Derrick Williams

Derrick LeRon Williams (born May 25, 1991) is an American professional basketball player who last played for Panathinaikos of the Greek Basket League and the EuroLeague.

He played college basketball for the Arizona Wildcats from 2009 to 2011.

As a freshman in 2009-10, Williams averaged 15.7 points (7th in the Pac-10) and 7.1 rebounds per game, and had a field goal percentage of .575 (2nd in the Pac-10; 12th in the NCAA).

He was named a freshman All-American, All-Pac-10 first team and the Pac-10 Freshman of the Year.

Williams rose to national prominence in his sophomore year.

Williams was selected with the second overall pick by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the 2011 NBA draft.

During the 2011 season, Williams had a field goal percentage of .595 (tops in the Pac-10; 9th in the NCAA).

He led the NCAA in True Shooting percentage (.690) and Effective Field Goal percentage (.650), helping lead the Arizona Wildcats basketball team to a regular season PAC-10 championship.

Williams was named the Pac-10 Player of the Year.

Williams also contributed to the Wildcats' run in the 2011 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament.

He made a critical block with less than 2 seconds against Memphis.

He had a 3-point play against the Texas Longhorns, which advanced the Wildcats to the Sweet 16 of the tournament.

Williams then had a career-high 32 points along with 13 rebounds to lead Arizona in an upset victory over the #1-seeded Duke by a 16-point margin to advance into the Elite Eight, where they fell 65–63 to the future NCAA tournament champion, Connecticut.

At the end of the season he was projected to be one of the top picks for the upcoming NBA draft.

Sophomore year honors:

Williams announced that he would declare for the NBA draft on April 13, 2011.

He was selected with the second overall pick by the Timberwolves in the 2011 NBA draft.

During the NBA lockout of 2011, he spent the summer at the University of Arizona taking summer classes to finish his degree.

Shortly after the draft, Under Armour signed an endorsement deal with Williams.

Williams joined several other NBA players for an exhibition game in the Philippines during the summer of 2011.

Williams participated in the 2012 Rising Stars Challenge, as well as the 2012 NBA All-Star Weekend Slam Dunk Contest.

Williams scored a season-high 27 points on February 28, 2012, in a win over the Los Angeles Clippers.

He made 9 of 10 shots from the field and 4 of 4 from three-point range.

He spent two-and-a-half seasons in Minnesota before being traded to the Sacramento Kings in November 2013.

He led the Timberwolves to victory over the New Orleans Hornets with what was then a career-high 28 points on March 17, 2013.

On November 26, 2013, Williams was traded to the Sacramento Kings for forward Luc Mbah a Moute.

He made his debut on November 29, 2013, finishing with 12 points (on 6-for-13 shooting), six rebounds and four assists in a 104–96 overtime loss to the Los Angeles Clippers.

On December 9, 2013, Williams scored a career-high 31 points in a victory over the Dallas Mavericks.

In the Kings' 2014–15 season finale on April 15, Williams scored a season-high 22 points in a 122–109 win over the Los Angeles Lakers.

After two seasons with the Kings, Williams signed with the New York Knicks in July 2015.

On July 9, 2015, Williams signed with the New York Knicks.

He made his debut for the Knicks in the team's season opener against the Milwaukee Bucks on October 28, scoring a game-high 24 points in a 122–97 win.

He later signed with the Miami Heat in July 2016 before being waived in February 2017.

Williams joined the Cleveland Cavaliers the same month, with whom he reached the 2017 NBA Finals.

He signed in China to start the 2017–18 season, but joined the Los Angeles Lakers on a 10-day contract in March 2018.

Williams has played overseas since October 2018.

Williams was born in Bellflower, California, and graduated from La Mirada High School.

Williams originally committed to play at the University of Southern California.

He was quickly recruited by first-year head coach Sean Miller at the University of Arizona.

He averaged 19.5 points (2nd in the Pac-10) and 8.3 rebounds (4th) per game.