prospect who has been included in recent mock drafts by scrolling below.

HoopsHype’s Alberto de Roa contributed research to this report

2021 NBA Draft Big Board 5.0: Final rankings of the Top 100 prospects

With just over a week left until the 2021 NBA draft at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, it’s officially the most wonderful time of the year! 

With just over a week left until the 2021 NBA draft at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, it’s officially the most wonderful time of the year!

That means that after a slew of surprising early entry withdrawals impacted the worlds of both college and international basketball, the next generation of NBA talent is getting closer to entering the league. As players finalize their place on big boards in front offices, I wanted to offer my opinion on how I think those rankings should look.

Note that our list is certainly going to look different from the lists at ESPN, The Athletic, Bleacher Report and other publications. Player evaluation is an inexact science. Part of the process is being willing to admit when you were wrong about a player.

But avoiding group-think and ending higher than consensus on a player is how an NBA team ends up selecting them in the draft. With that in mind, here is who I would target if I were running a front office.

2021 NBA Mock Draft 6.0: Predicting all 60 picks after the combine

While most of the basketball world is focused on the NBA Finals, scouts and draftniks are in the midst of a very busy time of year as well.

While most of the basketball world is focused on the NBA Finals, scouts and draftniks are in the midst of a very busy time of year as well.

The most crucial dates leading up to the draft are the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, the early entry application deadline, the lottery, the combine and the early entry withdrawal deadline. All have since come and gone, which means that we’re somehow already in the home stretch before the big night in Brooklyn on July 29.

Prospects are still frantically traveling around the country, visiting with teams for both individual and group workouts in front of key decision-makers. Still, others are currently playing for their national team on the FIBA circuit.

But as far as the public is concerned, the only new information that will be released between now and the draft will be filtered through whatever is reported by journalists. As such, until intel starts rolling in, this mock draft offers the most informed projections yet.

While these predictions are based on my conversations with NBA scouts and executives around the league, as well as my own scouting and information-gathering, they’re subject to change dramatically over the course of the next few weeks.

Stanford prospect Ziaire Williams says he got a ‘great feel’ from pre-draft interview with Warriors

At the NBA draft combine, Standford prospect Ziaire Williams says he got a ‘great feel’ during his interview with the Golden State Warriors.

With the Golden State Warriors pair of picks officially set for No. 7 and No. 14 overall, Bob Myers, Steve Kerr and the rest of the scouting staff will begin the final stretch of homework before the draft in July.

At the combine in Chicago, the Warriors front office will have the opportunity to meet with a bevy of prospects along with seeing players workout on the court. The Warriors have already interviewed some potential candidates throughout the pre-draft process, including Florida State’s Scottie Barnes.

Along with Barnes and other prospects, the Warriors have met with Stanford’s Ziaire Williams. According to Anthony Slater of The Athletic, Williams said he got a “great feel” from his recent meeting with Golden State. 

Via @anthonyVslater on Twitter:

During his freshman season at Stanford, the 19-year-old averaged 10.7 points on 37.4% shooting from the floor with 4.6 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game.

In Bryan Kalbrosky’s latest draft big board for For The Win, Williams is ranked as the No. 38 overall prospect in the 2021 class. Cody Taylor of USA Today’s Rookie Wire has Williams being selected by the Houston Rockets with the No. 23 pick in a new post-lottery mock draft.

Via Rookie Wire:

An inconsistent freshman campaign with Stanford has dropped Williams down most draft boards. He started off the season projected by most to be a top-10 pick but he mostly failed to live up to that hype. The talent level is there, and put into the right situation, Williams could begin to show what made him so highly touted. With the Rockets in no hurry to compete now, and with plenty of minutes to go around for younger players, Williams could be an intriguing pick here.

With two picks in the first round, Golden State will continue to host different prospects for interviews and workouts leading up to draft day on July 29.

This post originally appeared on Warriors Wire! Follow us on Facebook!