Draft Home | Draft Board | Teams | Prospects
About Ziaire Williams
• Ziaire Williams is a tall, lanky jump shooter who showed promise as a perimeter threat in a disjointed freshman year at Stanford. Something of a late bloomer whose profile rose late in his high school career, Williams averaged 4.6 points per game to help the United States to a gold medal at the 2019 FIBA U19 World Championship before capping his prep career at Sierra Canyon School (CA) with McDonald’s All-American honors. Widely regarded as one of the top-7 prospects in the high school class of 2020, the 19-year-old stepped into a significant role at Stanford under Head Coach Jerod Haase. Finding some success early but battling bouts of inconsistency, Williams finished his freshman year averaging 10.7 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 2.2 assists per game.
• Listed at 6’8 with a 185-pound frame, Williams possesses great size for a perimeter player and is a very fluid athlete with effortless leaping ability but has considerable room to get stronger.
• One of several players filling a prominent offensive role for a Stanford team that dealt with injuries and displacement for much of the season, Williams did the majority of his scoring with his jump shot. Playing on the ball quite a bit, he was aggressive looking to get to his pull-up in midrange spots out of ball screens, provided some spacing off the ball, and was the target of some of the Cardinals’ designed actions in the half court. Flashing intriguing talent when his shot was falling, Williams had some quiet stretches as well as he was still early in his development as a decision-maker.
• Holding his own defensively for a Stanford team that hung its hat on that end of the floor, Williams lacks a degree of physicality, but has a feel for guarding off the ball, solid lateral speed, and the reach to effect shooters.
Advanced Stats
• With over three-quarters of his shots in the half court coming from the perimeter—the majority of which came off the dribble—Williams leaned heavily on his touch as a jump shooter. Flashing some fluidity getting to his jumper in spots, he shot the ball well from the right wing, but struggled from the left side as a freshman. Averaging 0.76 points per jump shot in the half court [27th percentile], he shot the ball better off the dribble than he did off the catch, settled at times in the midrange, and got caught in the air on some attempts. While he has room to grow as a shot creator, his ability to help space the floor will play a key role in his transition to the next level early on.
• Flashing the ability to finish emphatically in transition and push the ball himself some, Williams was significantly more comfortable operating in space than trying to navigate defenses in the half court. Averaging 1.08 points per shot around the rim in the half court [41st percentile], he showed nice touch and timing scoring around the rim but is still figuring out how to deal with physicality as a slasher and finisher.
• Getting some opportunities to play out of ball screens, Williams delivered some smart passes even if he has room to improve as a ball handler and is still learning how to make reads consistently.
Defensive Analysis
• Possessing good lateral speed and solid length for his size, Williams made some athletic plays as a freshman. He had some positive moments both on and off the ball as he showed a willingness to make rotations and cover ground to contest shots.
• Williams did a nice job sliding with smaller guards and executing against ball screens for the most part but will have a chance to evolve into more versatile defender as his frame matures.
— Profile by Synergy Sports
