Cleveland Cavaliers: Top 10 NBA Draft picks in franchise history
By Frank Urbina
7. Hot Rod Williams (PF/C) — No. 45 in 1985 NBA Draft
Career stats (with the Cavaliers): 661 GP, 12.9 PPG, 7.1 RPG, 2.1 APG, 0.9 STL, 1.8 BLK, 1.6 TOV, 48.2 FG%, 12.5 3P%, 73.0 FT%
The late, great John “Hot Rod” Williams checks in at No. 7 on our list.
Williams spent a large portion of his playing days coming off the bench for Cleveland, impacting games with his athleticism, shot-blocking and finishing near the basket. To this day, he’s thought of as one of the best sixth men in the team’s history.
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What’s more, Williams’ name is plastered all over the Cavs’ franchise leader boards for his important contributions: No. 7 in field goals made (3,198), No. 7 in points (8,504), No. 4 in rebounds (4,669) and No. 2 in blocks (1,200).
According to NBA Math’s total points added (TPA) metric, which is broken down into offensive points added (OPA) and defensive points saved (DPS), for his career, Williams was never much of a threat on offense.
He finished his playing days with a negative mark in OPA (-55.78), which shouldn’t be surprising since the Tulane legend was a center who shot under 50 percent from the floor.
However, defensively, Williams was a different animal. His career DPS is an absurd 325.28; considering anything above a zero is thought of as above average, it’s safe to say Cleveland’s former energetic big man was an absolute monster on the less glamorous side of the ball.