Cody Williams' rookie season ended on April 2. Anyone who watched the Utah Jazz rookie this year knows that his first NBA season left much to be desired. That's putting it mildly.
The Jazz gave the former No. 10 pick plenty of chances to prove himself, and the rookie just wasn't quite ready for the NBA. Williams had his occasional semi-outbursts, but those were lightning in a bottle.
It's hard not to be dismayed at the fact that his rookie season was underwhelming while playing for a team that had minimal expectations from the start. It's also pretty hard to think of another Jazz rookie selected as highly as Williams who played just as badly.
However, that's no reason to lose optimism in Williams long-term. There are reasons why fans should think of the glass half-full here. Two in fact.
One, there's nowhere to go but up from here for him. There's no way it can get worse (...right?). Two, another Jazz rookie looked similarly in over his head last year, and he's completely flipped the script in Year 2.
Brice Sensabaugh's progress shows why no one should be out on Williams
Around this time last year, there were so many questions about whether Sensabaugh could be anything in the NBA. He too looked mostly overmatched against NBA competition. That's what makes it all the more amazing seeing how demonstrably better he has been in his second year.
There have been some speed bumps along the way, but Sensabaugh now looks like he's a keeper. At first, it looked like he was going to be the Jazz's next bench scorer, but when that wasn't really working out, the Jazz put him in a different role as a dead-eye sniper from deep.
Doing so has helped Sensabaugh find his footing to the point that he's getting compared to Jazz alumni like Georges Niang. The best part is, there is reason to believe it could get better from here. Even if being a feared floor-spacer is all Sensabaugh is, that's a win for the Jazz knowing where they picked him.
Compare his rookie season to Williams' and it's clear that the latter deserves the benefit of the doubt knowing the progress the former has made.
To be fair, last year, it was more defensible to doubt Sensabaugh because he was a late first-round pick, and a late first-round pick not panning out in the NBA is par for the course. That makes Sensabaugh looking so much better in Year 2 all the more impressive.
It's not the same with Williams because getting picked 10th overall comes with more sizable expectations. Seeing a player picked that high never really put it together, even while the Jazz threw him to the wolves, makes it easier to worry about him.
Because the Jazz selected him so highly and because he was badly outshone by the other Jazz rookies, all eyes will be on Williams' development for every minute he plays professional basketball going forward, whether it's the NBA, G-League, or Summer League.
However, if someone like Sensabaugh can take the steps he did in his second season, then Williams certainly can to. At the very least.