Sean Wiliams
I recently found a great article on one of the most intrigueing stories in recent NBA Draft history courtesy of Draft Express.
Sean Williams is playing hard ball with teams who would like to consider drafting him, tell us two NBA executives with picks in the second half of the first round. Williams, who only played in five ACC-conference games this season after being kicked off Boston College in mid-January due to allegedly failing repeated drug tests, is yet to conduct even a single private workout at an NBA team’s facility.
Instead, he has taken the very rare strategy (even for a top five pick, let alone a troubled potential second rounder) of isolating himself in his hometown of Houston and conducting public workouts with interested NBA teams, only alongside a 7-3 Romanian player. So far, Williams has held two such workouts, on the 11th and 18th of June, with another one planned in Los Angeles. Teams that are interested in conducting an interview to dig deeper into the repeated off the court issues that Williams has had throughout his career can only do so by flying into Houston.
Only 5-6 team scouts were present at the workout conducted this past week in Houston, with the one real decision maker being the local Daryl Morey, General Manager of the Rockets. The Knicks, for example, sent a scout in Jeff Nix who they had already fired almost two weeks prior. The protocol here is usually for the scout attending to report back to the General Manger, and if the team likes what they hear, to recommend bringing him in for a workout. In a case like this, where Williams hasn’t been seen by almost any GM in person (very few if any scout the non-conference portion of a weak schedule like Boston College), it seems like teams are almost being begged not to select him in the first round.
From what we’re told, Williams is now scheduled to secretly fly to two select NBA cities to meet the coaching staff and work out in front of their front office—New York and Charlotte. The Knicks (picking 23rd) will be joined by the New Jersey Nets (picking 17th) as has become custom this year, followed by the Bobcats (picking 22nd) later this week. At least one team drafting in the mid-first round believes that the Knicks have zeroed in on selecting either Williams or Daequan Cook at this point.
Numerous NBA personnel we’ve spoken to believe that Williams’ draft range is somewhere from 17-25. Making things even more difficult, though, is the fact that some teams in that range do not even have a simple physical-- including a drug test-- to allow their doctors to clear him to be picked. Teams regularly share physicals when it comes to players who did not participate in the NBA pre-draft camp, and Williams was scheduled to be examined by the doctors of the Houston Rockets, which hasn’t happened, and is now supposedly getting his physical taken in New York/New Jersey.
Also missing from the picture are the psychological analyses/personality assessments that most teams conduct that could play a substantial role in the decision making process in this case in particular.
Some in the league are wondering about the message that is being sent, when a player who has barely been seen by top-decision makers and has such a troubling track record is given a free pass on being scrutinized and drafted in the first round regardless, solely off his athletic ability. “It’s an absolute joke,” one executive lamented to us privately this week. “For the sake of our profession, and the NBA in general, Sean Williams should not go in the first round,” the executive said. “What kind of message does that send? He has done absolutely nothing to show that he’s a pro, starting with the decisions he’s made, picking marijuana over the obligations he had to his team, and now not being bothered to travel to NBA cities and explain himself. It’s not even a matter of weed…it’s a responsibility issue. Life doesn’t get easier once you reach the NBA.”
Williams’ agent Charles Grantham did not return messages seeking comment about his client.
Sean Williams is playing hard ball with teams who would like to consider drafting him, tell us two NBA executives with picks in the second half of the first round. Williams, who only played in five ACC-conference games this season after being kicked off Boston College in mid-January due to allegedly failing repeated drug tests, is yet to conduct even a single private workout at an NBA team’s facility.
Instead, he has taken the very rare strategy (even for a top five pick, let alone a troubled potential second rounder) of isolating himself in his hometown of Houston and conducting public workouts with interested NBA teams, only alongside a 7-3 Romanian player. So far, Williams has held two such workouts, on the 11th and 18th of June, with another one planned in Los Angeles. Teams that are interested in conducting an interview to dig deeper into the repeated off the court issues that Williams has had throughout his career can only do so by flying into Houston.
Only 5-6 team scouts were present at the workout conducted this past week in Houston, with the one real decision maker being the local Daryl Morey, General Manager of the Rockets. The Knicks, for example, sent a scout in Jeff Nix who they had already fired almost two weeks prior. The protocol here is usually for the scout attending to report back to the General Manger, and if the team likes what they hear, to recommend bringing him in for a workout. In a case like this, where Williams hasn’t been seen by almost any GM in person (very few if any scout the non-conference portion of a weak schedule like Boston College), it seems like teams are almost being begged not to select him in the first round.
From what we’re told, Williams is now scheduled to secretly fly to two select NBA cities to meet the coaching staff and work out in front of their front office—New York and Charlotte. The Knicks (picking 23rd) will be joined by the New Jersey Nets (picking 17th) as has become custom this year, followed by the Bobcats (picking 22nd) later this week. At least one team drafting in the mid-first round believes that the Knicks have zeroed in on selecting either Williams or Daequan Cook at this point.
Numerous NBA personnel we’ve spoken to believe that Williams’ draft range is somewhere from 17-25. Making things even more difficult, though, is the fact that some teams in that range do not even have a simple physical-- including a drug test-- to allow their doctors to clear him to be picked. Teams regularly share physicals when it comes to players who did not participate in the NBA pre-draft camp, and Williams was scheduled to be examined by the doctors of the Houston Rockets, which hasn’t happened, and is now supposedly getting his physical taken in New York/New Jersey.
Also missing from the picture are the psychological analyses/personality assessments that most teams conduct that could play a substantial role in the decision making process in this case in particular.
Some in the league are wondering about the message that is being sent, when a player who has barely been seen by top-decision makers and has such a troubling track record is given a free pass on being scrutinized and drafted in the first round regardless, solely off his athletic ability. “It’s an absolute joke,” one executive lamented to us privately this week. “For the sake of our profession, and the NBA in general, Sean Williams should not go in the first round,” the executive said. “What kind of message does that send? He has done absolutely nothing to show that he’s a pro, starting with the decisions he’s made, picking marijuana over the obligations he had to his team, and now not being bothered to travel to NBA cities and explain himself. It’s not even a matter of weed…it’s a responsibility issue. Life doesn’t get easier once you reach the NBA.”
Williams’ agent Charles Grantham did not return messages seeking comment about his client.
posted by christopher at 8:13 AM
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