This likely wasn’t the start Ziaire Williams envisioned after re-signing with the Nets on a two-year deal in September.
After posting career highs last season, with 10 points, 4.6 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.0 steals per game across 63 appearances and 45 starts while shooting 41.2% from the field and 34.1% from 3-point range, both the numbers and the eye test suggest Williams has opened his second campaign in Brooklyn in something of a slump, if not an outright regression.
The 24-year-old’s effective field goal percentage is down to .490 compared with .511 last season, and while his turnovers have dropped through his first 14 appearances, his points, rebounds, assists and steals are all lower than a year ago, and he’s scoring with far less efficiency.
Williams missed two of Brooklyn’s first five games this season, then made 11 straight appearances off the bench before Monday’s matchup against the Knicks at Barclays Center, when he logged a DNP-coach’s decision for the first time since arriving in Brooklyn. The surprising part is that when head coach Jordi Fernández was asked why Williams did not play, he said the choice had nothing to do with offense.
“I wanted to challenge him with his defense,” Fernández said. “Last year he was elite with a lot of the things that we want… I haven’t felt that energy this year… The numbers are not there. I wasn’t all the way happy with the last two games.”
It’s no secret the Nets have been a mess defensively this season. And while Williams’ defensive rating of 117.3 ranks third among players who have appeared in at least 10 games, that isn’t saying much and opposing teams haven’t felt his impact the way they did a year ago. Over his last two appearances, he’s posted a 120.5 defensive rating, which ranks sixth on the team in that span. He’s shown he’s capable of more.
Fernández couldn’t care less whether Williams is making or missing shots. Defense should be Williams’ primary focus, and if he locks in on that end, Fernández believes everything else will follow. And that’s how Williams gets his minutes back.
“I think if he impacts the game defensively the same way he did last year, which he was elite at pressuring the ball and deflections and pick-and-roll defense, all those things, the shots are going to go in,” Fernández said after Williams shot 0-for-8 against the Toronto Raptors on Nov. 11. “You can build your confidence in many different ways, and sometimes if missing shots affects you, which I understand we’re all emotional and it can affect you, but it cannot affect your defense. So that’s my challenge for him is to bring his superpower to every game because he can control that.”
Williams scored 25 points on 9-for-13 shooting and hit six 3s in Brooklyn’s second game of the season against the Cleveland Cavaliers. He’s reached double figures in seven of his first 14 games, so it would be a stretch to say he has been awful offensively, especially in a reserve role. But his value has always started on the defensive end. That is what helped him carve out a rotation spot last season, what earned him a new contract in September and what pushed fans to view him as a potential long-term piece rather than a salary dump from Memphis.
His confidence may be down after a slow offensive start, but defense is supposed to be non-negotiable in Brooklyn, and it is the area where he can still separate himself.
“And then keep letting it fly,” Fernández said. “And if it’s 0-for-8 one day but he helps us win, I’ll take it… A missed shot is not a bad thing. A lot of times a good, missed shot is an offensive rebound. A good, missed shot is not a turnover. All those things. I’m not concerned about his missed shots because I know once again, he works at it. I know they’re going to go in, in the long run and all that stuff. So, I just want him to bring his contagious energy that impacts the game and impacts his teammates.”
