Why West Charlotte’s Patrick Williams is climbing NBA draft boards. He may be picked 4th
For West Charlotte High boys basketball coach Jacoby Davis, Wednesday night’s NBA draft is going to be about pride and premonition.
One of his former players, 2019 graduate Patrick Williams, could become a lottery pick and an instant millionaire. Two NBA executives told The Observer that Williams could go as high as No. 4 to the Chicago Bulls.
Back when Williams was ranked No. 30 in the nation among teenagers, before his senior year of high school, Davis was convinced that was too low. Now after one year at Florida State, where Williams was the ACC Sixth Man of the Year, he could become one of the highest drafted players ever from Charlotte.
It’s been a swift rise. Two years ago, Williams led West Charlotte to the state championship finals.
“I said back then he was one of the most underrated guys in the country,” Davis said. “And I’ll stick to my guns on that.”
There have been four Charlotte players to go in the top 10 of the NBA Draft: Stephen Curry was No. 7 in 2009; Antawn Jamison No. 4 in 1998; Walter Davis No. 5 in 1977; and Bobby Jones was No. 5 in 1974.
Draymond comparisons
Now, at 6-foot-9 and 230 pounds, Williams will join that distinguished list. Some NBA scouts compare his potential to Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green.
“I had Williams sort of in the 15-to-20 range at the end of the (college basketball) season,” ESPN’s Jay Bilas said, “but the more you watch of him on tape, the more you’re going, ‘He’s just scratching the surface of how good he’s going to be.’
“He’s long-armed, super strong, athletic. His hands are huge and he really makes a lot of impact plays. ... I think Patrick Williams, in the long run, is going to be really good.”
Williams has ascended into the lottery for several reasons, his high school coach said.
Davis said, at 19 years old, Williams is young with a lot of upside, and he has the versatility that a lot of teams covet. Williams averaged 9.2 points, four rebounds and one block in 22.5 minutes per game in his one season at Florida State.
As he’s worked out and talked to teams, Williams has been selling himself as a player who can guard and play up to four positions.
‘Do everything’
“I’ve kind of marketed myself as being the guy that can do everything,” Williams said recently on a media conference call. “I think, the way I play, I can fit into many systems. and then the mindset that I have coming in, is not to come in and and be entitled to anything. It’s just to come in and work my way up, and do whatever I can to help the organization.”
Williams has a term to describe his game to NBA executives: “Position-less playmaking.”
“In today’s NBA,” he said, “you might have (6-foot-6, 230-pound), Draymond Green at the (power forward spot) or (6-6, 215-pound) Andre Iguodala. I think we saw it a lot with the Miami Heat in the playoffs. You had pretty much all guards on the floor. So being able to switch everything and guard every position, and play your position on offensive end, it kind of helps each and every team. That’s one of my biggest strengths at 6-8, 6-9, 230 pounds — being able do everything.”
Davis, the high school coach, said it’s still hard to believe how fast all this is happening — but that it couldn’t happen to a better kid.
“I watched him grow up,” Davis said. “He used to come to the gym to watch his older brother play and my son play. You coach kids like Jarrell Eddie (Virginia Tech, European pro) and Ian Miller (Florida State, European pro) and you know what to look for. We all as coaches said, ‘Patrick’s got a chance.’ You could see it by the end of his sophomore year. It was like, ‘This boy is gonna make it. He might be that one.’
“And he put the work in. And he was a model kid. All the teachers loved him, all the administrators, all the students. You see kids who have been pacified from middle school, and some of these AAU teams make these kids feel like they’re above everything. This kid was never like that. His parents kept him humble.”
ESPN will have a camera on Williams live Wednesday night in Charlotte for his draft reaction. Davis plans to be there. He said he’s been telling his assistant coaches all week that, “We’ve got a lottery pick right here!” But he doesn’t want to say it too much because he thinks he might spoil it.
“When his name gets called,” Davis said, “it’s going to be a special moment. It’ll be special for the everybody, for the West Charlotte community. It was a village. Everybody — teachers, coaches, AAU program — everybody had a part of it.”
And will he get emotional when he sees Williams put on someone’s NBA hat for the first time?
“I don’t know if my eyes will be wet,” Davis said, his voice cracking just a little. “But I’ll be proud and happy for him. He is deserving. He’s worked his butt off for this.”
Staff writer Rick Bonnell contributed to this article.
This story was originally published November 17, 2020 at 6:27 AM.
