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Lou Williams: Hot Commodity

By Joshua Howe

Nov 28, 2014; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Raptors point guard Greivis Vasquez (21) talks to guard Lou Williams (23) against the Dallas Mavericks at Air Canada Centre. The Mavericks beat the Raptors 106-102. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 28, 2014; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Raptors point guard Greivis Vasquez (21) talks to guard Lou Williams (23) against the Dallas Mavericks at Air Canada Centre. The Mavericks beat the Raptors 106-102. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Toronto Raptors have a lot of players who are impending free agents. One of them is none other than LOOOOOOOOOOOU himself, Lou Williams.

Out of perhaps all of the players the Raptors could bring back, Williams might be the most important.

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Sure, he made a lot of boneheaded plays during the season, but the ones he made were expected. For example, when his shot isn’t falling, Lou has a proclivity to keep shooting until he drains one. And then suddenly he thinks he’s on fire. The shots he takes are rarely good ones.

But those are the sorts of plays that come with a guy whose role is to come off of the bench and get buckets. For what’s worth, Lou did that spectacularly this past season. Although he definitely lost the Raptors some games, he won them far more.

After all, Williams did earn the Sixth Man of the Year award this past season. He averaged 15.5 points, 2.1 assists and 1.1 steals in 25.2 minutes per game.

He was a large part of what made Toronto good: their depth. He was the one guy who could come off the pine and provide instant scoring. Greivis Vasquez couldn’t do that, and neither could Tyler Hansbrough.

Throw in that coach Dwane Casey often combined Lou (who isn’t a strong defender) with James Johnson, an excellent perimeter defender, and it made not only the bench, but Williams himself look even better.

Williams is being sought out already by various teams, including both the Miami Heat and the Sacramento Kings, reportedly. He’s going to be a hot commodity as the offseason kicks into full gear. The Raptors know that, and they’ll have to be prepared to fight if they really want to bring Lou back for another season.

And why wouldn’t they? Williams has potentially the best shot-fake in the league, can (very importantly) get his own shot at any time, has in-the-gym range (when he’s on) and can go off for 20 points in 19 minutes on any given night.

No matter where he goes, Lou will bolster to a squad’s bench. But he’s extremely important to what Toronto is trying to do. The season before last, the one big knock on the Raptors was their depth and that they didn’t have that one guy (sorry, John Salmons) who could score or at least drain open shots consistently.

This past season, they got their man and they did have the winningest season in franchise history. So that’s a start.

The Raptors have a lot of things they need to work on over the offseason, but one of them is not replacing Williams. They should do what they can to bring him back, even if he seems to be leaning toward other teams’ offers.

Lou was not one of the major issues with Toronto’s pitiful spiral and eventual downfall this season. He didn’t have a stellar playoffs, but heck, none of the Raps really did.

There aren’t many players in the league who are dedicated to coming off the bench and performing at their best every single night, and even less who are capable of doing supreme damage. Lou is one of those guys.

Williams may be a hot commodity, but the Raptors need to try and cool that talk as soon as possible.

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