STRENGTHS

Strong physical scoring playmaker having a breakout senior season
Strong, fluid and agile with great feet
Good court vision and passing instincts
Sees the whole floor; finds shooters and cutters with cross court skip passes
Passes with flare and flash
One of the best playmakers in college basketball
Shifty ball handler that plays with pace and changes speeds
Shifts gears in tight spaces
Creative ball handler with shake and bake and nasty crossover
Tough match up for smaller PG’s
Effective post players due to size, strength and footwork
Poor man’s Deron Williams
Rebounds and collects assists
Sneaky athleticism; Can make highlight reel dunks above the rim
Efficiency finisher at the rim
Downhill attacker

AREAS TO IMPROVE | CONCERNS

Catch and shoot jumpers
Teams may be scared of draft age; 23 on draft night

Through 15 games in his breakout season season Williams is averaging 20.7 ppg, 5.4 rebs and 4.4 assists while shooting 54.7% from the floor.

He’s more than tripped his scoring average from last season and his strong play makes me scratch my head and wonder why he didn’t play more at Oklahoma?

Transferring across the country has paid off big time as Williams is now a legit NBA prospect who is quickly rising up draft boards.

When I watched his film he immediately pops. You know how when you listen to a song and you know within the first 5 seconds whether you’ll like the track or not?

Well I knew I was a fan of Williams when I saw his combination of size, handle, burst and court vision. Dare I say he reminds me a little of Deron Williams?

At first glance Williams doesn’t seem like an explosive athlete with and elite first step. But the more you watch his film the more you see defenders struggle to stay in front of him and he's bouncy and is capable of making highlight reels dunks above the rim.

He’s got this uncanny ability to shift gears and break his man down off the dribble. He also has really good feet similar to D-Will.

In his prime D Will was a problem and one of the best PG’s in the league and he punished defenders with his incredible handle, strength and exceptional footwork where it looked as if he had the man guarding him dancing.

Now Alondes Williams isn’t Deron Williams but if he can be a poor man’s D Will he’ll have a role in the NBA..

I’m curious to see how he’d fair with more spacing as driving lanes in college basketball are pretty congested but it hasn’t stopped Williams from scoring in the paint at an astounding rate. He’s currently shooting 67% at the rim on 112 attempts. That’s not a small sample size!

He’s been a matchup nightmare for opposing defenses and I love how he doesn’t really play with the ball. He breaks his man down and he’s getting downhill and getting buckets or creating opportunities for others.

Williams is at high level passer that really sees the entire floor. At his size he sees over the top of defenses and has the vision to find shooters with cross court skip passes. I’ve really been impressed with some of the reads he’s made this season. He makes good decisions but he also likes to add some flash and flare to his passes and can get a little fancy with the dimes.

I’ve been watching a lot of film this season and I’d have to rank Williams as one of the best passers or playmakers in this draft class.

It will be interesting to see how NBA execs and scouts feel about Alondes Williams as he’s come out of nowhere as a 22 year old senior.

His play alone warrants a first round pick, but the NBA is all about upside and some teams may gamble on a 19 year old over a player who will be 23 on draft night..

Rafael Barlowe - January 7, 2022