Some here have a gloom and doom opinion of Derrick Williams, and they provide some convincing stats to support their low opinion of him. They are willing to trade him without much hesitation.
I am more optimistic about him. I believe that players improve during their second year, and that the lockout had a big impact on his rookie season. I remember that last summer there were some people, who were willing to trade Pek without much hesitation.
Therefore, I decided to check rookie stats from the previous lockout in 1999, and I've found a guy with similar stats:
| Season | Age | G | GS | MP | FG | FGA | FG% | 3P | 3PA | 3P% | FT | FTA | FT% | ORB | DRB | TRB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | PF | PTS |
| 1999 | 20 | 47 | 24 | 20.4 | 2.9 | 7.1 | 0.405 | 0.3 | 1.4 | 0.206 | 2.1 | 2.7 | 0.773 | 0.9 | 2.6 | 3.4 | 1 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 1.6 | 2.2 | 8.2 |
| 2012 | 20 | 66 | 15 | 21.5 | 3.1 | 7.5 | 0.412 | 0.6 | 2.1 | 0.268 | 2.1 | 3 | 0.697 | 1.2 | 3.5 | 4.7 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 1.2 | 1.4 | 8.8 |
The Second row represents Derrick Williams. The rookie in the first row has very close stats to him, and obviously had a bad season. His following season was much better:
| Season | Age | G | GS | MP | FG | FGA | FG% | 3P | 3PA | 3P% | FT | FTA | FT% | ORB | DRB | TRB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | PF | PTS |
| 2000 | 21 | 82 | 81 | 35.8 | 6.3 | 13.6 | 0.461 | 1.4 | 3.7 | 0.379 | 3.5 | 4.2 | 0.83 | 1.2 | 5.2 | 6.5 | 2.5 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 1.7 | 3.1 | 17.5 |
Well, who is this guy? It's Dirk Nowitzki.
Now, I'm not saying that I think DW will turn into a superstar like Dirk. I simply believe that we should give Derrick Williams the benefit of the doubt, and give him a chance to prove himself. People are not machines, and one year rookie stats don't necessarily predict future careers. Trading him now when his value is low makes no sense to me.
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