Trevion Williams update: the dream is paused; plus open thread

an update on our irrational good feelings flashy passing big

The irrational good feeling

I love good passing.

During the 2022 NBA Draft, I was bummed when GSW grabbed some guy named Gui Santos in the late second round instead of my cult favorite Trevion, and then BOS grabbed Trevion for their summer league team. Which made it SO exciting when Trevion surprisingly joined GSW training camp.

• Trevion Williams, cult hero, will join training camp to compete for roster spot

He ended up playing in the G-League for SCW. I did watch a number of his games, and I am not 100% sure why he didn’t stick. From a basketball standpoint, his passing was mostly solid and creative, though speaking objectively the passing also led to a number of turnovers, either from overambition or bad receptions. His defense was the glaring flaw in his package, and he never showed enough to get two-way consideration.

There were non-basketball factors too. For a lot of the time Trevion was in SCW, James Wiseman also was there, so they had to split time. I bet the other Sea Dubs got whiplash going back and forth between their polar opposite gameplay.

I still feel (is this irrational?) that Trevion could have developed in the SCW system if he’d stayed, but he was unexpectedly traded to the Capital City Go-Go (WAS team) just 22 games in. I can only assume this was on Trevion’s request in hopes of getting more time and a two-way with WAS, because it’s not like SCW was dying to get Jordan Schakel back.

The update

In summer 2023, Trevion gave the NBA one last shot by playing for the MIN Summer League team. This was apparently enough to impress the top German pro team, because Trevion has temporarily put his NBA dream on pause and he has signed on Jul 18 2023 with ratiopharm Ulm, the champions of the top German pro league Basketball Bundesliga.

Pouring one out for Trevion… (by posting up, palming the bottle and hurling it in an overhead hook cross-court) TREVION ARMY SALUTES YOU.

And yet… I will not give up on this dream until TW declares he will never play for the Warriors!

Here is a google translation of the German article announcing the news.

Trevion Williams becomes an Ulmer

Center with great pass qualities for ratiopharm Ulm

The 2.06 m tall American Trevion Williams is moving to the team of the reigning German champion. For the 22-year-old, who currently plays for the Minnesota Timberwolves in the NBA Summer League, it is the first stop outside of North America.

When a player in the G-League puts up 3.9 assists in 27 minutes of play, it's usually assumed they're talking about a guard. But at 2.06 m and 113 kg, Trevion Williams fits much better directly under the basket due to his stature. His intense style of play, paired with his overview, should suit us very well in Europe. Sports director Thorsten Leibenath was also able to watch the Timberwolves training in Las Vegas, with Trevion's style of play being more reminiscent of Luke Sikma than Bruno Caboclo. Leibenath on the qualities of our new signing: "Trevion convinced us with his energy on the pitch. He's an uncompromising rebounder at one end of the field and an explosive all-rounder at the other. Since Bruno cannot be replaced one-to-one, we deliberately chose a player with a different skillset.”

A powerful wolf with an overview

Trevion Williams is currently playing for the Minnesota Timberwolves in the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas. He is on the field for almost 16 minutes and also shines here with passes (1.8) and rebounds (3.8). However, he already impressively demonstrated at college that Williams can also score. He was a key performer in Purdue's top program for over four years. His statistically best season was 20-21 with 15.9 points, 9.1 rebounds and 2.3 assists. The following year, his team made it to the finals of the Big Ten. Averaging 12 points, 7.4 rebounds and 3 assists earned him the honors as the 6th Man of the Conference and was selected to the All-Tournament Team. In the NCAA Tournament, his team was eliminated in the round of 16.

Success perspective Europe

However, the big dream of being drafted into the NBA after college did not come true for Trevion Williams. The Golden State Warriors G-League team signed him. He almost had a double-double with the Santa Cruz Warriors with 9.5 points and 10 rebounds. In January, he joined the Washington Wizards' G-League team (8.1 points and 7.5 rebounds in 17.4 minutes).

Trevion was only able to briefly gain experience abroad. With the US U-19 national team, he took part in the 2019 World Cup in Greece and won the gold medal there (8.7 points, 6.6 rebounds). Now he wants to cause a sensation with us in Europe.