Cody Williams Taking Noticeable Leap for Utah Jazz

Since the Utah Jazz have moved past the All-Star break, one of the more impressive standouts throughout their rotation has been second-year forward Cody Williams, who continued to showcase his strides on Monday night against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

In 37 minutes, Williams put together his second-most points in a single game, scoring 26 on 50% shooting from the field with zero threes, paired with six rebounds, four assists, and two steals.

It's one of many high-level performances the former lottery pick has had since becoming a nightly starter throughout March, and managed to land some strong praise from Jazz head coach Will Hardy despite the 113-122 loss to Cleveland.

"Cody's length and ability to get deflections and play really solid defense is real," Hardy said postgame.

"I also think his ability to shoot his pull-up is real. This is a guy who has worked really hard on ways to become impactful offensively in a world where everybody just screams about three-point shooting. Cody is not bombing away from three, and it's helped him."

Will Hardy Continues to Be Impressed With Cody Williams

Williams has been able to become more of an aggressive and impactful scorer in the second half of his sophomore campaign with Utah, but it really hasn't had to come with a ton of development on his outside shot.

Through the 15 games Williams has played throughout the month of March, he's only made nine total threes with an overall percentage of 23.7% from deep. Regardless of that, his growth to score on the inside and in transition has allowed him to average 15.5 points a night through that same stretch.

"There's sometimes a desire to prove everybody wrong, or fall into a trap of, 'Everybody's talking about my three-point shooting, I've got to spend extra time on it and this has got to become the only thing I think about," Hardy continued.

"And Cody works on his three-point shooting, but this year we've seen him become a far more forceful driver, a better runner in transition, a smarter and more impactful cutter. And his pull-up... It looks good, and he has confidence in it. I mean, he shot 50% from the floor tonight."

Mar 25, 2026; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Utah Jazz head coach Will Hardy and assistant coach Chad Forcier and forward Cody Williams (5) talk before the game against the Washington Wizards at Delta Center. Mandatory Credit: Chris Nicoll-Imagn Images | Chris Nicoll-Imagn Images

Once next season rolls around and the Jazz are slated to be fully healthy up and down their rotation, Williams won't have the same opportunity on a nightly basis like he's getting now. His ability to grow defensively and as someone who can work effectively off the ball, though, makes him well worth a key role in the second unit to impact the game on both ends of the floor.

Coach Hardy clearly sees that upside as well, making him even more excited for what his growth could look like moving forward.

"The biggest thing, I think, that we could all take with Cody is that he's adaptable and he's learning," Hardy said. "He is being effective in these games without just bombing away threes, and I think that the mindset more than anything is something that we can for sure take forward."