Utah Jazz News: Is it time to panic about Cody Williams?

Cody Williams hasn’t quite taken off as we may have hoped. To authenticate this feeling, the Utah Jazz made the organizational decision to take Williams from Will Hardy’s active roster and drop him down for an assignment with the G-League affiliate Salt Lake Stars.

Quite an inauspicious beginning for a player that the Jazz were very high on as early as before the ping pong balls of the NBA draft lottery determined the draft order.

“If the Jazz had somehow gotten lucky and won the lottery, Williams would have been firmly in the mix to be the No. 1 pick,” shared insider Tony Jones, “The fact that he would have been in consideration should tell you how interested the Jazz were in the small forward.”

Attempting to hit on the right draft pick can often feel like playing the crane game in the entryway of a Walmart. Even though you’ve made every calculation and believe beyond all doubt that when you drop the claw, that Pompompurin plushie could slip through your delicate grasp, catch the nudge of an unsuspecting iPod Touch, or fall short in a million other ways before reaching the promised land.

Williams has an arduous journey ahead of him, and his next stop will be with the Jazz’s G-League squad. Too timid, too inconsistent, and too horrific as a shooter, Cody’s pro introduction hasn’t been comparable to his brother Jalen—who’s been tearing it up in OKC.

But Cody’s NBA exposure hasn’t been faith-promoting since the Las Vegas Summer League. In real NBA floor time, he’s been so invisible that Google isn’t even sure what he looks like.

It isn’t fair to measure his trajectory with that of his older brother, but their shared blood will boil the waters of comparison for the rest of his career. The Jazz understand that to unlock their rookie’s ultimate potential, he’ll need to be brought along slowly.

I’m sure the question at the head of this article has been burning a hole in your mind. Should we hit the panic button on Utah’s rookie out of Colorado?

The short answer is no—the longer answer is no way, Co-day (too much?). Keep in mind this is a player who turned 20 years old only 6 days ago (happy belated birthday, sorry your present kind of sucks), and it’s far from uncommon to see a rookie spend time in the G League to get more reps, build some confidence, and develop their game while distanced from their team.

Taylor Hendricks and Brice Sensabaugh both spent time with the Stars for much of their rookie campaigns before contributing to Utah’s rotation. Cody has plenty to gain from a brief developmental sabbatical.

In the 2024-25 season, Cody is averaging 3.1 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 1.2 assists per night on nightmare-like shooting splits of 27/19/60—a far cry from his collegiate output of 55/41/71.

Be patient with Williams, because we’re only in the first chapter of his NBA novel.