Sean Williams

Sean Williams - Williams's disjointed season last year, best described here, has given way to more consistent employment with the Texas Legends. He is averaging 16.5 points, 10.0 rebounds and 3.1 blocks in 35 minutes per game, shooting 64% from the field and an improved 70% from the free throw line. Williams is fouling 4 times a game and has 2.8 nightly turnovers as well, but he is playing well, showing the skills he always had, improving his flaws, and not getting into trouble. It's been a successful start to his comeback.

Some NBA veterans, such as Antonio Daniels and Sean Williams, have gone to the D-League to re-establish their careers. This is a commonplace move and a sensible one; there's nowhere better to be seen by the NBA than in the D-League, right on its doorstep, and the deliberately formed call-up system allows for these players to be signed by the NBA at a moment's notice, with no hassle or letter-of-clearance delays. The D-League is a great platform for those on the cusp of the big time, and a decent place to rebuild a wavering career for those who were in the big dance but who fell out for some reason. The upper echelons of European basketball do of course pay more, yet the flexibility to return to the NBA at a moment's notice is often sacrificed by being there, and only rarely does Europe pay more than a minimum salary NBA contract. You'll have to be very good or very lucky to get more than that.

- Sean Williams * - Williams is reportedly close to signing with Israeli team Hapoel Jerusalem. This will be the closest thing Hapoel have had to a centre for a while.

Sean Williams - Williams was in the NBA to begin this season, but only because his salary was guaranteed, and not because his play had merited it. He played in only 20 games and 227 minutes with the Mets before being waived when they needed a roster spot for someone they didn't even want (Sean's namesake, Shawne Williams). Considering Sean came into the NBA needing to improve many facets of his game - particularly anything resembling consistent offensive contribution - it was perhaps disconcerting that he got worse year on year, rather than better. Williams's athleticism and shot blocking are all in order, but the other facets of his game are not, and he's continued to encounter trouble off the court in his NBA career.

Sean Williams

Williams's time with the Nets didn't go very well. He kept getting in off-court trouble and didn't develop his game; he's still just the athletic shot blocker with no offensive talent outside of athleticism. His NBA career might have already ended, and if it has, then it was a bust. And that would be a shame.

Sean Williams - 3 games, 26.3 mpg, 9.3 ppg, 14.3 rpg, 0.3 apg, 0.0 spg, 4.3 bpg, 43% FG, 50% 3PT, 75% FT

Williams was in the NBA to begin this season, but only because his salary was guaranteed, and not because his play had merited it. He played in only 20 games and 227 minutes with the Nets before being waived when they needed a roster spot for someone they didn't even want (Sean's namesake, Shawne Williams). Considering Sean came into the NBA needing to improve many facets of his game - particularly anything resembling consistent offensive contribution - it was perhaps disconcerting that he got worse year on year, rather than better, After being cut, he did what many athletic ex-NBA big men do when they don't have an NBA contract, and went to China. Playing for Fujian, Williams averaged 16.4 points, 11.1 rebounds and 4.2 blocks in 32 minutes per game, shooting 55% from the field and 64% from the line. And after leaving China, he did what many athletic ex-NBA big men do when they leave China; he came to Puerto Rico. From the Nets to the Mets in only one year. However, he lasted only 3 games; despite grabbing 20 rebounds in his last game for the team, they saw fit to replace him with Andre Emmett.

- Sean Williams

Sean Williams started the year with the Nets, fresh in the knowledge that they had declined his fourth year team option. Unless he started to show something, and quickly, it looked like it might be the last season of his NBA career.

As it turns out, Sean didn't even get that far. The Nets made a midseason trade to possibly open up more 2010 money when they traded Eduardo Najera's contract (one of Kiki Vanderweghe's worst decisions in his short Nets tenure) to Dallas in exchange for Kris Humphries and Shawne Williams; with the team rocking a full roster of 15, someone had to be waived to accommodate Shawne Williams, and his namesake Sean was the one who bit the dust. (That must be a first in the NBA, surely. Waiving Sean Williams for Shawne Williams? Just bizarre. Mind you, it could have happened twice, had Memphis waived Marcus D. Williams to open up a roster spot for Marcus E. Williams. There was no mention of such a thing ever possibly happening, but had Marcus E. been willing, perhaps it should have done. By the way, Shawne Williams was only there for his contract, and didn't even last a week.)

Now out of the NBA, Williams did what a lot of athletic ex-NBA big men do; he went to China. Playing for Fujian, Williams averaged 16.4 points, 11.1 rebounds and 4.2 blocks in 32 minutes per game, shooting 55% from the field and 64% from the line. He then did what most athletic ex-NBA big men in China do; he went to Puerto Rico. In two games for Guaynabo, Williams has totalled 20 points, 33 rebounds and 1 block.

- Sean Williams: 31.7mpg, 15.0ppg, 11.3rpg, 1.3apg, 4.5fpg, 0.3spg, 4.8bpg, 57% FG, 0% 3PT, 60% FT

[...] Fujian's other import to begin the season was Jelani McCoy, but he left/was released after 19 games for reasons I am not sure of. Maybe it was the free throw shooting. Sean Williams has played in the 10 games since McCoy's departure, and with 4.8 blocks per game, it's not a surprise that he leads the CBA in blocks. Williams is the same player he ever was; athletic, foul prone, tremendous shotblocker with no significant offense. He hasn't developed in his time in the NBA, which is why he's not in it any more. Nevertheless, in China, he'll get a lot of PT in addition to his big paychecks. So maybe that will help kick start his development.