In an interview with HoopsHype’s Bryan Kalbrosky, forward Derrick Williams offered up a candid assessment of the Cleveland Cavaliers, his former team. In his estimation, while facing a difficult challenge in overcoming injuries and integrating “so many new players”, you still see “flashes of potential” from them.

They’ve had a few injuries this year and they have so many new players. It’s hard to adjust when you have that many new players on your team. There are teams like the Spurs who have had the same core for so long. I didn’t think they would be in this position but you still see flashes of potential from them. There are bumps in the road, too.

These words echo a quote from Cleveland Cavaliers J.R. Smith, in which he said he sees glimpses of the potential that they have but also sees how far away they are from performing at that level on a consistent basis.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uR23e3Du8L0&w=560&h=315%5D

More from Williams:

They’re just missing the toughness. They’re missing energy and excitement. LeBron will bring that but he can’t do it all himself. There will always be five men on the court. That was a little bit of what I brought to the team last season. I brought energy, effort, efficiency. Right now it feels like there is a little bit of coasting, to be honest. It’s a long season but you can’t get bored of winning. LeBron will never get that way but you never know with other players.

The second overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft, Williams signed with the Cavs for the 2016-2017 season after excelling in two 10-day contract periods.

In his time with Cleveland, Williams was a role player rather than being relied on as a feature player and the lowered usage did wonders for his impact. As he mentions in the interview, playing with LeBron James and Kyrie Irving, in addition to learning from the championship culture he encountered in Cleveland, did wonders for his confidence.

For his part, he certainly did being energy, effort and efficiency. He shot 50.5 percent from the field, 40.4 percent from three-point range and threw down 14 dunks in 25 games (per basketball-reference). The versatile Williams was able to switch 1-4 and even starred in a positionless lineup beside James that had the Cavs best point differential per 100 possessions.

Williams’ assessment falls right in line with what many analysts and beat writers have said about this team for weeks. They also echo the assessment given by head coach Tyronn Lue with the Cavs down 65-39 to the Houston Rockets at halftime on their February 3rd matchup.

Per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski:

Lue has expressed frustration with the team, describing the Cavaliers to ESPN’s Lisa Salters at halftime of Saturday’s loss as “soft, weak, no physicality, no toughness, no grit.”

The Cleveland Cavaliers, who have been to three straight NBA Finals, are looking anything like championship contenders. Bringing in new blood might be the only way for them to return to the NBA Finals if they can’t play with the confidence, determination, toughness and energy of a championship-caliber team.