Cody Williams Scouting Report

The combination of his physical tools and intangibles makes Williams one of the more polarizing prospects in this class. What'll be his exact NBA role? Find out more below.

Despite a rough summer with Team USA at the FIBA U19 World Cup and Nike Hoops Summit, Williams started his collegiate career very well with four 15+ scoring games in his first seven outings. What made Williams an excellent prospect at Colorado is being able to play as a connecting piece, rather than a ball-dominant scoring wing which some projected him to be.

On an experienced team, Williams found his spot quickly, despite battling injuries throughout the season, leading to him only playing in 24 games.

Physical Profile

At 6’8”, Williams has excellent positional size to play the one, two, and three at the next level. His seven-foot-plus wingspan allows him to play taller than he is in the future when he fills out his frame. At 190 pounds, he’s not able to match the physicality against forwards or stronger wings, making it crucial for his development that he gets stronger in the next few years.

Williams has great handles for his position, and that adds value to his craftiness with the ball in his hands. His length allows him to guard further away from his defender, which allows him to defend without being physical, which will help him in gathering reps in the early stages of his career.

He has a good vertical jump, but an even better second jump. That’s the plus value an NBA decision-maker gladly adds to its roster.

Defense

At the NBA level, Williams’ length allows him to guard on the perimeter and the wings. When it comes to his footwork, there are areas to clean up in his game, especially when closing out. In the last play below, Williams closes out by moving toward the strong side, instead of the baseline. Therefore, the ball handler slid by him easily to drive the baseline to the rim. Williams must always force ball handlers to drive to the strong side.

A plus value in his profile is that he’s accustomed to using his length by playing a bit further away from his target. However, at times Williams needs to turn up the aggression, especially when he’s continuing to fill his frame in the next few years. At 2.0 personal fouls per game, he can afford to play more aggressively. The lack of the above-mentioned costs him two points on the second play below.

Guarding against spot-up shooters is something Williams can hang his hat on. What stood out consistently in his defensive plays was his quick second jump. With long strides, Williams covers lots of ground on and off the ball. On the defensive side, that means him being able to close out quickly against spot-up shooters, utilizing his excellent length in contesting shots.

In the first and last play below, we see Williams excel at meeting shooters in the corners. Despite the foul on the last play, I like the aggressiveness with which he defended on that particular play, something he’ll have to show more often on an NBA floor. He’s actively reading the defense on the second play, which will translate well in a faster-paced game at the next level.

Something he’ll have to work on is his screen navigation. Despite freeing himself up and meeting the shooter above the break, Williams’ slim frame will make him a target for off-ball screens and pin-downs in NBA actions ran to free up wing shooters, with the third play below being an example.

This makes it likely we’ll see Williams being challenged to defend against hand-offs as well. A positive making it feasible that he’ll improve as a screen navigator is his awareness of detecting incoming ball screens and trying to slide between the ball handler and screener. While struggling against more bulky-built centers, he shows good process in the second play ending in a good shot contest of the midrange fadeaway.

Something that came back consistently is Williams tagging ball handlers or screeners, as in the first play. Despite playing as a freshman on an experienced team, he adjusted to the PAC-12 level without many issues. That’s a promising situation an NBA decision-maker should look positively to.

In a switch-heavy NBA game, being a good pick-and-roll defender will add value to Williams’ two-way potential. His quickness and length allow him to pick up guards without many issues. At times, the screen navigation continues to get in his way, especially in the second and fourth plays. That’s an area to monitor in the next few years.

Another area that Williams has to clean up is his defensive footwork when he’s sliding his feet. In the first play below, he simply gets beaten by the ball handler when placing his pivot foot outside the interior. Despite his decent burst, he couldn’t make up for the gap leading to him fouling and almost allowing an and-one.

His feel for the game as a pick-and-roll defender is at a good level. Williams makes the correct reads but doesn’t execute them consistently, mainly due to the above-mentioned two areas getting in his way.

In isolation, Williams will face the challenge of filling his frame to absorb contact much better than he does now. In the first and last play below, he’s being easily pushed out of balance in a way that no referee will call an offensive foul on his opponents. Compared to his pick-and-roll defense, he slides his feet with much more comfort, as shown in the second play below.

In most cases, it’s often asked too much from 19-year-old freshmen to be above-average defenders already. An NBA team is buying tools with Williams, while he’s showing enough flashes of improving as a defender in the future.

Offense

On the offensive end, Williams is going to be a dangerous option when playing out of closeouts. At a 73.6% rim-finishing rate, Williams shows good touch near the hoop but is also selective when he’s attacking the rim. When attacking closeouts, Williams’ decision-making at times is also in need of improvement. In the first play below, Williams goes for the tough midrange jumper, but he could have gone for the pass to the shooter in the corner, opening up the defense, even if they closed out on time.

On the second play, we see Williams attacking the rim and drawing a foul after a fake. That’s the aggressiveness he has to show more often, as the combination of his length and touch will be much more dangerous when he’s filling out his frame. In the last play, we see Williams utilize his pivot foot well before the drive to the basket. Compared to his defense, Williams shows much more creativity when chasing his points.

At 41.5% on 1.7 three-pointers per game, the numbers look much better than they are. At the NBA level, Williams will struggle in a faster-paced game due to the slower release of his jump shots. He’s also a tad too slow when setting his feet before the launch. The limited volume is going to make it more crucial for him to excel at the shooting drills during team workouts.

A positive however is that he’s not shy in taking the big shots when he needs to, as shown in the first play below late in the second against Marquette. However, on an NBA floor, he’ll likely have to earn the same looks via improvement of his shooting mechanics, primarily the speed in which he sets his feet before the launch.

Pick-and-roll ball handler is the most common shot type on points scored by guards and wings. Therefore, continuing to show his offensive creativity is a must to succeed as a scorer in the league. What stood out in his offense is Williams’ developing handles, which got much better throughout the season. He combines it with a high-arcing floater shot on the third play below, before confusing his defender with his on-ball skills.

If he continues to improve his floater game, he’ll have the opportunity to be a premier interior scorer, mainly combined with his excellent touch at the rim. In the last play below, we see Williams’ on-ball creativity at work again by using his hesitation moves and footwork to deceive his defenders, followed up by a crafty up-and-under finish at the rim. Sequences such as these show Williams’ lottery-level talent on the offensive end.

Despite Williams’ excellent positional size and ball handling, it’s not likely that he’ll be a point guard at the next level. However, his connective passing is above average for his age and position, mainly due to his leveraging his scoring creativity in forcing the defense to commit with help.

As a passer, Williams can execute basic reads with consistency. At 1.6 assists to 2.0 turnovers per game, the numbers don’t favor his playmaking potential. However, an important nuance to the above-mentioned is that Colorado relied on other players to carry the playmaking duties. This leaves Williams in being able to impact his team’s offense with his connective passing.

In the first and third play below, we see Williams making a quick decision by keeping the ball moving and finding open teammates. In an NBA game where ball touches are scarce and have to be earned in time, that’s an area he can impact his team’s offense. Mainly due to his touch and efficiency down low, he has enough weapons to leverage in creating passing opportunities for himself to others.

With the ball in his hands, Williams’ creativity leads to good things. Whether it’s with hitting rollers or cutters with one or two dribbles, as shown in the last play below, or when he’s using ball screens to attack the rim like in the second play, Williams finds his teammates without many issues. Another value is his not being afraid to take risks with his passes. This causes a 17.4 turnover rate, which is a tad too high compared to his usage. However, when looking further than the numbers, an NBA decision-maker will like the self-confidence in Williams with the selective on-ball reps he has gotten at Colorado.

NBA Draft Projection

An NBA team is buying high-end physical tools to build a modern all-around wing in the next few years. His defensive footwork and aggressiveness on defense need improvement. However, Williams shows enough flashes of good decision-making and can rotate timely to make it feasible that he won’t hurt a team’s defensive rating too much early on in his career.

Guarding against shooters or closeout-attackers will make him earn a good reputation as a defender. Something he can continue to build on with his pick-and-roll defense, where his screen navigation has to improve in the next few years, with him getting stronger is a big factor in Williams doing so.

On the offensive end, an NBA decision-maker will be impressed by the ease with which he fits in a Colorado offense without many ball touches. His numbers at the rim are backed up by his great touch near the basket. As a shooter, he has things to clean up, mainly by improving his release by setting his feet quicker.

In the long run, it’s unclear if Cody Williams will be able to be a full-time first option. Mainly due to him having so many positives as a connecting wing, other than a team-leading one. Therefore, an NBA team might do itself a bigger favor by combining its scoring with a player who makes his whole team better and can impact the game with fewer touches.

However, there’s no doubt in my mind that Williams will be a top-ten pick this summer. With several teams picking in that range needing depth on their wings, he’ll likely have teams to choose from. In terms of his talent and overall potential, I project him to be selected between picks 6 and 10.