It's becoming painfully obvious how Jazz see Cody Williams long-term

Ladies and gentlemen, the Cody Williams hype train is back on! The Utah Jazz recently gave Williams a bigger role by starting him. The results have been a little mixed, but Cody Williams being a mixed bag is better than Cody Williams doing absolutely nothing. Through his most recent stretch, the Jazz have utilized Williams to be what they believe he's best at: being a two-way wing.

The Jazz will not depend on Williams to be a top scorer for them primarily because they've got that area covered. Keyonte George and Lauri Markkanen are potent enough. Instead, what they want him to do is be a complementary piece on offense and a shutdown wing on defense.

Offensively, Williams still has some work to do as a shooter, but given his overall progress as a player and his youth, Utah has reason to be patient with him. The way the team has figured out how to make him useful on that end is by using him as a cutter. Williams' size and athleticism make him pretty hard to stop when he's driving to the basket, whether he's running the play or finishing it.

It helps that he is playing next to offensive personnel that demand the defense's attention, hence making his life on that end easier. If Williams can bring a dependable three-ball down the line, he becomes an indispensable part of the Jazz's future.

That only becomes more apparent when you realize how they utilize on him defense.

Utah has been assigning Williams the toughest covers on defense

Williams frame gives him all the tools to be a shutdown defender. Whether he becomes one or not is up in the air, but Utah has already shown that he has the team's trust to take on the other team's best scorer. Look no further than their impressive comeback victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves last night.

The Jazz put Williams on Anthony Edwards, one of the best players in the league. At first glance, it may seem as though Williams didn't do a good job on Edwards, who hung 14 points on Williams (Minnesota scored 24 points when Williams guarded him), shooting five-for-nine from the field, including two three-pointers, per NBA.com.

However, watching the game film tells a different story. Yes, Edwards could score on Williams, but the latter made things as uncomfortable as he possibly could for the Timberwolves star.

Edwards' numbers reflect more on the fact that he's just that good, more than anything else. The fact of the matter is, Williams made him earn those points. Another fact of the matter is that Utah made Williams the primary defender on Edwards in a game they won, so clearly they did something right.

And that outlines where things are headed with Williams. He may not be a star in the making (never say never), but he is figuring himself out and Utah has put him in a place to succeed. The Jazz already have a few of their bases covered, and if Williams continues to ascend like this with more time, they'll have even more of them covered.