As a high school prospect, Cody Williams was on the top of the world.
He was ranked as high as the No. 2 player in his draft class, leading his Perry (Arizona) High School team to a 30-1 record and the state championship. He was a McDonald’s All-American and was selected for Team USA in the prestigious Nike Hoop Summit. He became the highest-rated recruit in Colorado’s history, and had an obvious path to being one of the better players in the NBA.
It hasn’t quite worked out that way.
Williams had a largely anonymous season with the Buffaloes, one that pushed him down to No. 10 overall. And since arriving in Utah, Williams has looked perhaps more lost than any of the league’s young players, finishing with a league-low 3.7 PER, for example. His second season didn’t start much better, either, as he shot just 13% from deep and couldn’t find a way to make an impact on the floor.
What do you do when you’re struggling to that degree? Struggling to stay in the NBA, let alone thrive in it?
You go back to the fundamentals.
That’s what Williams has been doing over the last month, in a number of ways.
Take, for example, the shooting drills he’s been doing with his assigned Jazz assistant coach, Chad Forcier. One drill, performed just inside 3-point range at the baseline, has Williams simply gripping the ball pinned against his right leg, then rolling it up in his hand. He keeps his elbow tight to his body and releases slowly, with focused intention on bringing the ball up and releasing it in a controlled fashion. Forcier stands by his side, making small tweaks when needed.
“Grip is a huge part of anyone’s shot,” Forcier explained. “If you’re a quarterback, it’s finding the right grip on a football. If you’re a pitcher, you have to have the right grip to throw the variety of pitches. If you’re a golfer, you’ve got to be able to grip your club the right way. So he’s working on that.”
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Jazz forward Cody Williams (5) as the Utah Jazz host the Memphis Grizzlies, NBA basketball in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2025.
Williams called it a “high school” drill. But he said without the drill, he shoots too much like LeBron James, with his elbow out of the frame of his body.
“Sometimes you need to reset. Hey, let’s go back to the basics, kind of get your fundamentals right,“ Williams said. ”Rolling it up keeps your elbow from clearing out."
The need to rework the shot has also led the Jazz to reenvision Williams’ role with the team. Once imagined as a potential do-it-all two-way star, Williams is now trying to learn how former role players succeeded in the league.
For example, Forcier has been showing Williams tape of Corey Brewer, himself once a No. 7 overall pick, also a skinny forward, who struggled to find a 3-point shot in the NBA. Brewer probably underperformed that draft position, but was able to stay in the league for 13 years on the back of his ability to run the floor, cut well, and defend. In one of the most remarkable games in history, Brewer even scored 51 points on a diet of easy baskets around the rim.
“I’m just kind of learning when to cut — the cues, the head turns, that’s cut and go,“ Williams said.
“He’s handled the frustration of not making shots actually really well,” Forcier said. “He’s really trying to come to understand that he can develop his own brand, his own game that’s not dependent on having to be either a volume 3-point shooter or even necessarily a high-percentage 3-point shooter.”
And the tape bears that out: Williams has been taking fewer deep looks. Instead, when opponents leave him open — and they do — he’s been driving to the rim instead. Recently, he’s found some success there, including an 18-point performance against the Clippers and two punctuating dunks against the Warriors on the Jazz’s most recent road trip.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Atlanta Hawks forward Jalen Johnson (1) goes to the hoop, as Utah Jazz forward Cody Williams (5) defends in NBA action between the Utah Jazz and the Atlanta Hawks, at the Delta Center, on Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025.
Then there’s the defensive end, where Williams has been assigned some of the league’s toughest opponents. In general, coaches are happy with his positioning and smarts in those moments — but want him to use his length and quick-twitch ability to make more of an impact on drives and shots, just as Brewer did.
There are players who would have taken the comparison to Brewer, and the need to go back to “high school” drills, as an affront to their status in the NBA.
As head coach Will Hardy put it, “Sometimes people will take it as — ‘Why would you show me him?’ You show someone Scottie Pippen, and they say they want to be Michael Jordan,” Hardy joked. “But I think Cody understands the concept. You know, Cody’s a really bright kid, and he’s trying to find the ways that he can be successful. ”
There’s still much work to be done; Williams remains a project of the highest order. Thanks to his high-school exploits, the pedigree and success of his brother Jalen, and Williams’ heady approach to the game, he will likely continue to get chances.
“He has the physical tools to be a really good player,” teammate Kevin Love said. Now, he just has to make good on them.
“We’re doing everything we can to try to help him,” Hardy said.
