Grades for every Dallas Mavericks player ahead of the trade deadline

8. Grant Williams

Grant Williams has been an extremely polarizing player since signing with the Dallas Mavericks over the offseason. Williams has shown instances and stretches where he's been able to anchor down against bigger wings and even some centers on defense, but conversely he has also had stretches where he routinely misses defensive rotations and gets beat off of single dribble blow-bys.

Williams' three-point shooting has essentially been the same story, as he's sprinkled in many clunkers from beyond-the-arc with some electric shooting performances this season. As is the case for most of Dallas' players that are 25-years-old and under, consistency is the biggest key for Williams going forward. Williams has brought great energy to this Mavericks' roster, but he hasn't been the player that many expected him to be after a very good start to the season on both sides of the ball.

Williams is still shooting a respectable 38.2 percent from outside, but the former Tennessee Volunteer needs that number to reflect his consistency as a shooter when you take into consideration how limited Williams' offensive game is outside of shooting. Barring the occasional pump-fake and attack off of a closeout, Williams struggles beating defenders off the dribble and isn't a dynamic playmaker at all.

Williams should be accredited for his willingness to do the dirty work for Dallas, as he sets hards screens and is willing to get physical on the defensive end oftentimes. However, Williams has made some silly mistakes by letting his emotions get the best of him when he plays physical, so he'll need to do a better job at picking and choosing how to implement his physical antics.

Williams still has time to progress as a player and perhaps expectations were set too high since he was Dallas' only marquee free agent addition. We can't disregard his wildly inconsistent shooting and him not coming into the season in shape though, so he earns a C- at this point in the year.