Derrick Williams

Early last season, Williams was dealt from the Wolves to the Kings in exchange for swingman Luc Richard Mbah a Moute. While he was freed from a bad situation in Minnesota, Williams struggled to find his niche with the Kings. In 67 games, he averaged 8.5 points and 4.4 rebounds in 25 minutes. While his field goal percentage (44%) jumped more than eight points after the trade, it was still well below the desirable level for a forward who spends much of his time in the paint. He also continued to struggle from beyond the arc, shooting just 29 percent after converting at a horrendous 13-percent clip with the Timberwolves. On the positive side, Williams is still just 23 years old and appears to be in position for another season of consistent playing time. The California native projects as the backup to Rudy Gay at small forward and should see his fair share of minutes at power forward, as well. In two-plus seasons with Minnesota, Williams played 78 percent of his minutes at power forward. In Sacramento, that number dwindled to 61 percent.

Williams followed up a less than desirable rookie season in 2011-12 with a decent season during 2012-13. He averaged 12.0 points and 5.5 rebounds, but never took over the kind of substantial role you would expect from a No. 2 overall draft pick even with the Timberwolves suffering a rash of injuries. He saw modest improvement form last year's number but did increase his three-point shooting percentage to 33.2 percent from 26.8 percent the previous season. Part of the issue may be that he's always been an odd fit on Minnesota's roster as his size (6-9, 250) is more fitting of a power forward, but with Kevin Love and Nikola Pekovic on the roster, Minnesota has wanted him to play small forward. To that end, Williams worked hard during the offseason to lose some weight to better adapt to the small forward position. With Chase Budinger out indefinitely after knee surgery, Williams has more of a chance at significant playing time at small forward. He likely needs a strong preseason as the T-Wolves have until Oct. 31 to make a decision on a $6.3 million option for the 2014-15 season. Normally, extending a rookie contract to a fourth year for a No. 2 overall pick is a no-brainer. However, that the T-Wolves have to think about the decision shows his status on the roster may be precarious. He's a candidate to be traded at some point during the season if he doesn't take a big leap as a result.

The No. 2 overall pick in the 2011 draft had a disappointing rookie season by averaging just 8.8 ppg and 4.7 rpg and made just 26.8 percent of this three-point shots. Part of the problem was that Williams struggled to find minutes (he played just 21.5 mpg) as he was often out of position. At 6-9 and 250 pounds, Williams is more suited to play power forward. However, the T-Wolves are set at power forward with Kevin Love and Nikola Pekovic. At small forward, Williams struggled with his defense on quicker players. And no player on the T-Wolves saw their game drop off more after Ricky Rubio went down with an injury. He was shooting 45.1 percent from the field before Rubio hurt his knee, as Rubio often found Williams for easy layups and alley-oops. Williams shot just 36 percent from the field the rest of the season. His playing out of position led his name to be mentioned in trade talks in the offseason. And he didn't exactly seem to inspire the organization's confidence when Minnesota acquired Andrei Kirilenko and Chase Budinger, which could make it even tougher for Williams to find minutes at either forward spot. Still, Williams has a promising mix of size and strength to play power forward, but also handles the ball well enough along with an outside game to be an offensive threat at small forward. He's talented and young enough to find a regular role with Minnesota or elsewhere.

The second overall pick in the 2011 draft put together a great season for the Arizona Wildcats, finishing with averages of 19.5 points, 8.3 rebounds and 1.1 threes while shooting 59.5 percent from the floor and 56.8 percent from downtown. He has the size and strength to play the four but also handles the ball and has an outside game good enough to see significant time at the three. Head coach Rick Adelman said he'll focus on Williams playing power forward initially. He should emerge with a large role in the offense and could even become the focal point, but he may be brought along slowly off the bench.