According to reports, unrestricted free agent forward Marvin Williams has agreed to re-sign with the Charlotte Hornets. Williams’ new deal will pay him $54.5 million over four years. The contract cannot officially be signed until the end of the NBA’s moratorium period on July 7th.
Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical broke the news late Saturday afternoon:
Marvin Williams has agreed to a four-year, $54.5M deal to return to the Charlotte Hornets, league sources tell @TheVertical.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 2, 2016
Report: Marvin Williams Agrees to Re-sign with Charlotte Hornets
Williams’ contract will take him through the end of the 2019-20 season. No player or team options in the deal have been disclosed yet, if any exist.
Williams averaged 11.7 points, 6.4 rebounds, and one block per game last season for the Hornets. His nightly rebounds and blocks averages were both career highs. Williams also shot a career-best 40.2 percent from beyond the arc last season. He started all 81 regular season games in which he played for the Hornets, along with all seven of Charlotte’s playoff games in its first round series loss to the Miami Heat.
Williams re-invented himself as a stretch power forward last season, starting at that position for the Hornets. Previously, Williams had played small forward, where he’d been an average player at best. But at the four, Williams was a pick-and-pop threat with point guard Kemba Walker running the show. Williams provided spacing for Walker and the Hornets’ other attacking guards, with only one true big man in the paint for Charlotte. The Hornets’ small ball lineups, featuring many playmakers, manufactured more open shots for Williams. This helped his three-point shooting improve from average to elite, which made him a dangerous threat on the perimeter.
Looking forward, Williams will continue to be a scoring weapon and solid defender starting at power forward for Charlotte. At that position, Williams can hit open catch-and-shoot three-pointers when opposing big men, who aren’t used to guarding the perimeter, sag into the paint. When a defender closes out on his shot, Williams can pump fake and blow by to the rim. On the other end of the floor, Williams is strong enough to defend opposing big men and keep them off the boards, despite standing at just 6’9″. The Hornets will need Williams to continue his strong play and prove that last year’s success was not a fluke, in order for them to take the next step and contend for homecourt advantage in the playoffs next season.
Williams is going into his 12th season in the league, during which he’ll be 30 years old. He was selected second overall by the Atlanta Hawks in the 2005 NBA Draft, spending seven seasons with them. Williams then played for the Utah Jazz for two years, eventually landing in Charlotte in 2014, where he’s spent his last two seasons. He’ll play for the Hornets until his best NBA days are behind him, barring a trade.
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