Thursday, June 17th, 2010 at 8:00 am  |  8 responses

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SLAMonline Mock Draft: Elliot Williams, No. 25

The hometown kid stays in The River City.

by Rodger Bohn / @rodgerbohn

After years of being consistent cellar dwellers, the Memphis Grizzlies are making some serious strides. Last year’s 40-42 record would have been enough to get them in the Playoffs in the East. They have some pieces and a little bit of cap flexibility. Things are looking bright for a franchise that would live to forget their awful start north of the border (along with those hideous jerseys from that era).

We opted to sure up our outside shooting ability with Luke Babbitt with the No. 12 pick in the SLAMonline Mock Draft. With there being no clear cut “best player available”, there are a few areas of need to address. A more defensive minded power forward such as Larry Sanders would be nice here, as would some help in the backcourt given the fact that the book is still out on former lotto pick Mike Conley Jr. We would have loved to grab Eric Bledsoe here, but Miami snagged him at 22. Given the lack of “pure point guards” in this draft, you’re almost forced to go with a shooting guard who can slide over to the point for stretches.

Given what’s left on the board…

With the 25th pick of the 2010 SLAMonline Mock Draft, the Memphis Grizzlies select…

Elliot Williams from the University of Memphis.

While Williams doesn’t necessarily fit a set void since he’s not a pure point guard and not a great shooter, he’s a local kid who we’ve scouted all year long and no his game like the back of our hand. As a freshman, the former McDonald’s All American seemed to have lost his swag and didn’t seem ready for ACC play. Williams then opted to transfer to hometown Memphis and was granted a hardship waiver due to the health of his mother. Fast forward a year and after dropping 18 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 dimes per game and you’re looking at a first round pick.

Since Elliot skipped the NBA Pre-Draft Combine, we didn’t get his official measurements. What we do know is he appears to be every bit of 6-4 with a nice wingspan, and some nasty bounce. The explosiveness that the man known as “EMail” offers (when combined with his length) leaves the potential for him to be a lockdown defender down the road.

Synergy Sports Technology allowed us to go through over 100 offensive possessions of Williams, so we got a really nice feel for him besides what we already caught in the collegiate season. He can really score the ball in a number of ways, knocking down 36.6 percent of his three-pointers and finishing acrobatically in traffic when he gets all the way to the rim.

While his handle is more on the average side and he’s not going to hit you with any blinding crossovers, his explosiveness allows him to get past cats regularly off of the bounce. The Memphis native is much better going towards his left than his right, which is evident right away when breaking down extensive amounts of film on him. Another area of his game that needs to be improved upon is his pull-up jumper, which email rarely went to, usually opting to go all the way to the cup instead.

OK, so he’s not the “pure point guard” we were looking to come off of the bench. But as we watched more and more film on him, we felt he wasn’t that bad in the role of playmaker at Memphis. Elliot’s ability to collapse the defense and find the open man makes him an immediate asset. Not a guy who we’re looking at to come in and play point guard for super extended periods of times, we’re fairly comfortable sliding him over to the 1 when Conley needs a blow.

There were a couple of bigs who we liked with this pick, but we’re hoping that they’re still going to be there at 28. Would love to divulge specifically who we’re thinking of, but remain afraid that either the Thunder or New Jersey will swoop them up since they have a few similar needs.

Oklahoma City, you’re on the clock!