June 29, 2018

Michael Carter-Williams
PG - 6’6, 190lbs - 26 years old - 5 years of experience

It is very difficult to understand how a former rookie of the year, who had averaged 16.7 points and 6.3 assists in the process of winning that accolade, has regressed so much offensively as to have become almost unplayable. Yet that is what has happened to Carter-Williams, who, rather than stop the precipitous decline he had been on since that campaign, saw it only get worse.

Never a shooter, Carter-Williams has no outside clubs in his bag. He is bad from three, somehow worse from mid-range, is no threat or decoy out there, and is somehow even worse still from within three to 16 feet. There’s no jumper, no floater, no intent to get to the foul line, and no confidence there. He even misses a troubling number of the point-blank ones. Without impressing as a playmaker either – it is hard to incisively move a defence around when they are so happy to let you shoot – the idea of Carter-Williams today is that he will get it all back on defence. And he does get some back. But not nearly as much as he gives away.

It might be of some benefit to MCW to wind up on a good offensive team where his role could change to mask his weaknesses. Going from the Bucks to the Bulls to these Hornets served only to put him in as reserve point guard on offensively challenged units, and he has proven that he cannot do much to change that. That is not his role nor his goal. But to find a unit in which he would look good again is tough. It is very hard to hide a net-negative offensive point guard. Maybe he should try to get to Golden State for the minimum and watch Shaun Livingston’s every move. But after a season like this, it might be hard to find work at all. MCW really needs a bounce-back season, and a lot of shooting confidence.

Player Plan: Expiring $2.7 million contract. It didn’t work. Let him go.

Read full article

June 29, 2017

Michael Carter-Williams
PG, 6’6, 190lbs, 25 years old, 4 years of experience

Four straight years of decline and with no evidence of developing any of the weaknesses he arrived into the league with, the one time Rookie of the Year now has no NBA role. His main asset on defence is size, yet this is not manifest into any significant ball pressure, lateral quickness or results, while on offence, he looks entirely stuck for what to do. Neither a reliable pick-and-roll player nor in any area a scorer, Carter-Williams is unreliable with the ball in his hands and not effective at all without it. Being taken in and out of the line-up cannot have helped, yet he needs to rebuild his career, for right now he is a reckless driver who struggles to both finish and kick out.

Player Plan: Expiring rookie scale player. Not shown any reason to bring him back.

Read full article

April 15, 2017

At point guard, Chicago has five options. The remarkably inconsistent Rajon Rondo, who turned his play around down the stretch of the season but who had struggled so badly prior that almost got bought out at one point, is flanked by the far younger quarter of Jerian Grant, Michael Carter-Williams, Cameron Payne and the small shooting guard that is Isaiah Canaan. All five, particularly the latter four, and even more particularly the latter three, have been consistently unreliable (although Grant emerged as the season went on as the less ball-dominant presence who could pick his spots alongside Wade and Butler).

Read full article

January 1, 2014

[...] No Sixer started faster than Michael Carter-Williams. After wowing with a near quadruple-double on debut (22 points, 12 assists, 9 steals, 7 rebounds), Carter-Williams has remained hugely productive, averaging 17.8 points, 7.5 assists, 5.5 rebounds and 3.1 steals per game. The steals per game lead the league, the assists rank eighth in the league, the rebounds are third amongst all guards (behind only Lance Stephenson and Russell Westbrook), while the points are second on the team.

Carter-Williams has posted all this after previously producing one of the worst summer league performances ever seen. Given the opportunity to run the team and freelance then, MCW averaged 4.8 turnovers a game and shot only 27 percent from the floor. Yet when given the same opportunities in the NBA regular season, he has thus far thrived. It is strange, but most pleasing to see, especially from a lead guard who only just turned 22.

It is a surprise to see that Carter-Williams has been the best rookie in the league thus far this season, yet surely it is indisputable. In a universally acknowledged weak draft class, few other players are thriving early, save for Trey Burke of Utah (13.8 ppg, 5.1 apg) and Victor Oladipo of Orlando (12.9 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 3.6 apg). Having the best rookie in the league is quite the impressive yield from a late lottery pick, and with Nerlens Noel still to return, Philadelphia’s first year of rebuilding is off to a strong start.

None too subtlely, Philadelphia let all of its talent leave, or traded it away, in a deliberate attempt to reload. Mindful of how short of talent they were, they are dedicated to rebuilding their talent level from the ground up. Carter-Williams and Noel are cornerstones of this vision, particularly MCW, the lead guard and replacement for the previous best player, Jrue Holiday.

Carter-Williams and Noel are the pieces around which others are to fit – for all the productive play of veterans Evan Turner, Thad Young and a resurgent Spencer Hawes (whose resurgence is due in part to Carter-Williams’s pick and roll connection with him), they are trade pieces or complimentary talents, potentially part of the longer term vision but only for as long as they are more valuable as that then as assets. For now, Carter-Williams leads the charge, with Noel and the high 2014 first round pick yet to come.

This is fine for the moment. However, the task of reconciling and creating a complimentary roster is not an easy one, and Philadelphia are a long way from achieving it at the moment. The makeshift 76ers are an oddly constructed bunch - this is a team on which the starting centre leads the team in three-point makes, and he and the starting power forward are the two leaders in three-point percentage. It is a team with some talent, both young and veteran, but also with almost every question left to answer. Indeed, Carter-Williams is partly responsible for the most profound weaknesses going forward, his own weak jumpshooting and poor perimeter defense (belied by the steals totals, his off-the-ball awareness and close-outs are poor, and he sags off too his man too often) being symptomatic of the team-wide issues. It is not a problem at this time, given the lack of intent to win, yet flanking a point guard who cannot shoot consistently is a potential problem going forward.

Carter-Williams's strong start highlights some of these problems for the future. It is easy enough to consider Evan Turner a likely trade candidate, or alternatively a candidate to leave in free agency – both ball-dominant players offering little spacing and far less off-the-ball game, it is difficult to see the two ever co-existing optimally, and Turner’s status as both an incumbent veteran and somewhat disappointment combines with his contract status to make him the obvious sacrifice. Yet the problem goes further than just pairing those two.

Read full article

July 8, 2013

Michael Carter-Williams

Criticisms of Carter-Williams include that he can't shoot, and he can't make contested shots at the basket either, as he's too slender. He's raw, he's too turnover prone, he doesn't use his left hand enough, and he makes poor decisions. All true enough, and all sound bad. But all can be worked at. What Carter-Williams does undeniably possess is size, a handle, the ability to score in isolation and in transition, a knack for getting to the rim more with guile than speed, passing skills and vision, and an innate skill for the penetrate-and-dish. If he needs to get bigger, tougher and smarter while developing a jumpshot, that's fine. So do most 21 year old guards.

Read full article