Sunday\u2019s 116-99 win over the Kings<\/a> at Barclays Center.<\/p>\nThe Nets are going through the painful process of tanking for a high lottery pick this season and also developing the young players they already have.<\/p>\n
They have to see who is worth keeping and separate the wheat from the chaff.<\/p>\n
Williams, at 24, has looked more like the wheat this month.<\/p>\n
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He came into Sunday\u2019s tankfest against Sacramento having started his last five games, averaging 17.2 points and 2.8 steals on .528\/.500\/.821 shooting splits.<\/p>\n
In his last 12 since March 3, he\u2019d averaged 14.3 points and 2.1 steals on .495\/.488\/.857 splits, the best month of his NBA career.<\/p>\n
With the Nets having started playing the back end of the bench, Williams hadn\u2019t played in any of the prior five fourth quarters and just one of the last 10.<\/p>\n
![\"Ziaire](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/user-expressly-acknowledges-agrees-downloading-124548522.jpg\")
Ziaire Williams (1) of the Nets drives to the basket during the game against the Kings on March 22, 2026. NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n
Has he already done enough to convince general manager Sean Marks to pick up the $6.25 million team option for next season?<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s playing well,\u201d Fern\u00e1ndez said. \u201cAnd I\u2019m extremely proud of him \u2014 how he\u2019s embracing every single situation and opportunity, how big of a pro he\u2019s been and how supportive he\u2019s been with his teammates, challenging them, cheering for them, just leading by example.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s been great to see, not just because he\u2019s scoring more or less. Obviously, I\u2019ve been running more plays for him because it\u2019s also good to see what he can do in those situations, right? It\u2019s an opportunity for everybody, but he\u2019s embraced and taken advantage of every opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n
Williams\u2019 offense has been more efficient \u2014 a career-high .588 true shooting \u2014 by taking higher-value 3s. He\u2019s kept his dribbles to a minimum, succeeding as a cutter and off catch-and-shoot looks.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s always been known as a defender but is playing less stretch four and more small forward and even shooting guard. Williams disrupts passing lanes and entered Sunday eighth in the NBA in steals both per 36 minutes and per 100 possessions.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe way he shines is when he\u2019s very aggressive defensively, then he keeps it simple offensively and [takes] that to a higher level,\u201d Fern\u00e1ndez said. \u201cEven the other day, I know I\u2019m running more plays for him but that doesn\u2019t mean he\u2019s dribbling 15 times and just playing iso. I\u2019m just running a second-side plays for him.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s quick, he\u2019s simple, he plays pick-and-roll, and he either makes a play to score or to kick the ball. So putting the ball in his hands, it\u2019s good. I haven\u2019t done it as much, but I still want to see him being decisive, shooting catch-and-shoot 3s, getting to the rim. But then his superpower of what he did against the Lakers \u2014 guard the best player on the court, be disruptive, get deflections, all of those things that gave the team energy. And that\u2019s when \u2018Z\u2019 is at his best.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s uncertain what Ziaire Williams can become, and it\u2019s unclear whether the Nets will pick up his option…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":688051,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3767],"tags":[7,670,247,3803,248,6,671,66],"class_list":{"0":"post-688050","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-brooklyn-nets","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-brooklyn","10":"tag-brooklyn-nets","11":"tag-brooklynnets","12":"tag-jordi-fernandez","13":"tag-nba","14":"tag-nets","15":"tag-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116318596161114075","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/688050","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=688050"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/688050\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/688051"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=688050"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=688050"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=688050"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Nets](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/los-angeles-lakers-forward-lebron-124571296.jpg\")
Nets forward Ziaire Williams (1) defends the Lakers\u2019 LeBron James (23) on March 27, 2026. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n