Two years ago, the Utah Jazz drafted Cody Williams #10 overall. Fast forward to the present, and they just shipped him off to the Minnesota Timberwolves as a throw-in in a trade that netted them Josh Green.
Teams usually don’t give up on Top 10 picks this soon. That speaks to how much of a letdown Williams’s first two seasons with the Jazz were. However, the 21-year-old will now get a chance to flip the narrative with the Timberwolves. This is his “second draft” chance, and he has to capitalize on this opportunity.
Context is everything in the league. Many times, a draft pick not panning out can be chalked up to a poor fit between player and club, not the player lacking talent. At this point, Williams returning Top 10 value is quite unlikely, but he could still prove himself as an impactful NBA guy.
Let’s break down what’s to like and dislike about Williams’s game, and evaluate his outlook as a Timberwolf, and in general, moving forward.
What’s good?
Williams is an unrefined prospect. That was clear when he was coming out of Colorado for the 2024 draft, and it’s still true today. However, he does have a couple of legitimate NBA-caliber traits he can hang his hat on, including mid-range shooting, transition scoring, and cutting.
Starting with the mid-range, he scored 0.89 points per shot on long mid-range jumpers in 2025-26, which ranked in the 73rd percentile according to Synergy. His shot mechanics aren’t always the prettiest (we’ll get to that later), but his off-the-dribble middies usually look smooth.
These pull-ups are a real weapon for him when he’s attacking closeouts or playing out of the pick-and-roll. If he finds some space after one or two dribbles, he’ll rise and fire and knock shots down with a level of poise that doesn’t shine through in other aspects of his game.
In transition, Williams sets himself up for easy looks by filling the right lanes and sneaking behind discombobulated defenders. His speed in the open floor isn’t blinding, but he makes up for that with his feel for slipping through gaps in the defense. He posted 1.16 points per possession in transition last season, a 58th percentile rate. His production could have been even higher if he didn’t inexplicably blow a few too many bunnies.
The keen spatial awareness Williams shows in his fastbreak endeavors also shows up in the halfcourt with his cutting. His 1.27 PPP off cuts was his highest PPP on any play type last season. If a defender turns his back to Williams, he’s going to make them pay and dart right to the hoop.
Unfortunately, while Williams’s work in the mid-range and as a cutter are cool and all, those two skills headlining his value proposition don’t exactly bode well for his future. He needs to find another area to excel in—one that’s more useful to contenders. Luckily, he has the foundation in place to become a good defender on and off the ball.
While he could stand to fill out his frame a bit (again, more on that later), Williams has the physical profile of a quality wing stopper. Also, unlike some guys who get touted for their physical tools, he’s actually shown he knows how to use them.
In isolation last season, Williams conceded 0.95 PPP (42nd percentile). That’s not bad on its own, but the tape paints an even more encouraging picture. He does a nice job containing the ball, especially against other wings/forwards, and many of the baskets he gives up are tough contested jumpers, not layups off blow-bys.
Off the ball, Williams has sharp instincts in the passing lanes. He graded out as a 64th percentile passing lane defender while racking up 2.76 deflections per 75 possessions (63rd percentile) in 2025-26, according to BBall Index. He’s able to anticipate passes coming in his direction, and if he can’t snatch the rock out of the air and claim a steal, he’s at least going to get a fingertip on it.
Continuing to grow in the defensive department will be crucial to Williams’s shot at survival in this league.
What’s bad?
As mentioned earlier, Williams is pretty raw. He lacks a lot of polish, confidence, and strength across the board. These are overarching issues that contribute to most of his specific struggles.
The glaring area for improvement for Williams is scoring efficiency. In 2025-26, he netted 0.99 PPS on all field goal attempts, which buried him in the 24th percentile. It doesn’t matter if he’s inside the arc or on the perimeter—he has a hard time putting the ball in the basket.
His three-point shot is frankly a disaster right now. In his pre-draft campaign with Colorado, he connected on 41.5% of his triples, although it was on minuscule volume. Any trace of that type of outside shooting touch has evaporated in the NBA.
For his career, Williams has gone 23.7% from deep on 2.3 attempts per game. Last season, he striped a concerning 23.8% of his spot-up tries, and went 21.4% on threes overall. Mental and mechanical problems both factor into these woes.
His jump shot is too slow to be viable, plain and simple. His release point is high, but that’s about the only redeeming factor for the form itself. His base is too narrow, and his foot placement can be all over the place. The whole thing could use a tune-up, if not an overhaul.
On the mental side, it seems like Williams has next to zero self-efficacy as a three-point shooter. He rarely catches the rock ready to let it fly, and he’ll pass up wide-open treys in favor of step-in middies. When he does let one rip without hesitation, things look cleaner, but he does that about as often as Chick-Fil-A opens on a Sunday.
Williams being such a shoddy marksman would be less of a big deal if he were a serious interior threat. Sadly, his paint scoring is also a mess.
In 2025-26, he converted 1.03 PPS on all layups (32nd percentile). In the halfcourt, that fell to 0.95 PPS. He’s an adequate finisher as a cutter, but the opposite is true when he’s driving. He registered 0.88 PPP on halfcourt drives last season. That part of his game might be even worse than his shooting.
Williams can hardly get all the way to the rim even if he tries. If he doesn’t settle for a mid-range jumper, one of two things happens: he gathers and goes up for the layup too early, giving him an awkward angle to finish, or he gets swallowed up by his defender because he doesn’t have NBA-level strength.
He doesn’t have much burst, so he has to rely on wiggle to create driving lanes, but his handle is too high and loose for him to do so regularly. So, basically, he has no avenue to score at the rim unless a teammate is spoon-feeding him. That has to change.
Honing his handling would make a significant difference for Williams, because generally speaking, he’s not strong or collected enough with the ball to make anything happen when he puts it on the deck. More often than not, he looks like a deer in headlights when he attempts to create off the dribble.
Outlook
After reading about his shortcomings, you may be wondering if Cody Williams has any NBA juice in him at all. It’s a valid question, honestly, but you shouldn’t drop all hope yet.
Williams still has paths to success. It’ll take some major growth from him, but he could stick if he follows the blueprint set by two of his new teammates, Jaden McDaniels and Jonathan Kuminga.
To clarify, those are playstyle comparisons, not realistic ceilings. That said, if Williams can fit into a role/mold similar to either McDaniels or Kuminga, he could carve out a future in the association.
Becoming a McDaniels-esque wing is the loftier expectation here. Williams already has solid defensive groundwork laid down, and it’s not crazy to imagine him climbing a couple more rungs on that end and becoming borderline elite. JMac, of course, is an all-world defensive ace, but he’s also a silky tertiary scorer who can lace corner threes and drill middies off the bounce. At the peak of his hypothetical powers, Williams would probably play somewhat akin to McDaniels offensively. To reach those heights, though, he’ll need to rep out his handling and three-ball relentlessly.
If Williams were to pursue the Kuminga route, he wouldn’t have to buy into the defense as much. Instead, the keys would be adding muscle and increasing his scoring aggression. Kuminga is a polarizing player, but he’s talented, and he’s produced in important games. Williams becoming a variant of the former #7 pick would be a huge positive, all things considered.
There’s certainly a world where Williams can’t ever crack the rotation in Minnesota and fizzles out within a year or two. However, there’s also a world where he thrives in his new home. The latter would require substantial work from Williams and plenty of belief and patience from the Wolves, plus a little luck, but it’s not at all out of the realm of possibility.
Drafting a project prospect and expecting them to figure things out in two years isn’t fair. It might take more time, but Cody Williams could definitely right the ship and get back on track for a fruitful NBA career.