Cody Williams

Williams is a young wing attempting to translate his five-star high school pedigree and solid freshman season at Colorado into a sustainable NBA career. Drafted tenth overall by the Utah Jazz in 2024, his early professional seasons have been characterized by limited minutes, multiple G League assignments, and a search for consistency. His second season brought increased playing time and some signs of progress, along with a historically poor plus-minus performance in one game. His résumé includes two state championships at Perry High School, multiple All-American selections, a decorated freshman year at Colorado, and a lottery selection.

Born Cody Leron Williams on November 20, 2004, in San Luis Obispo, California, he grew up in Gilbert, Arizona, after his family relocated. He attended Perry High School, where as a junior he was named Premier Region Player of the Year and averaged 13.0 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 2.0 steals while Perry won the Class 6A state championship. As a senior, he averaged 18.4 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 4.0 assists and led the Pumas to a 30-1 record and a second consecutive state title. He was selected to the 2023 McDonald's All-American Game and the Nike Hoops Summit. Rated a consensus five-star recruit and one of the top players in the 2023 class, he committed to Colorado on November 9, 2022, choosing the Buffaloes over LSU, Arizona, UCLA, and USC. He became the highest-ranked committed recruit in Colorado program history and its first five-star signee.

As a freshman at Colorado, Williams averaged 11.9 points and 3.0 rebounds per game, helping the Buffaloes earn a berth in the NCAA tournament. He was named to the Pac-12 All-Freshman Team. After the season, he declared for the 2024 NBA draft. On June 26, 2024, the Utah Jazz selected him with the tenth overall pick, and he signed on July 2. He was also named to the United States under-19 basketball team coached by Colorado head coach Tad Boyle for the 2023 FIBA Under-19 Basketball World Cup. Throughout his rookie season, he was assigned several times to the Salt Lake City Stars of the NBA G League. In his rookie year, he averaged 4.6 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 1.2 assists in limited NBA minutes.

Entering the 2025-26 season, Williams began to see an increase in minutes and an expanded role. He earned his first career start against the Dallas Mavericks, scoring eight points, grabbing four rebounds, and recording two steals in 22 minutes. On January 10, 2026, in a game against the Charlotte Hornets, he posted a plus-minus of minus-60, the lowest single-game plus-minus in NBA history, surpassing previous lows of minus-58 held by Scoot Henderson and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl. On March 15, 2026, he recorded a career-high 34 points with seven rebounds in a 111-113 loss to the Sacramento Kings. The performance demonstrated his offensive ceiling even as the team struggled.

Williams is a developing wing with the physical tools and athletic profile expected of a lottery pick. His strengths at the high school and college levels included scoring versatility, defensive potential, and transition finishing. At the professional level, his shot selection, defensive consistency, and overall efficiency have not yet caught up to his physical gifts. His primary areas of development are improving his three-point shooting to provide adequate spacing, becoming a more disciplined defender, and learning to make sound decisions with the ball in his hands. The jump from college to the NBA has proven challenging, and the 2025-26 season is his first extended opportunity to prove he belongs in a full-time NBA rotation.

Williams is the son of Ron and Nicole Williams and has two older siblings, Jasmine and Jalen. His older brother Jalen Williams currently plays for the Oklahoma City Thunder and has emerged as one of the most promising young wings in the league. The comparison to his brother adds external expectations, though their games and developmental timelines differ. Cody's path is his own, and his challenge is to convert his Colorado pedigree and lottery draft status into consistent production before the team's patience expires or the roster shifts around him.

Williams' résumé includes two Arizona state championships at Perry High School, a 30-1 senior season, Premier Region Player of the Year, McDonald's All-American selection, Nike Hoops Summit participation, consensus five-star status, Colorado's highest-ranked recruit ever, one season at Colorado with averages of 11.9 points and 3.0 rebounds, Pac-12 All-Freshman Team, an NCAA tournament berth, USA Basketball under-19 selection for the 2023 FIBA World Cup, the tenth overall pick in the 2024 draft by the Utah Jazz, a rookie season with assignments to the Salt Lake City Stars, averages of 4.6 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 1.2 assists, his first career NBA start against Dallas, the worst single-game plus-minus in NBA history at minus-60, and a career-high 34 points against Sacramento. His career arc reflects a young player navigating the gap between high expectations and early-career adjustment in a rebuilding environment.