Once it was announced that the Minnesota Timberwolves would be signing Jonathan Kuminga, the writing was on the wall that Josh Green wasn’t going to remain on the team much longer. Bringing in Kuminga at his reported price would put Minnesota into the second apron. Green was the obvious man on the roster who could be moved in order to keep them under the second apron.
Soon after, Green was traded to the Utah Jazz in exchange for John Konchar, who was subsequently waived, and Cody Williams. The 21-year-old Williams has gotten off to a rough start in his first two NBA seasons. There was some progress in his second season, however.
Development isn't always linear, but there remains hope that Williams can eventually be a useful player, and perhaps that could be with Minnesota.
Cody Williams made some improvements after a rough rookie year
The 2024 NBA Draft was not viewed as a strong one at the time, and for the most part, still isn’t. The Jazz selected Williams with the 10th overall pick in that draft. Even if it was a weak draft, as a lottery pick, Williams has some upside and prestige.
As a rookie, it could be argued that Williams was among the handful of worst players in the league to receive meaningful minutes. The 6-foot-8 guard/forward shot woefully from beyond the arc (25.9 percent) and inside the arc (39.3 percent).
Last season, his 3-point percentage dipped even further, to 21.4 percent. However, there was an obvious improvement in his 2-point accuracy, which jumped to 55.6 percent. That was due in part to attacking the basket at a higher frequency.
Williams has not shot the 3-ball with any consistency, so he cut his 3-point attempt rate in half in 2025-26 compared with his rookie season. Whereas just over 10 percent of his field-goal attempts came at the rim as a rookie, more than one-quarter of his shots did so last season. Williams even averaged just under one dunk per game.
Perhaps most encouragingly, Williams averaged 16 points in the last 20 games of the season.
Look, it’s going to be a tough road ahead for Williamsto find regular playing time on a Timberwolves team with championship aspirations. It will be challenging for him to earn a spot in the rotation over players who were already on the roster in previous seasons, such as Terrence Shannon Jr. and Jaylen Clark.
There’s nothing wrong with taking a flier on a young player, though, and hoping his second address works out better than his first. Even if he has a tough path to minutes, it's certainly possible that Williams unlocks his potential with the Timberwolves, especially with the flashes he showed last season.
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