Derrick Williams to compete in NBA Slam Dunk Contest

Williams showing off his hops.

Well, even though Rick Adelman doesn't want to put Derrick Williams into real games for the Timberwolves (either rightly so or not) it seems his alley oop finishes and I would guess his impressive dunk and dominance over Duke in last years NCAA tournament, has caught the attention of whoever the hell puts together the NBA Dunk Contest.  Williams, along with Iman Shumpert, Paul George and Chase Budinger have confirmed to be in the contest on February 25, 2012.

How will D-Will do?  Will Ricky Rubio (who will be playing in the Rising Stars game at the All Star Weekend) throw alley oops or be dunked over?

 

The Wolves have had a representative win the dunk contest before, the great round house kickin', east bay funkin', JR Rider won the contest in 1994.  Also Gerald Green represented the Wolves nicely blowing out a cupcake candle that was on the rim in 2008.  

Looking at the competition, I'd say that Chase Budinger will be Williams toughest competitor but I think Williams should go in as the favorite.  He is probably the best known of the four and star quality usually outweighs actual dunking skill in the dunk contest.  Bringing out Rubio may seal the deal, none of the other players (outside of Shumpert with Lin) have a teammate they can bring out that can add more star power and maybe shift the entire contest to his side.

Should be interesting to see and it is nice to see that even while Williams hasn't been showcased on the Wolves roster (yet) he will be showcased both in the Rising Stars game and the Dunk Contest during the NBA All Star Weekend.  It will also be interesting to see how the new Dunk Contest format goes.  The NBA is introducing fan voting, and fan voting only, as the way they declare a winner with voting online on NBA.com, Twitter and text messaging.  Also there will only be one round instead of past years with two, within that one round the contestants will complete three dunks, then it goes to the fan vote.

Check out how Derrick Williams rookie season is comparing with Kevin Love's rookie year.