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Wizards among teams expected to show interest in Derrick Williams

By Nick Bilka
Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

With Paul Pierce's status still up in the air, rumors of players that the Wizards' are potentially interested in with their salary cap exceptions have been few and far between. Chris Broussard added a name to the mix tonight on Twitter:

If you'll recall, the Wizards were reportedly interested in trading up to acquire Derrick Williams in the 2011 Draft, but decided to back off when Minnesota asked for JaVale McGee in return.

Since then, Derrick Williams has struggled to find his way in the NBA. After an unimpressive two-year stint with the Minnesota Timberwolves, Williams was traded to the Sacramento Kings for Luc Mbah A Moute early in the 2013-2014 season. Williams hasn't fared much better in Sacramento, struggling to perform consistently, defend or shoot well from outside that the NBA level. Last season, he averaged 8.3 points per game on 44.7 percent shooting from the field and 31 percent from three-point range.

The Wizards are surely looking at other options, but perhaps they see some promise in the young, athletic former Arizona Wildcat they tried to acquire four years ago. One could see the appeal of Williams running the floor with Wall if he could just improve his three pointer enough to provide spacing at the power forward position. The question then is whether that is a gamble the Wizards want to take.

As an athletic tweener, he seems like he might be a good fit in today's positionless NBA, but his difficulties in guarding the power forward position and hitting threes make him a questionable fit for the Wizards. Unless better options don't work out or Williams is available very cheap, I'd hope that the Wizards look elsewhere. Roster spots are scarce, and Williams could use an environment where he can get minutes and continue to find his role as an NBA player.