Minnesota Timberwolves: Derrick Williams on dissatisfaction in Minnesota

Former Minnesota Timberwolves draft pick Derrick Williams spoke out about his time with the Wolves.

Back in 2011, the Minnesota Timberwolves were coming off a league-worst record and held the No. 2 pick in the draft.

They would get to pick either Duke’s Kyrie Irving or Arizona’s Derrick Williams, and all indications pointed towards president of basketball David Kahn remaining in “best player available” mode. After all, they’d won only 17 games the year prior, so it was hard to fault him.

Kahn took Williams, who proceeded to prove everyone correct who was concerned about a tweener that suddenly shot 58 percent from beyond the arc in his sophomore year of college.

Now, Derrick Williams is speaking out about what went wrong about his time in Minnesota.

Minnesota Timberwolves: Derrick Williams’ on dissatisfaction in Minnesota

Over at FanSided NBA, powered by The Step Back, Andrew Favakah wrote an excellent long-form piece exploring Williams’ life and career. The article spans his childhood and high school rise through the present day, which includes Williams’ overseas journeys to play in China and throughout Europe.

Williams apparently did not want to be drafted by the Wolves, in large part due to their perceived frontcourt depth. Mostly, that meant Kevin Love, who was coming off his first All-Star season and was only 22 years old. Besides Love, the Wolves had Michael Beasley, who was something of a tweener in his own right.

Williams told a story of a cold interaction with head coach Rick Adelman, who was hired after the Wolves had already drafted him.

"While Williams wanted to play the three, envisioning himself as a do-it-all player like at La Mirada and Arizona, Rick Adelman had different ideas, insisting Williams play the four. Before his rookie season, Derrick Williams passed Adelman in the Minneapolis apartment complex where they both lived.“Hi, coach!” Williams said.Adelman looked at him, kept walking, and kept quiet. This encounter turned out to be a metaphor for what was coming."

The article also includes a few quotes from Malcolm Lee, who was a second-round draft pick by the Wolves that same year. Lee was a bit more … judicious and even-handed in his comments about the Williams-Adelman situation, which is a good balance to have in this piece.

Williams was frustrated with his fluctuation in his role and playing time, which was entirely fair. To be fair to Adelman and the coaching staff, however, Williiams was inconsistent in his production. Which is, of course, bring us back to the “chicken or the egg” situation: was Williams inconsistent because of his uneven playing time, or did his production suffer because his role was constantly changing?

Certainly, Williams struggled to guard opposing 3s and wasn’t strong enough to slow down many bigger 4s. That was the biggest issue.

Offensively, there was too much double-clutching and hesitation on the perimeter from Williams. All too often, Williams used finesse around the rim when relying on his athleticism would have begat more buckets and free throw attempts.

Ultimately, Williams was traded to Sacramento 11 games into his third season, and he never reached the per-game averages — minutes-wise or points-wise — in any of his other five NBA stops.

In Favakah’s piece, Williams also laments some issues with other teams: he didn’t get along all too well with Sacramento’s George Karl, he wasn’t given the minutes promised to him by Phil Jackson in New York, and ultimately asked for his release from the Miami Heat due to what he felt was a not-so-perfect fit.

After a solid stint with Cleveland that led to him being a fringe member of the rotation while the Cavaliers made a trip to the Finals, Williams played two games for the Lakers in 2017-18 before heading overseas. He’s finding much more success over there, and largely seems to be at peace with his new life.

To be clear: good on Derrick Williams for finding the best place for himself and taking life as it came to him. Clearly, he’s in a much better place now than he was a few years ago. Additionally, he was undoubtedly treated unfairly at times by the media (and others), especially related to some off-the-court instances that took place with the Knicks which certainly don’t look to be his fault.

All that said … many of Williams’ comments about his time in Minnesota sound an awful lot like sour grapes. It isn’t often that players complain about Rick Adelman, and it just so happened that Williams felt he was treated unfairly in basically all of his other stops, too.

At the end of the day, Williams had a disappointing career for a No. 2-overall pick. It’s hard to label him a complete bust, but he certainly wasn’t what the Wolves initially hoped for when they drafted him.

Then again, he’s only 28 years old. Could we see more Caged Lion in the NBA before he calls it quits on hiss career?