Player to Watch: Louis Williams

FanHouse previews a player to watch from each NBA team in advance of the 2009-10 season.

When Philadelphia took just about the most raw point guard possible (Jrue Holiday) in the June draft, then declined to make a strong play to retain incumbent point guard Andre Miller, then declined to cash any other middle tier free agent point guards on the market ... that's when Louis Williams became a starting NBA point guard.

Up until now, Lou has been a bench fireplug for the 76ers, playing both guard positions. It's the classic combo situation: he's a shooting guard with slight point guard tendencies who happens to be the height of a point guard. He's a Bobby Jackson, a Leandro Barbosa. And like Jackson and Barbosa, Williams to this point has been a bench player exclusively.

But with Miller gone and Holiday wrapped in nori, that's about to change.

Williams has never started one game. Part of that, surely, is to be owed to Miller's ironman status. Miller hasn't missed a game due to injury in six years, and has only come off the bench once during that span: his first game as Sixer after being traded by the Nuggets during the 2006-07 season. Williams has played behind Miller the past 2-1/2 seasons. There has been no opening at starting point guard for Williams to get an audition.

Given Philly's trouble filling the starting shooting guard -- Willie Green has started there 134 games over the past two seasons -- you wonder why Lou hasn't gotten a jump there. But he has been vital (at least in theory) as the megascorer off the pine, the bench force who attacks and attacks some more. Williams has been fairly good in that role: his efficiency is poor, but he can create shots from himself and others easily, and he rarely turns the ball over. He's also a solid ball hawk, vital for Philadelphia's usual swarming defense.

There's also (again) the fact that Williams isn't a typical point guard. He takes about four shots for every assist; Miller, by contrast, took about two shots per assist last season. Williams is a star when it comes to creating shots. But most of them happen to be created for himself. It's a bit like Allen Iverson, who always averaged a bunch of assists per game ... but averaged many, many more points.

Point guard purity, thankfully, is overrated. There's no correlation between team offense and team assist rate, and recent history has shown extraordinary success for teams with impure point guards running the show. In fact, Bibby's Kings in the early part of this decade provide a solid example. Jason Williams had been considered much more likely to pass than shoot in comparison with Bibby ... but the Kings enjoyed their greatest successes once the swap had been made. Chauncey Billups has never been mistaken for John Stockton, yet he has an NBA Championship. Tony Parker is a scoring point guard ... and he has three NBA Championships.

Now, Lou Williams is not Chauncey Billups and he is not Tony Parker. But the lesson applies: if a team has players who can create shots effectively, they don't need a priest at the point guard position. A little sinful shooting can be tolerated. Mix in that new coach Eddie Jordan has imported the decentralized Princeton offense, and ... hey, Lou Williams: you're a point guard in my book.

This season will come down to Lou playing within himself, making the right decision (whether it's shoot or pass) and providing consistency in the absence of Miller, who was Mr. Consistency for 2-1/2 years. Last year, Williams tried to do a little too much off the bench. He soaked up 27.7% of all Philadelphia possessions while on the floor -- a rate comparable with Brandon Roy and Chris Paul. As Lou's deflated efficiency (.513 True Shooting, 105 offensive rating) showed, it was too much.

Lou and Coach Jordan seem to understand this, with Iguodala expected to share in ball-handling duties as the newly minted two-guard. (Due to a lack of a suitable power forward, and then the injury to Elton Brand last season, Iguodala has been forced to play small forward. This season, Thaddeus Young should primarily fill the SF role while Brand returns at the four.) And given that Williams will be in the game with solid scorers like Iguodala and Brand, the Sixers won't need him to break down the defense every possession. As a bench scorer, playing with fellows like Reggie Evans, the Sixers needed Williams to be a top option. No more.

Whether it will all come together remains to be seen. But it seems assured the Lou Williams experiment will get a full opportunity. Holiday has a big learning curve and Philadelphia has few easily tradable assets and no ability to take on extra salary. Lou's first chance as a starter is here, and it's up to him to ace the audition. If it works, he won't lose his gig any time soon.