OFFICIAL DTB REMINDER: Even though Marvin Williams has had a long and successful career (at least from a collecting checks perspective, maybe not a “winning” perspective), he is still a big ol’ bust. Like most tweeners ever drafted at the top of the draft, he never lived up to the pre-draft visions of a long, athletic do-it-all forward with an unstoppable scoring game.
Luckily, W-Marv developed a three-point shot just as teams were starting to become accustomed to the idea of a stretch four. That ensured that he would always have a place in the league even though he never really panned out as a scorer. Although, I just looked at his 2007-08 shot chart with the Hawks and it completely blew my mind. W-Marv attempted just ten three-pointers that season (making one of them), but attempted 472 frickin’ shots from the deep midrange area. And it’s not like he was Josh Smithing it from out there; he made 45% of those shots, which basically qualifies him as some kind of midrange jumpshooting god at least for that season. I have this strong urge to go back in time and make a midrange-ilation for him now.
I’m looking back at the 2005 draft and W-Marv, while a bust, wasn’t the biggest bust there, and he’s outlasted a lot of his fellow lottery picks. Andrew Bogut was a bigger bust (I hate you Amar’e) and is now out of the league for good. Deron Williams, Raymond Felton, Martell Webster, Charlie Villanueva, Channing Frye, all those guys had good long careers but are gone now. Ike Diogu and Andrew Bynum didn’t last quite as long. Fran Vazquez is still a source of anger for Magic fans, and Yaroslav Korolev? He played 34 games in two season and was donezo. All things considered, that guy might be the biggest bust out of all the 2005 draftees.
W-Marv is really only competing with Chris Paul at this point so I shouldn’t be too hard on him. Busts are people too.