Brandon Williams finally gets the opportunity he should've gotten all along

One of the Dallas Mavericks' biggest bright spots last season, other than Cooper Flagg, was none other than Brandon Williams. However, until Williams signed with the Golden State Warriors recently, Mavericks fans thought Williams might not even be on an NBA roster next year, despite proving he's an NBA-caliber point guard.

Williams won over Mavericks fans over the past two seasons through his relentless effort, ball-handling, and speed when getting to the rim, as fans were able to see the tutelage from Kyrie Irving within Williams' game.

Williams deserved another NBA contract despite shooting struggles

However, it became quickly apparent that Dallas' new front office didn't have any plans of bringing the 26-year-old speedster back after already filling out their 15-man roster, and many Mavericks fans wondered if Williams would get another shot at the NBA this season after he became a fan-favorite in Dallas. He clearly deserved a standard contract somewhere.

Williams' flashy playstyle will be missed by Mavericks fans, but it's hard to say his skill set would be as coveted in Dallas next season as it will be in Golden State. Don't get it twisted. The Mavericks still sorely lack playmaking and shot creation from the guard spot, but Irving is essentially a full-fledged, upgraded version of Williams, meaning Dallas needs more playmaking and shooting behind Irving in the lineup.

Williams isn't a terrible playmaker, but he's definitely a score-first guard, and he hasn't proven to have a reliable enough of a jumper to be labeled as a three-level scorer (23.2 percent on 3-pointers last season).

Despite Mavericks fans' fondness for Williams, this is exactly why fans thought Dallas would prioritize Ryan Nembhard's playmaking over Williams' driving ability this offseason, but now both of them are gone following Nembhard's inclusion in the Zaccharie Risacher deal.

The modern NBA tends to look past players like Williams

With all that being said, though, Mavericks fans were relatively surprised Williams wasn't on an NBA roster until a few days ago, as many fans and media members thought the reason he wouldn't be back in Dallas was that he played himself out of a minimum contract. He averaged 13.0 points and 3.9 assists per game last season, showing that he can thrive when given the opportunity.

However, Williams signed for the veteran's minimum in Golden State, where he'll have the chance to compete for minutes behind Stephen Curry, but it took a long time into the offseason for him to even get this chance.

Perhaps this is an indictment on the modern NBA and teams shying away from small guards that can't shoot from outside consistently, but Mavericks fans would tell people following that ideology that Williams is still a talented player who deserves to be on a 15-man roster. He proved this time and time again, and this contract with the Warriors was exactly what he deserved.

He still shot 47.2 percent from the field last season despite suffering from outside, which is a credit to how efficient he is in finagling his way to the rim and getting to his spots in the mid-range. There's no doubt that Williams will be missed in Dallas, but most Mavericks fans are happy to see him sticking around in the league and will now look forward to seeing if Marcus Sasser and Sergio De Larrea are better equipped to be Dallas' backup point guards.

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