Wizards Draft Prospect Profile: Mark Williams is Talented, but Would he Fit?

Wizards Draft Prospect Profile: Does Mark Williams Fit with the Wizards?

The Wizards worked out Mark Williams, meaning they have some sort of interest in him and what he could bring to the table. From a broad perspective, that makes a lot of sense.

It’s fair to be intrigued by his shot-blocking skillset and with a couple of years of development, he can become more than competent on the offensive end of the floor. That should not be as a member of the Washington Wizards, though.

Not only are the Wizards in greater need of star potential than Williams brings, they also aren’t constructed to make good use of a player with his skill set right now. Williams needs to develop on the court, and the Wizards have Daniel Gafford and his extension that is about to kick in chewing up center minutes for the foreseeable future.

That is whatever center minutes are left after Kristaps Porzingis gets his chunk of minutes at the five each night. KP needs to feature as the five in order to make the most of his skill set, while also getting rotated alongside a more traditional big man like Gafford.

The priority is ensuring the right frontcourt players are in place to play alongside Porzingis as the center. Bumping him to the four while playing a lane-clogging big man would only take away from the offensive threat KP brings at the five.

The fact that Williams isn’t very switchable would just make the Wizards job on defense harder than it already is. They need to cover for players on that end of the floor as is, and getting a defensive weapon that can’t be used how he needs to be would make little sense.

At the end of the day, the Wizards interest in Williams makes sense because he is a talented player. Once they see he isn’t a potential franchise changer, though, they need to see that the fit just doesn’t work.