{"id":16934,"date":"2025-10-26T03:43:21","date_gmt":"2025-10-26T03:43:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/16934\/"},"modified":"2025-10-26T03:43:21","modified_gmt":"2025-10-26T03:43:21","slug":"ziaire-williams-improved-3-point-shooting-giving-nets-good-return-on-investment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/16934\/","title":{"rendered":"Ziaire Williams’ improved 3-point shooting giving Nets good return on investment"},"content":{"rendered":"

SAN ANTONIO \u2014 It was Ziaire Williams\u2019 janky jumper that got him salary-dumped by Memphis. But now it\u2019s his improved 3-point stroke that is earning him crunch-time minutes with the Nets<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A below league-average shooter for his entire career, Williams comes into Sunday\u2019s game here against the Spurs hitting 54.5 percent percent from behind the arc after going 6-of-9 from deep in Friday\u2019s home-opening loss to the Cavaliers. <\/p>\n

That\u2019s in the top 10 among players averaging 5.5 attempts, per Basketball Reference.<\/p>\n

And it\u2019s a far cry from where he started as a shooter.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, for sure. I mean, I worked my butt off every day this summer,\u201d Williams, 24, said of his offseason improvement. \u201cYou know, thousands and thousands of shots, three times a day, all different footworks.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s not any shot that I shoot in the game that I haven\u2019t worked on. And I\u2019m a true believer in that. The amount of work you put in always comes back and I try to trust God and trust my work. And I\u2019m glad I made some shots [Friday].\u201d<\/p>\n

Williams was acquired by the Nets in a salary dump<\/a>, a former lottery pick and solid defender whose lack of a jumper eventually prompted the Grizzlies to move on.<\/p>\n

Ziaire Williams shoots a 3-pointer during the Nets\u2019 home loss to the Cavaliers on Oct. 24, 2025. NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n

The Nets were reshaping their roster in the aftermath of dealing Mikal Bridges to the Knicks. Overshadowed by the five first-round picks the Nets got from their rival was Mamadi Diakite on an expiring partial guaranteed deal. <\/p>\n

The Nets flipped him to Memphis for a 2030 Dallas second-round pick and Williams.<\/p>\n

The fact that Williams\u2019 34.1 percent from deep last season was a career high should underscore just how far he had to come. <\/p>\n

But his defense, energy and youth prompted the rebuilding Nets to hand him a two-year, $12.5 million contract this past offseason, the second season a team option.<\/p>\n

Ziaire Williams battles Jaylon Tyson for a loose ball during the Nets\u2019 home loss to the Cavaliers. Corey Sipkin for the NY POST<\/p>\n

Through preseason and two games, they appear to be getting a return on their (modest) investment. <\/p>\n

Williams had 25 points off the bench Friday against the Cavaliers<\/a>, his second-highest scoring game while tying career bests for buckets (nine) and 3-pointers (six).<\/p>\n

And he scored 11 points in the fourth quarter alone, as the Nets cut what had been a 25-point deficit to just one before falling just short. <\/p>\n

He was a plus-17 in 9:37 logged during that final period, while starter Terance Mann got 3:58.<\/p>\n

Ziaire Williams slams home a dunk in front of Jaylon Tyson during the Nets\u2019 loss to the Cavaliers. Corey Sipkin for the NY POST<\/p>\n

Cam Thomas is available<\/a> against the Spurs despite having a nasal fracture. <\/p>\n

Drake Powell (right (ankle sprain) and Danny Wolf (left ankle sprain) are out, as is Haywood Highsmith (knee).<\/p>\n

Cam Thomas looks on during the Nets\u2019 home loss to the Cavaliers. Corey Sipkin for the NY POST<\/p>\n

\u201cZiaire was extremely active and was shooting well, so sometimes you got to read the game, and I felt like he needed to be there,\u201d said head coach Jordi Fern\u00e1ndez.<\/p>\n

The attempt by the Nets to develop a record five first-round picks drew comparisons to his own Brooklyn tenure from Kenny Atkinson.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFollow all the basketball buzz in Brooklyn\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSign up for Inside the Nets by Brian Lewis, exclusively on Sports+.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\tThank you\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\u201cI think of Joe Harris. He was a disaster his first year, like, can this guy play in the league? There were a bunch of guys in that bucket,\u201d said Atkinson. \u201cWe had the luxury of being able to throw them out there, though. There\u2019s no better development road than that.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis seems similar here where they\u2019re like, OK, the best way to do this is get these guys in an NBA game and take their lumps and they\u2019ll learn. And then Year 2 they get a little better and then Year 3 you hope you\u2019re in the playoff hunt. I would think that\u2019s the road map.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAN ANTONIO \u2014 It was Ziaire Williams\u2019 janky jumper that got him salary-dumped by Memphis. But now it\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":16935,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[98,100,355,99,4570,21,9,24,63,319],"class_list":{"0":"post-16934","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-brooklyn","8":"tag-brooklyn","9":"tag-brooklyn-headlines","10":"tag-brooklyn-nets","11":"tag-brooklyn-news","12":"tag-jordi-fernandez","13":"tag-nba","14":"tag-new-york","15":"tag-new-york-city","16":"tag-nyc","17":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16934","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16934"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16934\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16935"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16934"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16934"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16934"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}