Amari Williams Scouting Report
A seven-foot playmaking hub will intrigue every NBA scout out there. But is Williams' game good enough to warrant NBA minutes? Here's a close look into one of the draft's underrated names:
Amari Williams (#22, Kentucky): Senior, 7'0"
Center — Jan 28, 2002 (23 years old)
Introduction
Despite his stat-sheet-stuffing season at Kentucky, Williams’ true impact was barely visible in the raw counting stats. He’s one of the more skilled forwards in the country. While more NBA teams look for versatility to fill their depth, Williams offers a blend of an interior hub who can play a traditional inside-out game while having the skill to complement the modern era.
With two CAA Defensive Player of the Year awards at Drexel, Williams adds more feasibility of influencing a team’s defensive rating, while the offensive creativity and aforementioned role make it feasible for him to grow into a role player at the next level. Considering he’s an older prospect, the role versatility while mastering a niche is vital to stick in the league. That’s the emphasis of this scouting report.
Physical Profile
As a true seven-footer, Williams has a strong upper body with broad shoulders. His five seasons of college basketball prepared his body well. Williams has great core strength and fluid hips but a lack of foot speed. He’s mobile enough to close out to the three-point line and strong enough to protect the paint. At 262 pounds, Williams brings toughness and an interior presence.
He has decent length. Despite the heavy build, Williams has decent vertical pop but needs his physical advantage to compensate when facing better athletes than him. He'll often face play-finishing fives rim-runners that could give Williams challenges. Regardless, the readiness of his body for the NBA will be considered a plus for NBA decision-makers.
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Offense
Post-ups
Williams’ strength will allow him to play through post-ups. To leverage his passing, he has to show enough creativity and footwork to be entitled to gravity and respect on opposing scouting reports. The vital part of his game to translate to the NBA is countering more athletic fives with his old-school back-to-the-basket style of game to draw and bring in help defenders to find and create open angles to make the kick-out pass.
The positives in Williams’ game are his comfort in finishing over both shoulders and his reliable touch at the rim. His strong upper body ensures he wins ground to get both feet inside the paint. Despite opposing programs not sending in help, as shown in the first play below, as they fear the extra pass to give up an open three rather than a contested rim-two, Williams is forced to be more efficient at the rim to compensate for it. However, with over a dunk per game and over a hundred finishes at the rim at an efficient 70%, there’s enough feasibility for his scoring in the post to translate.
WIlliams is also creative in the post, getting himself to the line often. He throws in fakes while showing good footwork, as shown in the second play below. In the third possession, he’s slick at throwing in the arm to ensure his elbow lands on the opponent to draw the foul. However, the main selling point for NBA scouts is Williams simply bullying himself to the paint with that strong build, with an example in the last play below.
Passing, ball-moving and playmaking
At 115 assists to 82 turnovers, Williams’ positive impact as a playmaker won’t go unnoticed. However, the context behind the numbers is that Kentucky ran their offense through Williams, especially when they were dealing with injuries among its guard rotation. He won’t have a ball-heavy role in the NBA. Therefore, it makes the consistency of executing his passing and playmaking reads essential to positively impact a team’s offensive rating.
During his five years in college, the game slowed down for Williams. His composure and court vision are two vital parts of his offensive game. He’s a skilled passer with a great feel for the game. Recognizing open passing angles alongside his fearless passing style will intrigue many NBA scouts. His quick execution is on display in the first and second plays below. As a ball-mover in a faster-paced NBA game, it’s essential to recognize open space. Whether on the open floor, as shown in the first play, or a set action in the second, Williams executes his reads consistently.
Williams also uses his passing gravity of hitting cutters to create space for perimeter shooters. He’s faking two handoffs above the break in the third play below, with his eye manipulation signaling a cut through the middle. Hereafter, he’s dishing it to the shooter alongside him instead. Another leverage part of his game is the post-up creativity, where Williams seals off his man in the fourth play before hitting the weak side cutter. His execution looks simple but is consistent. That’s the desirable extra playmaking NBA scouts look for.
Catch-and-drives
The area of development for Williams is his weak ball handling. He’s good at leveraging his strength when making plays out of closeouts. Despite Williams being a threat as a ‘grab-and-go’ option after defensive rebounds, the ball handling is lacking to grow into a threat from the perimeter at the next level. That puts a cap on his long-term potential. In the first play below, Williams looks to pass ahead in transition, but when the angle isn’t there, he decides to attack the rim himself. The aggressiveness is not the issue, but he doesn’t have the handle to leverage into creating off the dribble.
When facing set defenses or playing against quicker players, Williams instantly tries to play bully ball by attacking the rim. That’s giving him dividends, with Williams almost dunking home before exploding to the rim in the second play. Regardless, NBA teams won’t see many issues with using Williams as an inside-out option. His perimeter skills could have been a bonus, but it doesn’t hurt his chances of seeing NBA minutes. However, it’s feasible Williams can improve on that end while seeing G League minutes. In the fourth play below, the combination of keeping the ball high and a great last step before drawing the foul is an example Williams has shown plenty of throughout the season.
Cuts
This scouting report wouldn’t be complete without projecting Williams in a four, or even five-out setting. That’s the future of the NBA. At Kentucky, Williams’ active cutting is utilized with him as a play-finisher or as an extra passer out of the short roll or entry passes after cuts. That’s an extra to him keeping an NBA team’s offensive rating at par alongside his finishing at the rim. Regardless of his non-existing perimeter shooting game, Williams uses dribble penetration from teammates well to cause havoc in the paint by relocating outside to cut himself back in, with the first play below as an example.
To make his motion work in the NBA, the fearlessness of his passing has to continue. He’s prone to turning the ball over, but the read and trusting his instincts in the second play should be considered as positives. In the third possession, Williams shows good timing on his cut from the weak side. He’s a patient play-finisher when playing as a five, not backing away to take more time to ensure he can duck in to use both hands to leverage his strength to get the right playoff in the fourth possession below.
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Defense
Pick-and-roll
Williams’ slow feet often lead to opponents putting him in ball screen actions. He’s mostly relying on his drop coverage to keep himself in the paint and respond actively to initiated switches. Against floor-stretching forwards and fives, Williams is likely to get outside, but the Wildcats often relocated with their team defense to keep Williams in the paint. Regardless, in the NBA, it’s imminent that he’ll get beat by three-point shooters off the dribble. However, his presence at the rim and decent footwork offer counters when he’s put in a position to effectively drop his coverage.
We see a tendency to duck in the paint and ensure he’s in the second line of defense, preferably as a helper rather than the pick-and-roll defender. Despite averaging under a steal per game, Williams does well to keep track of the play while showing defensive playmaking, with the first play as an example. However, due to his lack of speed, he’s ensuring by staying away from gambling for steals. In ball screen actions, Williams has to work on his positioning. The drop coverage only works when he’s able to close angles. In the second play, Williams stopped his drop while positioning himself far away from the basket. That led him to duck in to take away a free two points while committing the foul before giving away the and-one.
For the NBA, Williams has to keep his careful approach, avoiding reaching in for steals or deflections. The third play below shows what his combination of lack of speed and bad decision-making turns into. It’s feasible Williams will hurt a team’s defensive rating with his subpar pick-and-roll defense. However, there are flashes of him growing in certain aspects in the next few years.
Pick-and-pop
The slow-footed nature of Williams’ game also will lead to opponents luring him outside the paint. Therefore, pick-and-pop sequences are vital for Williams to defend. To gain an offensive advantage, teams will put floor-spacing around him. This effect trickles down to most four, or five-out offenses needing perimeter shooting from the five to succeed. Williams’ answer is to often gamble on a missed three, rather than embracing the perimeter defense with the risk of having to guard further away from the rim. He’s often comfortable in his drop coverage, with the first play below showing no close out at all.
In the second play, Williams plays much tougher and make sure he gets the hand in the face when recognizing a closeout attack was off the table. Regardless of the made shot in the third play, the closeout by Williams was promising as he used his length to bother the quick trigger off the catch. But the red flag in Williams’ profile is him getting caught up ball-watching when he’s not comfortable. Whenever Williams defends outside the paint, he’s looking less comfortable. In the fourth play below, this leads to him ball-watching without keeping tabs on his assignment above the break. That led to a late closeout, despite the little distance between him and the shooter. In a faster-paced NBA game, that’s making a team’s defensive rating worse instantly.
Catch-and-drive
The lack of comfort outside the paint demands his tole when Williams closes out to the perimeter. The average NBA guard has enough creativity to make it difficult for Williams to guard them. The mindset he has to change is that he has to react to everything. His physical advantage holds more leverage than he's using at the moment. He’s often reacting with his feet, making it easy for guards to attack him once he loses balance. He slides his feet decently but makes wrong decisions and bites on jab steps and fakes.
Regardless, Williams shows enough flashes of turning into an average defender. In the first play below, he bites on a play far outside the interior but recovers well, smartly dropping back much further to take away a floater, forcing the ball handler to shoot off the dribble. In the second play, Williams shows a lack of confidence by giving away the driving lane on the weak side, opening up the opportunity for the guard to thrive in isolation while going in response mode, eventually conceding the crossover. But once he plays more physically and with toughness, Williams shows the interior is his by sliding his feet well, eventually overpowering his opponent with his size and strength. At over a block per game, that’s where he added defensive value to Kentucky’s frontcourt. In the fourth play, Williams plays drop coverage against dribble penetration, with his strength again generating a stop.
To evolve into an average closeout defender, Williams has to play less reactive and must play with more toughness and aggressiveness. That’s an area for NBA scouts to work on when he’s in their building for workouts.
Catch-and-shoot
But for his NBA future, Williams has to stop with his fake closeouts and embrace the perimeter game. The offensive value isn’t enough to warrant NBA minutes when there's that much of a risk for a team’s defensive rating. Regardless of lacking foot speed and lateral quickness, Williams has strength and footwork to compensate for some of it. However, he has never averaged more than 28 minutes per game in his five years of college basketball. Considering his 262 pounds, Williams is selective in his plays to save energy. But with NBA games being won by the margins, taking off defensive assignments isn’t making the difference for him.
Therefore, investing in a strength and conditioning program will give NBA teams good returns. It’s feasible Williams can have the same impact while losing 20 pounds, benefitting his conditioning. Regardless, he has shown flashes of embracing the quickness of the game while closing out against shooters. Williams just hasn’t done it consistently. Thus, plays like the first one below feel imminent to be seen on an NBA floor unless a franchise helps him to change his body. However, the second play shows what Williams can turn into. He’s closing out perfectly at 180 degrees and doesn’t bite on the jab step before using his length to effectively impact the shot.
We see a similar outcome in the third play below, where Williams trusts his length to contest the shot while ensuring he doesn’t give away a driving angle by closing out of balance. The perimeter-heavy games make it a difficult era for Williams’ archetype to succeed, but there are enough flashes of him making strides and growing into an average closeout defender in the next few years.
NBA Draft Projection
Based on the strengths and areas of development mentioned in this scouting report, I project Amari Williams to be an undrafted free agent. His offensive value as a playmaking hub with his strength and creativity is the base for his potential success. Regardless, the red flags and lack of comfort on the defensive side of the ball will not convince many NBA teams. Regardless, scouts will take a close look during the summer, where I expect Williams to do well at the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament whereafter he’ll generate more draft buzz and workout opportunities for himself. Hereafter, he can eventually play himself into earning a two-way contract.