Charlotte Hornets coach Steve Clifford said in an interview with the Charlotte Observer that he sees forward Marvin Williams who the team signed in free agency primarily as a stretch four.
Q. How do you envision Marvin Williams’ role?
A. He can play a balanced game – he’s plays both offense and defense well on the NBA level. He’ll play both forward spots, but I see him primarily as a stretch 4 (a power forward with 3-point range). Up close you see that he can shoot and pass very well. He’s a very smart player who makes smart, simple plays. And he’s very professional in his approach.
via Hornets coach Steve Clifford on Jeff Taylor, Noah Vonleh and being a little light in big men | CharlotteObserver.com.
Williams shot 36 percent from 3-point range last season for Utah, and played the majority of his minutes at power forward, at least according to 82games.com.
In some ways, the Hornets will be looking to replace the versatility of Josh McRoberts who signed with Miami using Williams, a traditional small forward. But Williams has never averaged more than two assists per 36 minutes, and has a career 1.6 assists per-36 mark. He's much more of a Rashard Lewis kind of player at this point, and I mean that as in "Rashard Lewis with the Heat." Big bodied tweener who can shoot from the outside a little bit. Williams should help spread the floor, though, something the Hornets are going to need pretty badly with inconsistent shooters all over the floor, and with their need to give Al Jefferson room to work.
But if Williams is going to be an impact guy for Charlotte, he's honestly going to have to either expand his game in several areas or have a career-year in terms of production. His acquisition was a gamble by Charlotte, and may be an even riskier one than what they took with Lance Stephenson.