Brandon Williams’ unusual fit may be exactly what Warriors need

Gary Payton II is familiar with how tough of an assignment Brandon Williams is. During their short stints with the Portland Trail Blazers back in 2022, the two players would go at each other in practice. Now with the Golden State Warriors, Payton is looking forward to facing him again and using him as a practice partner to improve against those shifty guards.

"It's good to have him on my side, for sure," Payton said at the team's media day.

It doesn't get much shiftier than Williams who signed a one-year, non-guaranteed minimum contract with the Warriors this summer. He can take any player off the dribble. He attacks the rim at will. He forces defenses to react. He gets to the line at a high rate. He pushes the pace. He creates open shots. The Warriors needed all of that. They needed a player who can get in the paint and cause chaos.

The rim pressure the Warriors have been missing

Last season, Golden State ranked 28th in the league in drives, 27th in free-throw attempts, 29th in points via drives, and 27th in rim frequency — which shows what percentage of a team's shots come at the rim. Williams, meanwhile, excells in those categories. His 6.8 points via drives per game last season would have ranked first on the Warriors, while his 10.8 drives per game would have trailed only Butler.

In Dallas last year, over 64% of the shots he took came in the paint, and he converted 64% of his attempts at the rim. Those are just stats. What truly matters for the Warriors is that he fills a role nobody has really filled in years: a quick guard who can create penetration and provide scoring off the bench. In other words: a bucket-getter. The last player who boasted a similar ability to create opportunities by getting to the basket probably was Jordan Poole.

One major difference between Poole's repertoire and Williams', though, is three-point shooting. Williams doesn't take or make many of them. He shot 23.2% on just over two attempts per game last season. Steve Kerr mentioned that he wants the 6-foot-2 guard to stop turning down those threes. He wants him to take them with confidence. At the same time, Williams also needs to stick to who he is, to what made him successful.

Surrounding him with four credible three-point threats would allow him to work in space and prevent the opposing team from clogging up the paint when he handles the ball. As for his defense, while it doesn't jump off the page, he shouldn't be a liability on that end. His 6-foot-6 wingspan comes in handy in terms of deflecting the ball.

Brandon Williams could be serviceable backup for Stephen Curry

The reason the Warriors were interested in his services wasn't that he could hit threes or defend at a high level, they needed someone that could provide a spark when Steph Curry is on the bench or in street clothes, as the 38-year-old is widely expected to miss a few games while managing a knee injury that cost him 39 games last season.

"Coming off the bench and bringing something that he (Steph) doesn't, doing the stuff that he doesn't," Williams said when asked about his role with this team. "We know that he can shoot threes from near anywhere on the court, but for me just getting into the paint and letting my ability dictate what to do."

He averaged 13 points and 3.9 assists in 22.2 minutes across his 66 games with the Mavs last season. Throughout his time in Texas, he got to learn from Hall of Fame-type guards in Jason Kidd, Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic. Now, he gets to help the greatest shooter of all time in the latter part of his career.

Curry and the Warriors already got a taste of the player he can be; they witnessed it first-hand. On Christmas Day, Williams tormented his new team, driving past everybody, going to the line nine times, and distributing the ball en route to a season-high 26 points on 75% shooting. When his now-teammate Draymond Green dared him to launch a three, he banked it. He reiterated a month later, putting up 19 points on 70% shooting, and once again displaying his entire repertoire in the process.

Before earning a reputation as one of the quickest players in the league, Williams had to earn his place in it. He went undrafted in 2021 after playing just one collegiate season at Arizona in 2018-19. Then he missed the entire 2019-20 season due to a knee injury and spent the following season rehabbing and training back home in Southern California, where he went to high school with current teammate De'Anthony Melton.

The two guards won back-to-back state championships together at Crespi Carmelite High School and have remained close friends ever since. Sharing an NBA court a decade later will be a full-circle moment for the Crespi tandem, while some of the chemistry they built back then has remained intact.

"It's good to have someone that has already been here, knows the system here and kind of teach me things that they've been learning," Williams told 95.7 The Game. "We talk every day, probably too much, but it leads onto the court. When I get in the paint, I know exactly where he wants the ball, he knows where I'm gonna pass it from, it's a good little deal that we got going."

Now, five years later, he's back home in California and wants to be part of a winning team.

"First and foremost, I want to win," he said at his media day press conference. "I haven't been on a winning team, I don't think, ever in my career."

This iteration of the Warriors hasn't exactly carried the lofty expectations of years past, but Williams, like fellow Arizona alum Steve Kerr, believes they can shock a lot of people. When asked how he felt about those projections, his answer was that he was surprised. Why?

"We have a guy named Stephen Curry on our team."

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