Derrick Williams (basketball)

This article is about the basketball player. For other uses, see Derrick Williams (disambiguation).

"D-Will" redirects here. The term may also refer to Deron Williams.

Derrick Williams

Williams with Fenerbahçe in 2019
Free agent
Position	Power forward
Personal information
Born	(1991-05-25) May 25, 1991 (age 33) Bellflower, California, U.S.
Listed height	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
Listed weight	240 lb (109 kg)
Career information
High school	La Mirada (La Mirada, California)
College	Arizona (2009–2011)
NBA draft	2011: 1st round, 2nd overall pick
Selected by the Minnesota Timberwolves
Playing career	2011–present
Career history
2011–2013	Minnesota Timberwolves
2013–2015	Sacramento Kings
2015–2016	New York Knicks
2016–2017	Miami Heat
2017	Cleveland Cavaliers
2017–2018	Tianjin Gold Lions
2018	Los Angeles Lakers
2018–2019	Bayern Munich
2019–2020	Fenerbahçe
2020–2021	Valencia
2021–2022	Maccabi Tel Aviv
2022–2023	Panathinaikos
Career highlights and awards
NBA All-Rookie Second Team (2012) Greek League All-Star (2022) Turkish Cup winner (2020) Turkish All-Star (2020) German BBL champion (2019) Consensus second-team All-American (2011) Pac-10 Player of the Year (2011) 2× First-team All-Pac-10 (2010, 2011) Pac-10 Freshman of the Year (2010)
Stats at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball Reference

Derrick LeRon Williams (born May 25, 1991) is an American professional basketball player who last played for Panathinaikos of the Greek Basket League and the EuroLeague. He played college basketball for the Arizona Wildcats from 2009 to 2011.

Williams was selected with the second overall pick by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the 2011 NBA draft. He spent two and a half seasons in Minnesota before being traded to the Sacramento Kings in November 2013. After two seasons with the Kings, Williams signed with the New York Knicks in July 2015. He later signed with the Miami Heat in July 2016 before being waived in February 2017. Williams joined the Cleveland Cavaliers the same month, with whom he reached the 2017 NBA Finals. He signed in China to start the 2017–18 season, but joined the Los Angeles Lakers on a 10-day contract in March 2018. Williams has played overseas since October 2018.

Early life

Williams was born in Bellflower, California, and graduated from La Mirada High School. ^[1]

College career

Williams originally committed to play at the University of Southern California. ^[2] He was quickly recruited by first-year head coach Sean Miller at the University of Arizona.

Freshman year

As a freshman in 2009–10, Williams averaged 15.7 points (7th in the Pac-10) and 7.1 rebounds per game, and had a field goal percentage of .575 (2nd in the Pac-10; 12th in the NCAA). ^[3] He was named a freshman All-American, All-Pac-10 first team and the Pac-10 Freshman of the Year. ^{[4] [5]}

Sophomore year

Williams with Arizona in 2011

Williams rose to national prominence in his sophomore year. He averaged 19.5 points (2nd in the Pac-10) and 8.3 rebounds (4th) per game. ^[3] During the 2011 season, Williams had a field goal percentage of .595 (tops in the Pac-10; 9th in the NCAA). ^[3] He led the NCAA in True Shooting percentage (.690) and Effective Field Goal percentage (.650), helping lead the Arizona Wildcats basketball team to a regular season PAC-10 championship. Williams was named the Pac-10 Player of the Year. ^[6]

Williams also contributed to the Wildcats' run in the 2011 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament. He made a critical block with less than 2 seconds against Memphis. ^[7] He had a 3-point play against the Texas Longhorns, which advanced the Wildcats to the Sweet 16 of the tournament. ^[8] Williams then had a career-high 32 points along with 13 rebounds to lead Arizona in an upset victory over the #1-seeded Duke by a 16-point margin to advance into the Elite Eight, ^[9] where they fell 65–63 to the future NCAA tournament champion, Connecticut. ^[10] At the end of the season he was projected to be one of the top picks for the upcoming NBA draft. ^[11]

Sophomore year honors:

• Pac-10 Player of the Year
• All-Pac-10 first team ^[12]
• Three time Pac-10 Player of the Week ^[13]
• USBWA District IX Player of the Year ^[14]
• Wooden Award's 10-player All-America team in 2011 ^[15]
• First-team All-American by Sports Illustrated ^[16]
• Second-team by the Associated Press in 2011. ^[17]
• Second-team by Sporting News ^[18]
• Second-team by the United States Basketball Writers Association ^[19]
• Second-team by the National Association of Basketball Coaches ^[20]
• Second-team by Fox Sports. ^[21]

Professional career

Minnesota Timberwolves (2011–2013)

Williams announced that he would declare for the NBA draft on April 13, 2011. ^[22] He was selected with the second overall pick by the Timberwolves in the 2011 NBA draft. During the NBA lockout of 2011, he spent the summer at the University of Arizona taking summer classes to finish his degree. ^[23] Shortly after the draft, Under Armour signed an endorsement deal with Williams. ^[24] Williams joined several other NBA players for an exhibition game in the Philippines during the summer of 2011. ^[25]

Williams participated in the 2012 Rising Stars Challenge, as well as the 2012 NBA All-Star Weekend Slam Dunk Contest. ^[26] Williams scored a season-high 27 points on February 28, 2012, in a win over the Los Angeles Clippers. He made 9 of 10 shots from the field and 4 of 4 from three-point range. ^[27] He led the Timberwolves to victory over the New Orleans Hornets with what was then a career-high 28 points on March 17, 2013. ^[28]

Sacramento Kings (2013–2015)

Williams with the Kings in 2013

On November 26, 2013, Williams was traded to the Sacramento Kings for forward Luc Mbah a Moute. ^[29] He made his debut on November 29, 2013, finishing with 12 points (on 6-for-13 shooting), six rebounds and four assists in a 104–96 overtime loss to the Los Angeles Clippers. On December 9, 2013, Williams scored a career-high 31 points in a victory over the Dallas Mavericks.

In the Kings' 2014–15 season finale on April 15, Williams scored a season-high 22 points in a 122–109 win over the Los Angeles Lakers. ^[30]

New York Knicks (2015–2016)

On July 9, 2015, Williams signed with the New York Knicks. ^[31] He made his debut for the Knicks in the team's season opener against the Milwaukee Bucks on October 28, scoring a game-high 24 points in a 122–97 win. ^[32] On January 12, 2016, he recorded his first double-double of the season with 15 points and 10 rebounds in a 120–114 win over the Boston Celtics. ^[33] The next day, he tied his career-high of 31 points in a loss to the Brooklyn Nets. ^[34]

Miami Heat (2016–2017)

On July 10, 2016, Williams signed with the Miami Heat. ^[35] On February 6, 2017, he was waived by the Heat after appearing in 25 games. ^[36]

Cleveland Cavaliers (2017)

On February 9, 2017, Williams signed a 10-day contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers. ^[37] That night, Williams played 22 minutes in his debut in Cleveland's 118–109 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder and scored 12 points, going 3-for-3 from the field and 6-for-8 from the free throw line. ^[38] He went on to sign a second 10-day contract on February 22, ^[39] and then a rest-of-season contract on March 4. ^[40] The Cavaliers reached the 2017 NBA Finals, where they were beaten in five games by the Golden State Warriors. ^{[41] [42]}

Tianjin Gold Lions (2017–2018)

On December 28, 2017, Williams signed with the Tianjin Gold Lions of the Chinese Basketball Association. ^{[43] [44]} In 15 games for Tianjin between early January and early February, Williams averaged 20.0 points, 6.6 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.7 steals per game.

Los Angeles Lakers (2018)

On March 9, 2018, Williams signed a 10-day contract with the Los Angeles Lakers. ^[45] After the contract expired, the Lakers decided to part ways with him. ^[46]

Bayern Munich (2018–2019)

On October 3, 2018, Williams signed with Bayern Munich of the Basketball Bundesliga (BBL) and the EuroLeague for the 2018–19 season. ^[47] In the EuroLeague, Williams averaged 13.4 points (9th in the EuroLeague) and 4.2 rebounds over 29 games, and was 9th in the EuroLeague with a .794 free throw percentage. ^{[48] [49]} In the BBL, Williams won the championship with Bayern after defeating Alba Berlin in the BBL Finals.

Fenerbahçe (2019–2020)

On July 18, 2019, Fenerbahçe announced that Williams had signed a one-year contract with the Turkish club. ^[50]

Valencia (2020–2021)

On July 8, 2020, Williams signed with Valencia Basket of the Spanish Liga ACB. ^[51]

Maccabi Tel Aviv (2021–2022)

On June 30, 2021, Williams signed a one-year contract with Maccabi Tel Aviv of the Israeli Basketball Premier League and the EuroLeague. ^{[52] [53]} He averaged 9.6 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game. On June 28, 2022, Williams officially parted ways with the Israeli club.

Panathinaikos (2022–2023)

On July 15, 2022, Williams signed a one-year contract with Panathinaikos of the Greek Basket League and the EuroLeague. ^[54] In 34 EuroLeague games, he averaged 12.4 points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.2 assists, playing around 29 minutes per contest. Additionally, in 32 domestic league matches, he averaged 6.2 points and 2.1 rebounds, playing around 18 minutes per contest. On July 3, 2023, he was officially released from the team.

Career statistics

Legend

GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game	PIR	Performance Index Rating
Bold	Career high

NBA

*	Led the league

Regular season

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2011–12	Minnesota	66*	15	21.5	.412	.268	.697	4.7	.6	.5	.5	8.8
2012–13	Minnesota	78	56	24.6	.430	.332	.706	5.5	.6	.6	.5	12.0
2013–14	Minnesota	11	0	14.7	.352	.133	.875	2.4	.1	.4	.4	4.9
	Sacramento	67	15	24.7	.437	.286	.708	4.4	.8	.7	.2	8.5
2014–15	Sacramento	74	6	19.8	.447	.314	.684	2.7	.7	.5	.1	8.3
2015–16	New York	80	9	17.9	.450	.293	.758	3.7	.9	.4	.1	9.3
2016–17	Miami	25	11	15.1	.394	.200	.620	2.9	.6	.4	.2	5.9
	Cleveland	25	0	17.1	.505	.404	.692	2.3	.6	.2	.1	6.2
2017–18	L.A. Lakers	2	0	4.5	.250	.000	.000	.5	.0	.0	.0	1.0
Career		428	112	20.7	.434	.300	.710	4.0	.7	.5	.3	8.9

Playoffs

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2016–17	Cleveland	8	0	4.8	.533	.600	1.000	.4	.5	.0	.1	2.6
Career		8	0	4.8	.533	.600	1.000	.4	.5	.0	.1	2.6

Euroleague

*	Led the league

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG	PIR
2018–19	Bayern Munich	29	2	26.0	.460	.333	.784	4.2	.6	.6	.5	13.4	14.2
2019–20	Fenerbahçe	28*	20	26.1	.487	.373	.667	3.9	1.2	1.1	.3	11.3	12.5
2020–21	Valencia	34	19	20.2	.544	.324	.735	3.1	1.1	.7	.1	9.0	9.7
2021–22	Maccabi	35	31	24.6	.436	.378	.711	3.1	.9	.9	.1	9.4	9.1
2022–23	Panathinaikos	34	32	29.3	.477	.380	.719	3.9	1.2	.8	.1	12.4	12.1
Career		160	104	25.2	.478	.362	.730	3.6	1.0	.8	.2	11.0	11.4

College

College	Year	GP	GS	MIN	SPG	BPG	RPG	APG	PPG	FG%	FT%	3P%
Arizona Wildcats	2009–10	31	31	28.2	0.6	0.6	7.1	0.7	15.7	.574	.681	.250
Arizona Wildcats	2010–11	38	38	30.0	1.0	0.7	8.3	1.1	19.5	.595	.746	.568
Career	[55]	69	69	29.2	0.8	0.7	7.8	0.9	17.8	.586	.717	.425

References

1. "Derrick Williams NBA Stats". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved January 14, 2016.
2. "Sports Now". Los Angeles Times.
3. "Derrick Williams College Stats". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com.
4. Derrick Williams Named Freshman All-America Archived March 7, 2012, at the Wayback Machine . Arizonawildcats.com (March 30, 2010). Retrieved on 2012-07-09.
5. Bryan Roy (March 8, 2010). Derrick Williams wins Pac-10 Freshman of Year. Wildcat.arizona.edu. Retrieved on 2012-07-09.
6. Arizona Daily Wildcat – Williams named Pac-10 Player of the Year. Wildcat.arizona.edu (March 7, 2011). Retrieved on 2012-07-09.
7. Tigers replay: Derrick Williams' block sealed Memphis' fate. Commercialappeal.com (March 19, 2011). Retrieved on 2012-07-09.
8. Arizona vs. Texas: Wildcats Advance, Defeating Longhorns 70–69 – SB Nation Arizona. Arizona.sbnation.com. Retrieved on July 9, 2012.
9. "Williams, Arizona trash defending champ Duke". USA Today. March 25, 2011.
10. "Walker gets help, UConn edges Arizona for spot in Final Four". USA Today. March 27, 2011.
11. ((espn.com))
12. "2010–11 Pac-10 Conference Men's Basketball Honors". Archived from the original on February 21, 2017.
13. Williams Named Pac-10 Player of the Week. Sophomore forward claims honor for third time this season. arizonawildcats.com (February 21, 2011).
14. Williams Earns District Player-of-the-Year Kudos from USBWA – University of Arizona Wildcats Official Athletic Site Archived March 22, 2012, at the Wayback Machine . Arizonawildcats.com (March 11, 2011). Retrieved on 2012-07-09.
15. Wooden Award. Wooden Award. Retrieved on July 9, 2012.
16. "BYU's Fredette headlines SI.com's national awards, All-Americas". CNN. March 9, 2011. Archived from the original on March 12, 2011.
17. Arizona Basketball: Honors continue to pour in for Williams. Azstarnet.com (March 31, 2011). Retrieved on 2012-07-09.
18. Jimmer Fredette named Sporting News' 2011 College Basketball Player of the Year – NCAA Basketball – Sporting News Archived March 26, 2011, at the Wayback Machine . Aol.sportingnews.com (March 22, 2011). Retrieved on 2012-07-09.
19. USBWA > News > Men's All-America Team Archived August 9, 2020, at the Wayback Machine . Sportswriters.net (March 14, 2011). Retrieved on 2012-07-09.
20. Williams an NABC All-American – University of Arizona Wildcats Official Athletic Site Archived March 22, 2012, at the Wayback Machine . Arizonawildcats.com (April 3, 2011). Retrieved on 2012-07-09.
21. Goodman, Jeff (March 7, 2011). "Goodman's 2010–11 All-America teams". Fox Sports . Fox Sports Interactive Media. Archived from the original on October 26, 2013. Retrieved June 21, 2011.
22. Derrick Williams Declares for NBA Draft – University of Arizona Wildcats Official Athletic Site Archived April 16, 2011, at the Wayback Machine . Arizonawildcats.com (April 13, 2011). Retrieved on 2012-07-09.
23. Finley, Patrick. (July 14, 2011) Derrick Williams in Tucson during NBA lockout. Azcentral.com. Retrieved on 2012-07-09.
24. EXCLUSIVE: Derrick Williams Speaks on Joining the Under Armour Family. Slam Online (July 20, 2011). Retrieved on 2012-07-09.
25. Kobe Bryant: NBA vs. PBA All-Star Game Is Kobe's Playground in This Clip. Bleacher Report (July 23, 2011). Retrieved on 2012-07-09.
26. Sprite Slam Dunk Contest | All-Star 2012 Archived February 18, 2012, at the Wayback Machine . NBA.com (February 16, 2012). Retrieved on 2012-07-09.
27. Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Los Angeles Clippers – Box Score. Scores.espn.go.com (February 28, 2012). Retrieved on 2012-07-09.
28. New Orleans Hornets vs. Minnesota Timberwolves – Box Score. Scores.espn.go.com (March 17, 2013). Retrieved on 2013-03-17.
29. "KINGS ACQUIRE DERRICK WILLIAMS". NBA.com. November 26, 2013. Retrieved November 26, 2013.
30. "Kings beat Lakers 122–99, sending LA to worst season ever". NBA.com . Archived from the original on June 10, 2016. Retrieved April 16, 2015.
31. "Knicks Acquire Four Free Agents: Afflalo, R. Lopez, Williams, O'Quinn". NBA.com. July 9, 2015. Retrieved July 10, 2015.
32. "Williams scores 24, Knicks beat Bucks 122–97 in opener". NBA.com. October 28, 2015. Archived from the original on October 26, 2015. Retrieved October 28, 2015.
33. "Knicks hold off Celtics after Anthony sprains ankle". NBA.com. January 12, 2016. Archived from the original on January 15, 2016. Retrieved January 12, 2016.
34. "Nets beat Knicks 110–104 to end 10-game home skid". NBA.com. January 13, 2016. Archived from the original on January 16, 2016. Retrieved January 13, 2016.
35. "HEAT Announce Free Agent Signings". NBA.com. July 10, 2016. Retrieved July 11, 2016.
36. "HEAT RE-SIGNS OKARO WHITE". NBA.com. February 6, 2017. Retrieved February 6, 2017.
37. "Cavs Sign Derrick Williams To 10-Day Contract". NBA.com. February 9, 2017. Retrieved February 9, 2017.
38. McMenamin, Dave (February 9, 2017). "Derrick Williams' debut offers glimmer of hope as the Cavs' missing piece". ESPN.com. Retrieved February 10, 2017.
39. "Cavs Sign Derrick Williams to Second 10-Day Contract". NBA.com. February 22, 2017. Retrieved February 22, 2017.
40. "Cavs Sign Derrick Williams for Remainder of Season". NBA.com. March 4, 2017. Retrieved March 4, 2017.
41. "Warriors Win N.B.A. Title, Avenging Themselves Against the Cavaliers". New York Times. June 13, 2017. Retrieved October 5, 2017.
42. "NBA finals: Golden State Warriors win title against Cavaliers – as it happened". Guardian. June 13, 2017. Retrieved October 5, 2017.
43. "Tianjin Gold Lions sign former NBA swingman Derrick Williams". ESPN.com. December 28, 2017. Retrieved March 9, 2018.
44. "Derrick Williams signing with Tianjin Golden Lions". sportando.basketball. December 28, 2017. Retrieved March 9, 2018.^{[ permanent dead link ]}
45. "Lakers Sign Derrick Williams". NBA.com. March 9, 2018. Retrieved March 9, 2018.
46. "Derrick Williams: 10-day contract expires". CBS Sports. March 19, 2018. Retrieved March 19, 2018.
47. "Bayern adds size, power with Williams". EuroLeague.net. October 3, 2018. Retrieved October 3, 2018.
48. "Derrick Williams International Stats". Basketball-Reference.com.
49. "WILLIAMS, DERRICK – Welcome to EUROLEAGUE BASKETBALL". www.euroleague.net. Retrieved July 25, 2019.
50. "Derrick Williams Fenerbahçe Beko'da". fenerbahce.org (in Turkish). Fenerbahçe. July 18, 2019. Retrieved July 19, 2019.
51. "Valencia Basket reaches an agreement with Derrick Williams for next season". Valenciabasket.com. July 8, 2020. Retrieved July 8, 2020.
52. "Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv signed Derrick Williams". maccabi.co.il. Maccabi. June 30, 2021. Archived from the original on December 19, 2021. Retrieved June 30, 2021.
53. Star, Bruce Pascoe Arizona Daily (June 30, 2021). "Former Wildcat forward Derrick Williams signs with Maccabi Tel Aviv". Arizona Daily Star.
54. "Williams Is "Green"". Panathinaikos BC. July 15, 2022. Retrieved July 16, 2022.
55. "Derrick Williams Yahoo Player Profile". May 19, 2011.

External links

• Career statistics and player information from NBA.com  and  Basketball-Reference.com
• Arizona Wildcats bio
• EuroLeague profile
• Derrick Williams on Twitter