Brandon Williams Is the Fastest Warrior Ever, and Kerr Can't Stop Watching
Golden State averaged just 19.7 transition points per game last season — fourth-worst in the NBA. Brandon Williams' speed is the camp fix.
Speed and second-unit role are intriguing, but the usage path is thin.
- GSW averaged 19.7 transition pts/G last year, 4th-fewest
- Warriors ranked 28th in transition frequency (16.0%)
- Williams: 24 FPTS/G in 66 games (2025-26 actual)
- Williams up +4.5 FPTS over last 5 games (2025-26)
- Kerr compares his speed to Leandro Barbosa
The Warriors spent the summer trying to fix one glaring problem: they couldn't run. Golden State scored just 19.7 transition points per game last season, the fourth-fewest in the league, and ranked 28th in transition frequency at 16.0%. In Hawaii this week, Steve Kerr thinks he's found part of the answer, and it has a name camp can't stop saying — Brandon Williams.
Kerr went as far as calling Williams the fastest player he's ever coached in Golden State, invoking Leandro Barbosa, the original "Brazilian Blur." The difference, per Kerr, is that Barbosa did his damage off-ball, while Williams is a high pick-and-roll speedster who creates with the ball in his hands. Georges Niang offered his own tag: Road Runner. Meep meep.
Why The Speed Matters
This isn't just camp fluff. Kerr has been blunt about last season's offense, saying the team can't play out of chaos anymore and that he failed to help close out five or six winnable games — not through late-game execution, but by bleeding points across 48 minutes with turnovers and sloppiness. Williams' ability to beat his man and either finish or make a play gives Kerr a weapon the roster simply didn't have. Gui Santos, who's building second-unit chemistry alongside him, laughed when asked about it: once Williams picks a direction, good luck.
The other camp storyline is Niang, back from a lost 2024-25 campaign. He missed all of last season after a training-camp injury, but in 2024-25 he played 79 games and averaged a career-high 9.9 points. In Thursday's scrimmage he lined up as a small-ball five next to Williams, Santos, De'Anthony Melton and Gary Payton II. Kerr loves the versatility on offense but flagged the obvious trade-off: no rim protection, no lob threat.
The Fantasy Fallout
Here's the honest read. Williams posted 13 points, 3.9 assists and 24 fantasy points per game across 66 games last season (2025-26 actual), with his last five games trending up +4.5 FPTS over his average. He sits at our overall rank of #153 (#75 among guards). That's a backup-guard profile, and the second unit is crowded — Podziemski (27.8 FPTS/G in 2025-26) is the clear fantasy priority in that backcourt, ranked #115 overall.
For managers: Williams is a WATCH, not an add in standard leagues. The speed is real and the praise is loud, but the path to 25-plus minutes isn't there yet. Stash him only in deep dynasty formats and monitor the preseason minutes starting Sunday. Niang and the small-ball-five experiment are worth tracking too, though neither moves the fantasy needle until the rotation firms up.
