Williams shot 4-14 against Thompson in the NCAA tournament and reports indicate that Kanter struggled mightily against his defense.
That said, Grant doesn't have any real track record, so it is very much fair to question selecting a player with no offensive ability at all at #4 overall.
Finally, a fair evaluation....
Thompson is a nice prospect defensively....but has almost no offensive game.
Shows you just how WEAK this draft was/is.
Comparing him to JJ Hickson when he was drafted - I think they are similar in terms of ceiling, but they are different in how they play the game.
Hickson was raw but explosive coming out.
Thompson has a higher basketball IQ and is more mature than JJ was....but isn't as explosive. However, he's longer and has the ability to change more shots defensively.
The real problem is the weakness of this draft.
I'm not as upset with the choice of Thompson over Jonas V as some others are....because I wasn't very high on Jonas V.
My only hold up on Thompson is if you ask me - I'd rather have either of the Morris twins.....although I don't think they are very far apart. Again...speaks to the talent level of this draft....not a big difference between #4 and #'s 13 and 14.
He's a left-handed version of another guy who went #4 in a weak draft - Tyrus Thomas. (Although Thompson may actually be able to develop a post game, something Thomas never has done.)