EDITORS' PICKS

Alan Williams’ rise to productive NBA player leaves another question for Suns’ offseason

Apr 13, 2017, 10:00 AM | Updated: 3:18 pm

Phoenix Suns forward Alan Williams (15) is fouled by Detroit Pistons center Andre Drummond (0) in t...

Phoenix Suns forward Alan Williams (15) is fouled by Detroit Pistons center Andre Drummond (0) in the first half of an NBA basketball game in Auburn Hills, Mich., Sunday, March 19, 2017. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

(AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

PHOENIX — The offseason focus for the Phoenix Suns will be going in a lot of different directions. It starts with where and who they select in the NBA Draft, but from there, they’ve got a possible extension for T.J. Warren, Alex Len’s restricted free agency and whatever will come of the Brandon Knight situation to worry about.

There’s another player, however, that won’t fly under the radar, and of all the players on the roster at the start of the season, he might be the most unlikely to garner such attention.

Second-year center Alan Williams started his Suns and NBA career last season, playing only 68 total minutes after he began with a 10-day contract. He would be re-signed to a partially guaranteed, multi-year contract after that contract expired late in the season, and in September his contract for the 2016-17 season was fully guaranteed.

Third on the center depth chart behind Tyson Chandler and Alex Len, he played eight minutes in the first 12 games.

Up until the All-Star break, Williams would play 10 minutes or more in just five games, but during that break, he got the chance most fringe players on the end of the bench only dream of when Chandler was shut down for the rest of the season after the trade deadline.

Williams would get significant minutes — 22.6 per game — for the rest of the season to prove his worth as an NBA player, and all he’s done with those minutes is be one of the NBA’s most productive bench players.

Among bench players who have played in at least 40 games, Williams leads the league in rebounds per 36 minutes (14.9) and is top-20 in points (17.6).

Williams went from the league’s most exuberant celebration guy on the bench, to proving he was an NBA player in his first rotation stint to almost assuredly being a lock for guaranteed money in restricted free agency.

Despite his on-court basketball role increasing significantly over the course of the season, Williams sees all his contributions to the team equally.

“To be honest with you, I think I’ve always had a role, the role just changed,” Williams said. “A role from being the support system on the bench to actually getting on the court and having an impact on the floor rather than just off the floor.

“I’ve always been focused on accepting whatever role that I’ve been given.”

There’s a reason the 24-year-old undrafted Williams had to go through multiple summer leagues and a season in China before he stuck in the NBA.

Like his partner in crime Tyler Ulis, he has clear flaws that mostly have to do with his size.

He’s a 6-foot-8 center, so by default, he’s an undersized player at his position.

Some players with similar height issues, such as Houston’s 6-foot-8 center Montrezl Harrell, make up for their height with crazy wingspans and athleticism.

Williams doesn’t have much of that. He doesn’t shoot jumpers, can’t jump high and doesn’t move all that quick, but something he leans on to make up for it is preparation.

“It’s just knowing that every night is a new challenge is something you’ve got to really get accustomed to,” Williams said.

Williams credits his coaches and veterans for preparing him for how he can best attack a certain matchup.

Even with those deficiencies, his skillset bypasses his shortcomings and keeps him a monster producer offensively.

He is always running the floor, has great hands, can finish with either hand using a floater or brushing into contact, and is one of the best rebounders in the NBA.

Williams has a very high basketball IQ for a player with 776 minutes of NBA experience to his name on both ends of the court, and he spoke to that when talking about running in transition.

“It’s just a feel for the game, kinda knowing where you are on the court at all times even without really looking,” Williams said.

That’s something Williams needs for how little he dunks the ball for a center.

Williams had 138 made field goals this season and three dunks. To put that in perspective, Williams ranks 11th on the team in dunks and last among Suns players who had any this season. For a player who scored nearly half his points from within three feet of the rim this season, that’s incredibly rare.

He isn’t able to take giant strides like some of the freakier athletes in the league and he isn’t doing any fancy euro-steps or rising above the defender on contact. But in an unexplainable way, he still consistently finishes in a bevy of ways with his soft touch.

Being able to control the way his body moves is something Williams works on and speaks to how well he can finish despite the size disadvantages.

“It’s about body control,” Williams said of his ability to finish at full speed running up and down the court.

He practices with specific drills, like running full speed and coming to a full stop, then either shooting a floater, driving to the basket or incorporating another move.

The hard work shows in those clips above, as well as in his floater, which like Ulis with his jumpers, adds another way for Williams to score efficiently without having to play above the rim.

This all adds up to a good offensive player and one that deserves credit for taking care of the ball. The Suns involved Williams heavily in their offense when he was on the court. Williams had a 20.6 usage percentage, fifth on the team and first among forwards and centers. Even with the ball that much, Williams still managed a 9.8 turnover ratio — the percent of the team’s turnovers by Williams when he’s on the court — the fourth-best on the team.

Williams works incredibly hard and has a good floor sense for where he needs to be defensively. Without either of those traits, he’d be a too big of a liability defensively, but he makes it work.

But, there’s a clear ceiling for Williams in the NBA due to his size defensively. Teams can pick on him and true post players will demolish him in quick fashion like Greg Monroe did in late February.

Even with his flaws, to continue the running theme, Williams is still making it work and playing very well. His 105.8 defensive rating for the season is the third-best on the team behind Derrick Jones Jr. and Jared Dudley, far exceeding Chandler’s (109.5) and Alex Len’s (110.5) numbers.

The team’s defensive rating jumped to 110.1 when Williams was off the court this season.

Add in the fact that Phoenix has two players at power forward in Dragan Bender and Marquese Chriss who project to excel as weakside rim protectors, and it provides even more of a cushion for Williams’ weaknesses.

If the Suns end up letting Len walk this summer, they have an ideal fill-in for the second unit to replace Chandler while they figure out the long-term future of the center position. Even if they decide to keep Len, Williams could be affordable enough to keep.

The Suns’ control the situation in restricted free agency if they do the expected and tender him a qualifying offer of $1.7 million — the low price, amount of cap space available and unlikeliness of spending big in free agency make it likely.

The free agency scenarios haven’t factored into Williams’ mind when it comes to his approach this offseason, which won’t change.

“I got to this point now due to the work I put in so I want to continue that work and even surpass the workload of what I’ve done,” Williams said.

When asked if he feels he’s earned a role, it comes back to that same philosophy of always having one, but like any player, he knows where he wants to be.

“I want to be on the court and I want to play and I feel like I could help the team.”

Follow Kellan Olson on Twitter

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Alan Williams’ rise to productive NBA player leaves another question for Suns’ offseason