NBA scouts once drooled over Ziaire Williams‘ potential. The forward arrived at Stanford in 2020 as a dominant five-star recruit who was sought after by almost every high-major program in the country. He was lanky for a 6-8 forward and hardly tipped the scales at 185-pounds soaking wet, but scouts were infatuated with his seemingly pro-ready skillset. The expectation was that he would eventually grow into his frame as he matured — as is the case with many young prospects looking to make the jump to the NBA.
You did not have to look too closely to see the vision. Williams, Stanford’s highest-ranked recruit in the modern era, was an emphatic finisher in transition. He guarded multiple positions, was a fluid mid-range shooter and flashed tons of upside as a playmaker. However, while he averaged 10.7 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.2 assists in his lone season at Stanford, he shot just 37.4% from the field and 29.1% from 3-point range.
Perhaps that should have been viewed as the first ill omen of what would eventually transpire, but scouts attributed Williams’ inconsistency in college to the circumstances around him. Stanford’s men’s basketball program was not immune to the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. They could not play home games and were basically forced to live out of hotels for the entire season. NBA teams were willing to overlook Williams’ statistical red flags given how difficult that season was for everyone involved. The New Orleans Pelicans made Williams the 10th overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, then traded him to the Memphis Grizzlies, where he would try to meet the lofty expectations that accompany being selected in the lottery.
Unfortunately, Williams never developed into the player scouts envisioned in Memphis. He averaged 7.5 points per game on 42.6% shooting in three seasons with the franchise, though he scored a career-best 8.2 points per game last season despite dealing with a back issue and a hip flexor strain in February. Ankle injuries forced him to miss significant time during his 2021-22 and 2022-23 campaigns, too.
Failure to live up to expectations can weigh heavily on a young player. It got to a point where Williams desperately needed a change in scenery. He wanted a fresh start. And when the rebuilding Nets traded for Williams in July, it gave him the rare second chance he desired under a first-year head coach.
“I feel like a loose bird finally let out of his cage,” Williams said. “I love the staff over there [in Memphis], but some days I just felt like I was kind of trapped, you know? So, I definitely feel a lot more free, happy to be here, the culture is great, teammates are great, staff is awesome. I’m happy, man. It’s definitely a blessing.”
Brooklyn, equipped with a brand-new coaching staff that specializes in player development, acquired Williams with hopes that it can unleash his untapped potential. He may never reclaim the pre-draft buzz that once made him a Top 10 pick, but he is only 23 years old, so why not try?
“I have a lot of respect for Memphis and Taylor [Jenkins],” Jordi Fernandez said. “The reality is what happened in Memphis, I don’t know, and the reality is, I don’t care. This is my start with him, my relationship with him, so all I can do is build that relationship with him, talking to him day-to-day the same way I do with everybody else. Again, challenging him to be the best defender on the team, be one of the best defenders in the NBA, be one of the best ball pressure defenders in the NBA. Be one of the best cutters, be one of the best catch and shoot players in the NBA. His growth, he has no limit, and I think he can be a very good player for this team.”
Williams appears to be taking full advantage of his new opportunity in Brooklyn. He looked rejuvenated and was a standout performer for the Nets throughout the preseason, averaging 10 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2.5 steals while shooting 48.5% from the field. His 3-point shooting left much to be desired (27.3% on 2.8 attempts per game), but his overall offensive efficiency and defensive impact was noteworthy. His defensive rating of 103.8 in exhibition play ranked first on the Nets among players who averaged at least 25 minutes a night.
Most importantly, he earned the respect of his veteran teammates.
“I told him in training camp I see a bunch of similarities in our games,” Dorian Finney-Smith said of Williams. “He’s tall. He can guard 1-4. If he puts a little more pounds on him, he can guard some 5s. So, he just has to shoot the ball with confidence, I say that’s the next step. He’s already a pest on defense, and all training camp, trying to pass the ball through him has been hell.”
Things could certainly be far worse for Williams. Take James Bouknight for example, a former first-team All-Big East selection at UConn who was taken by the Charlotte Hornets one pick after Williams in the 2021. He too struggled mightily in his first three seasons in the league and enters the 2024-25 season unsigned after being waived by the Portland Trail Blazers last week. Killian Hayes, the seventh overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, was invited to Nets training camp on an Exhibit 10 deal, but did not play in the preseason because of a hip injury and will be stuck in the G League indefinitely. There is no telling when he will next appear in an NBA game.
Second chances are never guaranteed in the NBA, which is why it is so important for Williams to continue to build on his newfound momentum. He is in the final year of his rookie deal and the Nets chose not to extend him at Monday’s deadline. What happens next in his career is up to him. A second chance means nothing unless someone learns from their past mistakes.
“I think a fresh start is good but at the end of the day you need consistency,” Fernandez said. “Because you cannot keep having fresh starts, right? You cannot say, ‘Oh, I’m done here, I’ll go somewhere else.’ Sometimes when you get hit in the mouth it’s good to recover and then start and look at yourself in the mirror and say, ‘What did I do wrong that I can fix myself?’ What you cannot change is the context or the other people that you cannot control, but you can control what you can do.”
