2018 NBA Mock Draft: Knicks go big with Mo Bamba

If the Clippers indeed target Williams in the draft, they don’t need to look any further than this year’s first-round series between Utah and Houston for insight into the struggles they will have fitting him onto their team.

For the second straight series, the effective and efficient drop coverage Utah employs against opponent pick-and-rolls has proven to be more effective than the opponent’s style. Rudy Gobert is long and mobile enough to swallow any play that swings his way in the halfcourt, and he has been able to limit Chris Paul and Russell Westbrook in consecutive rounds. Oklahoma City tried to make rookie Donovan Mitchell uncomfortable by asking Steven Adams to hedge out to the perimeter when Mitchell moved across a screen, and they failed. Houston is having Clint Capela switch onto guards, as they have been effective doing all year, and so far it has also failed against the Jazz.

Williams is probably much closer to Capela as an NBA comparison than Adams. Capela has been more effective this year than in any other season, developing his switching skills to allow the Rockets to put him on smaller players regardless of matchup. Even if Williams can develop as a switching big to complement his block numbers, can he even bring enough value compared with rim protectors like Gobert?