With the 2022 NBA Draft less than a week away, the Cleveland Cavaliers are ramping up their work towards deciding who they should take with the 14th overall pick.
On Monday, the team is scheduled to hold a workout for Jalen Williams, a guard who plays for Santa Clara University in the San Francisco Bay Area.
In his pre-draft availability, Santa Clara's Jalen Williams said he has a workout scheduled with the #Cavs on Monday.
— Kelsey Russo (@kelseyyrusso) June 17, 2022
The biggest positional need the Cavs have is production at the wing spot, especially when it comes to 3-point shooting and individual defense.
Williams could fit the bill if he is still available at No. 14.
Williams Seems To Have Potential As A 3-And-D Wing
At 6-foot-6, Williams, a native of Arizona, is primarily a shooting guard, but he can swing over to the 3 and play that spot fairly comfortably.
His elite 7-foot-2 wingspan seems to indicate that he could comfortably play the 3 spot in the NBA as well, especially when his team elects to go small.
Williams is a bit of a late bloomer who grew four inches since the start of his college career, a late growth spurt that is rather rare, as most men reach their full height by the end of high school.
In high school, he was a point guard, and his experience playing that position is likely the reason he looks like an adept ballhandler.
As a freshman with the Broncos, he averaged just 7.7 points in 25.5 minutes a game, but he really came on strong this season as a junior, putting up 18.0 points in 34.8 minutes a game.
He is a solid 3-point shooter, as he hit 39.6 percent of his attempts from beyond the arc this season.
Perhaps the biggest growth in his game has come in the area of passing and playmaking, as he has gone from 1.9 assists a game as a freshman to 4.2 assists per game this year.
Jalen Williams has been a high riser in mock drafts as of late and some even think the Cavs could draft him at 14. He’s a smooth ball handler with good slashing skills. Kind of reminds me of Kevin porter jr pic.twitter.com/vRUWPwtSPg
— Sideline Cavs (@SSN_Cavs) June 12, 2022
Williams appears to have some ability to create his own shot, as well as some ability to draw fouls and hit free throws (he made 80.9 percent of his foul shots this year).
He appears to be a versatile prospect, and according to nbadraft.net, he “can play as a big point-guard, secondary ball-handler and scoring guard, or off-ball shooting wing with the size and strength to perform all three.”
Defensive Potential
With plenty of length for a wing, especially when playing the off-guard position, Williams seems to have the ability to develop into a very good defender.
He has been lauded for his high basketball IQ, and he could use that to his advantage on the defensive end.
One concern appears to be the fact that although he isn’t unathletic, he is also not an elite athlete, and he may not have enough lateral quickness to become a defensive stopper at the NBA level.
At 210 pounds, he may need to gain a little more strength in order to defend players in the paint and chase them off screens, according to nbadraft.net.
Williams sounds like he could be a very good prospect for a Cleveland team that currently has a lack of wing players it can rely on game after game to produce, especially offensively.
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