2019 NBA Draft: Full Mock Draft 3.0, Atlanta Hawks Pick #8 & #10 After Lottery
By Chris Guest
#17. Brooklyn Nets — Grant Williams
This represents a bit of a fall from grace for a player that this writer has long been high (even being so bold as to claim that the Atlanta Hawks should keep an eye on him in the lottery of the 2019 NBA Draft). However, according to various recent mock drafts, the league at large is a bit lower on Williams due to his big man status – despite a lack of typical size for a true NBA-level big.
If that is the issue with Williams, then some lucky team is going to find Williams to be the steal of the 2019 NBA Draft. In this scenario, that team is the Brooklyn Nets at 17th overall.
Sure, big men are usually not 6-foot-6, but Williams possesses outstanding feel and the strength of a bull, leveraging his bruising play style with nimble footwork and incredible lower body strength.
Williams has great touch around the rim and is one of the best interior passers in this entire draft class, all the while producing a sky-high 62.7 free throw attempt rate per College Basketball Reference.
Depending on what the franchise decides to do with D’Angelo Russell, the Nets might have a very different-looking team come next season. A versatile young core of Caris LeVert, Jarrett Allen, Rodions Kurucs and Allen sounds fairly tantalizing – and that doesn’t even include the team’s next pick in the 2019 NBA Draft (27) and their first round pick from last year (Dzanan Musa).