Derrick Williams was given considerable physical gifts, and he is squandering them.

He is being given the precious gift of NBA playing time, and he is wasting it.

As the Timberwolves begin to resemble the cast of the “The Walking Dead,” Williams is sleepwalking through one of the most important periods of his young career.

The Wolves need him, and he is fading away from responsibility the way he fades away from the basket when confronted by a defender.

The Wolves’ most gifted healthy player isn’t playing long enough or hard enough to justify the second pick in the 2011 draft, isn’t playing long or hard enough to justify his place on a team that desperately needs him right now, and he doesn’t seem to understand that if he can’t help right now he might not be asked to help much later.

via Jim Souhan of the Star Tribune