Alondes is a highly athletic guard with scoring and passing ability. He projects as a good shooter, but his true skill that sets him apart is his passing. He has great instincts and sees the floor well. He uses his court vision to find the guy in the dunker's spot as well as shooters. He is creative with his dimes and is good at mixing things up. He has a phenomenal handle and is a good driver. He’s very smooth and has a nice pull up game. Alondes can get defenders off their feet, but is patient with his shot. He has a full arsenal of moves in his pocket as he can also shoot threes at an ok clip. He isn’t very efficient at this point, but his form came straight out of a book. He doesn’t shy away from the defense and he can muscle his way to the hoop. While he is an isolation heavy player, he should be even better with NBA spacing. He has great size at 6’5’’, and is also a great rebounder. He can finish over any defender due to his physical frame. Along with this, he is an amazing athlete. He finishes above the rim and can produce flashy dunks. The only real thing that will scare teams away is his age. He has the fundamental skills as well as the vertical pop to improve though.

Comparison: Shorter Carmelo Anthony Lite

Projected Draft Range: 25-50

Height 6’5

Weight 210 lbs

Wingspan

DOB 6/19/99 (Draft Age: 23 years old)

Pre-Draft Team Wake Forest Demon Deacons

Offense

• Gliding, shifty, stop on a dime footwork. Combines this with controlled dribble and cross.

• Hard to stay in front of with his burst. Really nice spin move on the attack.

• Tremendous finisher operating comfortably with either hand.

• The makings of a deadly pull up shooter.

• Wide vision with the ability to throw skip passes. A smooth operator who can get flashy.

• 3.9 turnovers per 40 is high, although his usage rate is at 30%.

• Good offensive rebounder who follows his shot for heads up basketball.

• Nice follow through on his shot, smooth high release, but not much lift. Perimeter shooting still has room to grow.

Defense

• Has the length and athletic ability to be effective.

• Very good rebounder for his position, constant triple-double threat at the collegiate level.

Swing Factors

• Role

• LOW: *

• HIGH: *

Player analysis

Alondes Williams came out of nowhere after sitting the bench at OSU for four year and then transferring to Wake Forest as a fifth year senior. Scouts really started to look at him and his teammate, Jake LaRavia, after the season had already ended, this was most likely because the team itself wasn’t great and it’s a smaller school. Williams is a bigger point guard who is really gifted with the ball in his hands, he makes good decisions and can score on three levels. At Wake Forest he had many non-options on the court so the fact that he shined as a playmaker means he can really get the most out of his teammates at least on the college level. Williams isn’t a good defender despite being a little bigger for his position, I wouldn’t say he has tools though because he doesn’t have a long wingspan but he could end up as league average because he has a hard working tenacity to him. Alondes is one of the older players in the draft class and played five years at college with the only year where he was seen as a prospect being his last year, many teams might be turned away because he turns 23 next season but because he didn’t really get to shine I would say he has a relatively low level of experience. He most likely won’t have the ball in his hands as often as he did at Wake Forest once he gets to the NBA but I like him as a back-up guard.

Projection

Draft range: [ 41 - 56 ]

Comp: [ Alex Caruso ]

Tier 9 - Bench Gambles Begins (goes until #33 - Kennedy Chandler) Tier Explainer: potential rotational players with warts

could be a really high level advantage creator if everything clicks. explosive athlete with good burst and very capable finisher. excellent body control. not a good defender. would be much higher if i believed in his shot. a bad team that could use a solid creator should definitely take the risk on him.

Strengths:

• Is a pretty exciting player, plays a flashy style of basketball

• I nice fast break playmaker

• Super quick of the dribble, accelerates very quick

• Has some sneaky bounce which allows him to block the odd shot

• Great size for a point guard at 6'5

• A great rebounding guard who really chases boards

• Should be able to defend the 1 and 2 pretty well

• Good at getting his hands in passing lanes

• Pretty silky handle and nice change of pace

• Great finisher at the rim, has some nice body control

Flaws:

• He's already pretty old (1999)

• Despite not bad jumpshot mechanics is an awful shooter

• Seemingly just can't get the ball in the hoop from distance, front rims a lot, shot 28% from 3 in college

• Shot 69% from the line, doesn't bode well

• Isn't great off ball

• I'm not overly high on him as a half court playmaker

• Turned it over way too much, 3.8 per 36

Tremendous passer. Sees the open floor and makes the right read, even if he gets flashy at some points. Gets to the rim to score primarily, tomahawk dunker. Plays pretty good defense on some possessions.

Not a terrific shooter. Must learn to create for himself at the NBA level if he wants to make an impact. Senior, might be too old to be a high draft pick.

Areas of Strength:

-Finishing At 6'5 with a large wingspan, and strong build, he is able to finish easily over opposing guards, while having the body control and creativity to finish through help-side defence. He often moves the ball in air, to avoid being blocked by opposing bigs. Shot an amazing 70% at the rim on 154 attempts, (Ivey: 68% 138 att; Davis: 71% 99 att; Mathurin 67% 137 att). 73% of these looks were unassisted. He is also pretty bouncy and tends to hang in the air a little longer than defenders anticipate, leading to drawn fouls. He is very explosive off one foot.

-Driving One of the best parts of his game, and probably the most polished/league ready. Uses a variety of moves to break down defender combined with great first step. Does a great job of creating contact after getting his defender off balance. Has great control and change of pace on drives, combined with his frame making him a matchup nightmare for almost any player when he gets downhill. Wake Forest often used dribble handoffs to get him going downhill (Miami and Jimmy Butler).

-Passing Uses his size to his advantage, and loves to throw skip passes right past defenders. Has pretty good vision and can hit passes from most different angles. Makes most of his passes out of free flowing offence hitting relocating shooters or cutters, zipping it past defenders.

Could look to kick out more often considering how much defences collapse on him, and his ability to pass the ball. Should definitely benefit from nba caliber shooting and could make his driving even more difficult for opposing teams to guard.

-Defending Not a standout defender but definitely a capable one. Does a pretty good job staying in front of his man and navigating screens and gets a good amount of steals using his combination of quickness and length.

Areas with Potential:

-Shot Creation Showed some flashes of shot creation, mainly in the form of pull up mid-range jumpers. Very good touch on these shots and he is able to stop on a dime. Could definitely help in more heavy PNR league in the NBA.

Areas of Improvement:

-3 point shooting This is likely the most important part of his game in terms of success in the NBA. Only shot 28% from three this year. Shot 70% from free throw on about 5 attempts per game this year, and 84% on about 1 attempt during his second year at oklahoma. Mechanics look pretty solid, sometimes doesn't get fully balanced before catch and shoots (weight shifted back).

General:

-Age He will be 23 for his first NBA season, (one of?) the oldest in the class. Some may believe there is not much room for progression in his game with things like 3pt shooting, PNR game and drive and kicks.

-Projected Role Lead guard

-Most important factors 3 point shooting. Would allow him to fit with a variety of lineups as a combo 2 guard and would open up his scoring in a large way.

PNR scoring and playmaking. This includes 3pt shooting and being able to punish teams for going under screens, likely how he will be defended to start his career.

Drive and kicks. Not as crucial as the other two, but would change the way he is guarded if he can consistently hit shooters after collapsing the defence.

-NBA Comp