At some point, the Spurs are going to be moving on from the veteran core of DeMar DeRozan and LaMarcus Aldridge (DeRozan has a player option for next year, Aldridge has one more year on his deal). When that happens, San Antonio should be relatively well-positioned to hand the reins over to Dejounte Murray, Lonnie Walker IV and, hopefully, Derrick White. That group presents a solid foundation of shooting, creation and backcourt defense and this draft should give the Spurs a chance to add to their frontcourt.
Williams didn’t even start for Florida State as a freshman but his per-36 minute stats were impressive — 16.4 points, 7.1 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.8 steals and 1.8 blocks — and hint at considerable and versatile upside. He has the size and quickness to defend 3s and 4s and enough rim-protection instincts to conceivably work as a small-ball 5 in certain matchups. The biggest questions are how much better he can get as a shooter and creator but he made some solid pick-and-roll reads as a ball-handler and he shot 32.0 percent on 3-pointers and 83.8 percent from the free-throw line. He’s exactly the kind of multi-tool player the Spurs always seem to get the most out of.
Learn more about Patrick Williams with our full scouting report.