Grant Williams’ Mavericks downfall wasn’t just about a plummeting shooting percentage.
Rather it was his “yapping” that led to the Mavericks sending Williams to the Hornets for PJ Washington at the trade deadline.
NBA Central, citing ESPN’s Tim McMahon, posted on Wednesday that those within the Mavericks organization didn’t like Williams running his mouth nor his lack of fitness.
“I would say one of the ways that Grant Williams rubbed people the wrong way, the yap, yap, yapping obviously that’s kind of part of it with him,” said MacMahon. “Which, it’s charmingly obnoxious if he’s productive and it’s grating when he’s not. But he didn’t report in good shape and Grant Williams not in good shape is not a good defender.”
Prior to the Feb. 8 trade deadline, the Hornets got Williams, Seth Curry, and a 2027 first-round pick from in exchange for P.J. Washington and two second-round picks.
Williams spent 47 games with the Mavericks after playing with the Celtics for four seasons.
The forward’s minutes dropped throughout this season, going from an average of 28 minutes in November to 22 minutes in January. Yet, he did play slightly less (21.2 minutes) and scored fewer points (6.2) in Boston than in Dallas, with 26.4 minutes and 8.1 points.
The Mavericks also went 5-0 this season in the games Williams was inactive, and they have been 4-0 since he was traded away.
Dallas had a -4.0 net rating in the minutes with Williams and a 3.9 net rating in those without him on the floor.
Similarly, it seems Williams had frustrations with the Mavericks, which was possibly shown through his shoe choice that found him switching up from teammate Luka Doncic’s kicks to former teammate Jayson Tatum’s signature shoes.
So far in Charlotte, the team has gone 3-0 with Williams in their rotation.
He has averaged 17 points and 7.3 rebounds on 51.4 percent shooting across an average of 30 minutes per game.