{"id":68719,"date":"2024-03-18T11:24:42","date_gmt":"2024-03-18T15:24:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=68719"},"modified":"2024-03-18T11:24:42","modified_gmt":"2024-03-18T15:24:42","slug":"grant-williams-bad-teammate-stars-comes-defense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/03\/18\/grant-williams-bad-teammate-stars-comes-defense\/","title":{"rendered":"Grant Williams Called A Bad Teammate By His Former Squads, Two Star Players Come To His Defense"},"content":{"rendered":"

Does Charlotte Hornets forward Grant Williams<\/strong><\/a> have a reputation problem?<\/p>\n

Williams<\/a> has been traded twice since last summer and recently received some media criticism in his former NBA markets.<\/p>\n

Williams and Seth Curry<\/strong><\/a> were\u00a0traded to the Hornets from Dallas at the trade deadline for P.J. Washington<\/strong><\/a>. While the Mavericks, who also received a trade exception, fleeced the Hornets, it was interesting that Dallas gave up on Williams so soon.<\/p>\n

Grant Williams Called A Bad Teammate By His Two Former Squads, Celtics Star Comes To His Defense<\/h2>\n

Williams struggled in his short stint with the Mavericks. The 25-year-old forward lost his starting power forward job during his stint with the Mavs. He averaged 8.1 points and 3.6 rebounds while posting a shooting slash line of .413\/.376\/.745.<\/p>\n

The Mavericks acquired Williams in a sign-and-trade from Boston. As part of the deal, the Mavs guaranteed Williams four years for $53 million.<\/p>\n

Like with the Celtics in 2022-23, Williams struggled defensively, though he was above average on the perimeter. He also was pretty much strictly a catch-and-shoot 3-point shooter for the Mavericks, attempting 66.2% of his shots from beyond the arc.\u00a0 With the Mavs, Williams posted a -2.5 plus\/minus rating.<\/p>\n

However, at the time of the trade, ESPN’s Tim McMahon reported that the Mavs moved Williams due to \u201cpersonality clashes\u201d involving Williams in Dallas.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would say one of the ways that Grant Williams rubbed people the wrong way, the yap, yap, yapping obviously that\u2019s kind of part of it with him,\u201d MacMahon said on\u00a0The Hoops Collective Podcast with Brian Windhorst<\/a>. \u201cWhich it\u2019s charmingly obnoxious if he\u2019s productive and it\u2019s grating when he\u2019s not. But he didn\u2019t report in good shape and Grant Williams not in good shape is not a good defender. Grant Williams has proven throughout the course of his career when he gets in shape he can be an impactful defender. But that\u2019s not the guy that the Mavericks got.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Williams Trash Talk Luka Doncic<\/h3>\n

Speaking to 105.3 The Fan, Mavericks assistant general manager\u00a0Michael Finley told a story about a scrimmage in which Williams trash-talked Luka Doncic<\/strong><\/a>. In response, Finley said Doncic went on a 26-6 run himself.<\/p>\n

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ICYMI this weekend, #Mavs<\/a> assistant GM Michael Finley was on with @AlecOnTheRadio<\/a>, @MrChrisArnold<\/a> and @Blakelive__<\/a>, and told a great story about a legendary Luka practice performance! Don't sleep on the our weekend shows! #TOLO<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/13SgNHPN43<\/a><\/p>\n

— 105.3 The FAN (@1053thefan) March 11, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n