Suns Squared: Grant Williams

The Atlanta Hawks now have three picks in the top-17 in the draft. The Phoenix Suns might want to trade back. Picking at 17 may still yield considerable talent.

If the Phoenix Suns do not have any specific targets available to them at number six overall, they may find themselves in a position to trade back with a team like the Atlanta Hawks who own number wight, ten, and now 17 – after their surprising trade with the Brooklyn Nets.

If this is the case, there are still options available to them to bolster the young core should this situation arise.

Power forward Grant Williams could be one of those targets and won the SEC Player of the Year in each of the last two seasons, putting up the numbers to earn it.

At 6’7″, Grant has a versatile game and does a lot of things extremely well, some of which come up in stats and some that don’t.

Let’s take a look at his numbers and see how he could fit with Suns if they were to trade back.

Phoenix Suns

First of all, you can see Grant’s effect on his team in various all-in-one-type of metrics. Grant led the SEC in Offensive Win Shares, Defensive Win Shares, Total Win Shares, Win Shares Per-40min, Offensive Box Plus/Minus and Total Box Plus/Minus.

Rarely seen by any individual player on any D-1 team, this is the best proof of Grant’s hard work and do-it-all style of play. He does the little things especially well, including screening, boxing out, making good rotations and closeouts.

In short, he is always  hustling.

Grant excelled with his offensive playmaking (a situation that the Phoenix Suns have severely lacked for some time) from the post and in short roll situations of PnR. He averaged 4 assists per 40 with an assist rate of 18.3%.

Grant is always a solid finisher and skilled post player who drew fouls at a high rate. Grant shot 59.6% inside the arc and posted a true shooting number of 64.7% which is great given his below average 3 point shooting (31.8%).

As mentioned above, he drew 6.8 full per 40 minutes for an FT rate of 63.7 and he hit 81.8% from the line, foul drawing will be key for him in the league.

He also competed on the glass both ends posted an offensive rebound rate of 8.8% and a defensive rebound rate of 17.4%.

Despite all of what Grant does well, he does have some weaknesses that mainly revolve around his athleticism and shooting. As previously mentioned he only shot 31.8% from 3 although he only took 44 attempts this past season at Tennessee. At the moment, this is the main weakness of his game.

Given his smaller size and limited athleticism, he could also struggle to finish at the rim in the NBA which was one of his strengths in college (72.3%), so the development of his outside shot is likely be the key to his upside – and lasting ability in the pros.

Additionally, his limited athleticism could hurt him defensively at it will force coaches to specialize who he can guard, limiting him into defending only certain players – a key weakness considering the league’s penchant for switching on offense.

Grant Williams has a clear role in the league and is touted of one of those guys who will definitely contribute in the NBA in a certain role. He is a smart player who will make the right plays when he has the ball and does the small things to help a team – possibly the Phoenix Suns – win.