Grant Williams

Grant Williams

25-Year-Old ForwardF
Charlotte Hornets
2024 Fantasy Outlook
Williams is one of the most hated players in the NBA but has carved out a solid role as a defensive stud. Williams is such a valuable player in fantasy because he rarely misses games and plays some of the best defense in the league. Williams has played at least 76 regular-season games in three straight years, posting career-high numbers across the board last season. In Williams' first season with Charlotte, he averaged 10.3 points, 4.2 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 0.6 steals, 0.5 blocks and 1.7 threes per game. It's frustrating to have such an elite defender provide limited value in steals and blocks, making him a tough sell for most fantasy managers. This is essentially a P.J. Tucker-type profile. The increase in production is no surprise with how shorthanded this Charlotte roster was at times. LaMelo Ball, Mark Williams and Gordon Hayward all missed significant time last season, and Williams was the primary beneficiary, playing nearly 30 minutes a night. It's unlikely he will duplicate that again this season, but he should still have a consistent role in Charlotte's rotation. Read Past Outlooks
RANKS
Current Season
From Preseason
#199
ADP
$Signed a four-year, $53.3 million contract with the Celtics in July of 2023. Traded to the Mavericks in July of 2023. Traded to the Hornets in February of 2024.
Personal Bio/PreCareer Summary

Grant Dean Williams was born in 1998 in Houston. He is the son of Gilbert and Teresa Williams. His mother, Teresa, is an electrical engineer for NASA in Houston. Grant attended and played high school basketball at Providence Day School in Charlotte. He was one of only four players ever to be named The Charlotte Observer's Player of the Year in back-to-back years (2015 and 2016). During his senior season (2015-16), Williams averaged 15.8 points, 10.1 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 3.0 blocks and 0.5 steals per game en route to Associated Press All-State honors. He also led Providence Day to the 2016 North Carolina Independent Schools Athletic Association 3A state championship. Shortly after the conclusion of his senior season, he performed a role in Providence Day's production of the musical "Anything Goes". After high school, Williams chose to attend the University of Tennessee over Harvard, Princeton and Yale. Grant has joked that his mom was upset he passed over Harvard and that she didn't talk to him for two months. At Tennessee, the power forward fulfilled all the course work for his academic major, Supply Chain Management, by the end of his junior year. In his first December with Boston, Williams' gifted each Celtic team employee with a custom jarred candle which read "Appreciate All You Do For Us, Let's Have a Great Year." During their rookie season together, new Celtics Grant Williams and Tacko Fall hosted the "Grant & Tacko Show" podcast in a partnership with The Athletic. Fans can follow the thoughtful and polite Williams on Twitter @Grant2Will. In three years (2016-19) at the University of Tennessee, Grant Williams earned his degree in Supply Chain Management and started 101 of 104 basketball games for the Volunteers. After averaging 12.6 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.9 blocks over 25.4 minutes his freshman season, he was named to the 2016-17 SEC All-Freshman team. As a sophomore, he was named 2018 SEC Player of the Year, led the Vols in scoring (15.2 ppg), and was second in blocks (44) and rebounding (6.0 rpg). He joined Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer Bernard King as the only Vols ever to earn SEC Play of the Year distinction as underclassmen. After his third and final season, Williams was the first player to win SEC Player of the Year in back-to-back years since 1995. He also joined Bernard King and Dale Ellis as the only Vols to ever be named consensus first-team All-Americans by the NCAA. His 23-of-23 performance from the free-throw line at Vanderbilt (Jan. 23, 2019) stands as the most free throws made without a miss by any player in Division I in the last 60 years and was second all-time.

Returns to bench
FCharlotte Hornets
November 4, 2024
Williams isn't starting Monday's game against the Timberwolves, Charlie Walton of ZoneCoverage.com reports.
ANALYSIS
Williams stepped into the starting five for Saturday's matchup with Boston, but he'll retreat to a bench role Monday as the Hornets try Taj Gibson in the starting center role. Williams has seen plenty of run off the bench so far this year, averaging 25.2 minutes per game.
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Stat Review
How does Grant Williams compare to other players?
This section compares his stats with all players from the previous three seasons (minimum 200 minutes played)*. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.
  • True Shooting %
    An advanced statistic that measures a player's efficiency at shooting the ball that takes field goal percentage, free throw percentage, and three point percentage into account.
  • Effective Field Goal %
    A statistic that adjusts field goal percentage to account for the fact that three-point field goals count for three points while field goals only count for two points.
  • 3-Point Attempt Rate
    Percentage of field goal attempts from three point range.
  • Free Throw Rate
    Number of free throw attempts per field goal attempt.
  • Offensive Rebound %
    An estimate of the percentage of available offensive rebounds a player grabbed while they were on the floor.
  • Defensive Rebound %
    An estimate of the percentage of available defensive rebounds a player grabbed while they were on the floor.
  • Total Rebound %
    An estimate of the percentage of available rebounds a player grabbed while they were on the floor.
  • Assist %
    An estimate of the percentage of teammate field goals a player assisted while they were on the floor.
  • Steal %
    An estimate of the percentage of opponent possessions that end with a steal by the player while they were on the floor.
  • Block %
    An estimate of the percentage of opponent two-point field goal attempts blocked by the player while they were on the floor.
  • Turnover %
    An estimate of turnovers committed per 100 plays.
  • Usage %
    An estimate of the percentage of team plays used by a player while they were on the floor.
  • Fantasy Points Per Game
    NBA Fantasy Points Per Game.
  • Fantasy Points Per Minute
    NBA Fantasy Points Per Minute.
True Shooting %
61.3%
 
Effective Field Goal %
57.9%
 
3-Point Attempt Rate
73.7%
 
Free Throw Rate
26.3%
 
Offensive Rebound %
4.7%
 
Defensive Rebound %
10.7%
 
Total Rebound %
7.6%
 
Assist %
15.0%
 
Steal %
1.6%
 
Block %
1.2%
 
Turnover %
12.9%
 
Usage %
12.9%
 
Fantasy Points Per Game
20.1
 
Fantasy Points Per Minute
0.8
 
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Our historical fantasy ratings are standard scores calculated using 8-Category settings with 12 teams and 13 players per team.
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Hornets Depth Chart
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Hornets Rotation: Minutes Breakdown
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Average Fantasy Points
Average Fantasy Points are determined when Grant Williams was active vs. non-active during the season. Click here to view average fantasy points for a different time period.
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Recent RotoWire Articles Featuring Grant Williams See More
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35 days ago
Updated for the Karl-Anthony Towns trade, RotoWire's fantasy basketball rankings are filled with expert analysis on recent news, sleepers, busts and breakouts.
Past Fantasy Outlooks
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
Williams averaged 8.6 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.1 steals-plus-blocks in 27.3 minutes per game in the playoffs during the Celtics' run to the NBA Finals in 2021-22, but he completely fell out of the rotation during the 2022-23 postseason. After a few promising years, the Celtics opted to move on from the versatile forward this offseason and traded him to Dallas as part of a few major changes, including the departure of Marcus Smart and the acquisition of Kristaps Porzingis. Williams has never been a great fantasy player, finishing outside the top 200 in eight-category per-game fantasy value in each of his first four campaigns. However, given his defensive ability, the Tennessee product should carve out a significant role for the Mavericks after signing a four-year, $54 million extension this summer. If his three-point shot is falling, Grant could become fantasy relevant in 2023-24, as he figures to get plenty of open looks playing with Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic. Williams will presumably compete with Maxi Kleber for the starting forward spot out of the gate, but it wouldn't be surprising to see Dallas roll out a big lineup of Doncic, Irving, Williams, Kleber and Dwight Powell at times. While he's never been a prolific producer, Williams has been solid from deep recently, shooting 41.1 percent and 39.5 percent from deep in each of the last two seasons, respectively. If he can maintain that type of efficiency while handling more offensive opportunities, it wouldn't be surprising to see him finish as a top-150 player in eight-category leagues.
Williams took a nice step forward last season -- his third in the Association. The Tennessee product started 21 games and played 24.4 minutes per game -- both career highs. Williams earned the additional minutes via improved shooting. His field goal percentage went up from 43.7 to 47.5 percent and his free throw accuracy improved from 58.8 to 90.5 percent. The forward also shot an impressive 41.1 percent from behind the arc as he mastered the corner three. Williams' effective outside shooting makes him an excellent compliment for stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. In 2022-23, Williams has an opportunity to further improve his minutes. Veteran big man Al Horford is entering his age-36 season. Boston would love to better rest Horford for the playoffs and reduce the 29.1 minutes per game he played last season. The 23-year-old Williams seems primed to continue his pattern of increased playing time, especially if he can keep up his versatile defensive play and excellent shooting.
Grant Williams will probably always be a better real-life teammate than a fantasy assert, as his positive locker room presence and ability to switch well on defense unfortunately provides no fantasy benefit. In his second season, he honed his skills as a possible 3-and-D player and shot an improved 37.2 percent from behind the arc. But Williams averaged only 4.7 points and 2.8 rebounds over 18.1 minutes per game last year. The departure of Semi Ojeleye to Milwaukee leaves Williams as Boston's only true power forward reserve behind star Jayson Tatum, but the Celtics might experiment with veteran Al Horford at power forward. Ultimately, Williams will provide more value to the Celtics than your fantasy squad and should be avoided in most formats.
During his rookie season, Grant Williams supplied the all the intangibles the Celtics were hoping for when they picked the 6-foot-7 big man with the 22nd pick in the 2019 Draft. Those intangibles, such as switching on defense, setting tough picks and being a positive influence in the locker room, unfortunately won't help your fantasy team. Heading into 2020-21, expect Williams to see more minutes at center when the Celtics decide to go small. Also expect Williams to improve on his 25.0 percent three-point shooting from last season. Over the last 40 games of the season, the Tennessee product shot 33.3 percent from the behind the arc. Williams will probably see more floor time than the 15.1 minutes per game he received as a rookie. But that playing time boost will probably be modest and most likely won't result in much statistical improvement. Williams is still looking up at Jayson Tatum, Daniel Theis and Tristan Thompson on the Boston depth chart.
Grant Williams, the 22nd pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, has "Glue Guy" written all over him. No one questions Williams' team-first attitude. The concern is his size. At 6-foot-7, can Williams legitimately play power forward in the Association? His 7.5 rebounds per game during his last Vol season certainly look appealing to a Boston squad that's struggled on the boards. With the departure of both Al Horford and Aron Baynes, big-man minutes are certainly available, even with the addition of Enes Kanter. Boston did retain Daniel Theis, but he's had injury issues during both his prior Celtics seasons. Long-term, Boston would love for Williams to evolve into an effective inside presence, guarding bigs and cleaning the glass, while allowing the more dynamic Jayson Tatum or Gordon Hayward to work outside the key. Expecting that to occur during Williams' rookie season is probably asking too much, though. Expect Boston to bring their young Williams bigs (Grant and Robert) along slowly while they learn the subtleties of coach Brad Stevens' system. A slower approach would also grant Williams time to improve his catch-and-shoot three-pointer, something he showed potential with during college, draining 33 percent of his treys his final collegiate season. Playing time will be inconsistent for Williams, but the opportunity to shine does exist.
More Fantasy News
Inserted into starting lineup
FCharlotte Hornets
November 2, 2024
Williams is in the starting five for Saturday's game versus the Celtics.
ANALYSIS
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Ejected from Friday's game
FCharlotte Hornets
November 1, 2024
Williams was ejected from Friday's game against the Celtics with 2:02 remaining in the fourth quarter after being assessed a Flagrant 2 foul, Roderick Boone of The Charlotte Observer reports.
ANALYSIS
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Records season-high 17 points
FCharlotte Hornets
October 31, 2024
Williams had 17 points (5-6 FG, 3-4 3Pt, 4-4 FT), two rebounds, five assists and two steals in 23 minutes during Wednesday's 138-133 win over the Raptors.
ANALYSIS
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Plays 19 minutes in loss
FCharlotte Hornets
October 27, 2024
Williams provided seven points (2-7 FG, 2-5 3Pt, 1-2 FT), two rebounds, one assist and one steal in 19 minutes during Saturday's 114-106 loss to the Heat.
ANALYSIS
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Making preseason debut
FCharlotte Hornets
October 10, 2024
Williams (hamstring) will play in Thursday's preseason game against the Grizzlies, Roderick Boone of The Charlotte Observer reports.
ANALYSIS
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Latest Fantasy Rumors
Set for frontcourt backup role
FCharlotte Hornets
September 23, 2024
Williams is expected to open the 2024-25 season as the Hornets' backup power forward behind Miles Bridges, Roderick Boone of The Charlotte Observer reports.
ANALYSIS
As things stand now, the Hornets will likely open the season with LaMelo Ball, Josh Green, Brandon Miller, Miles Bridges and Mark Williams in their starting lineup, assuming they're all healthy. This leaves no role for Williams in the starting unit, though he's expected to have a sizable role in the frontcourt off the bench. Given the current roster construction, don't be surprised if Williams spends most of his time as Bridges' backup at power forward, a role he's already had in the past in his career. Williams can also be a backup center, but the Hornets are covered there with Nick Richards.
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