http://www.sacbee.com/100/story/102413.htmlKings to sign Williams to 10-day deal, agent says
By Sam Amick - Bee Staff Writer
Published 9:46 am PST Wednesday, January 3, 2007
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A little more than two months later, Justin Williams will be getting his second NBA shot in Sacramento.
According to Williams' agent, Darren White, the former Wyoming center who was signed by the Kings after the Las Vegas summer league as an undrafted free agent in July and cut in late October will be signed to a 10-day contract Friday.
The athletic 6-foot-10, 230-pound Williams may help a team that's sorely lacking in frontcourt size. The Kings currently rank 27th in blocks per game (3.7) and are one of 15 teams with a negative rebounding differential (-0.9), both areas in which Williams specializes.
Through 12 games playing for the Bismarck Wizards of the NBA Developmental League, Williams led the 12-team league in blocks (3.08 per game) and rebounds (12.3 per game) while scoring 12.1 points per game.
The Kings will now be at the league maximum of 15 players. Should Williams impress like he did during training camp, the Kings can sign him to another 10-day deal starting Jan. 15. From there, they must decide whether to keep him for the remainder of the season, and would pay him a pro-rated version of the league minimum of $412,000 to do so.
Williams averaged 12.1 points, 12.3 rebounds, and 3.1 blocks per game for the Dakota Wizards this season. The Kings roster sat at 14 players before the signing, so it will not be necessary for them to cut somebody for roster purposes. Williams will be in uniform on Thursday when Sacramento hosts the Los Angeles
The athletic 6-foot-10, 230-pound Williams may help a team that's sorely lacking in frontcourt size.
Impressive, he bulked up. Out of college, Draftexpress had him listed at 210 pounds. I think 230 is a solid weight for what we want him for, not to bulky to preserve that cat-like quickness, but not to thin to get pushed around by PGs
You are assuming that those are his true numbers -- unlikely unfortunately. He did not look THAT skinny to me when he was in camp, but when you see numbers listed like that for a borderline prospect they are almost surely inflated to make him sound more appealing to teams in the market.
Wow talk about excitement and that too over a D-League/borderline NBA player.
Good luck with the guy but make sure you don't make him out to be Wilt Chamberlain.
The San Diego State Aztecs won the Mountain West tournament despite shooting 28% from the field for the game. They kept trying to give their bid away to Wyoming (who would have been the only sub .500 team in the field), but the Cowboys refused to take it. The Aztecs played a very sloppy game in the finals, but some of the credit has to go to Wyoming forward/center Justin Williams who is an intimidator inside. By the end of the Mountain West tourney, he'd amassed 39 rebounds and 23 blocked shots. Unfortunately, he has no shooting touch, but he might just be one nappy fro away from being the next Ben Wallace.
The Kings two block leaders this year are Ron Artest and our backup swingman (Salmons).Add to that the fact that the Kings haven't made a youth + size move in years and you have a lot of Kings fans that are excited about a potential role player like JW...and for good reason.
When you're missing a leg, it's all well and fine to talk about some future cloning breakthrough which might make it possible to grow a new one, but after discussing that possibility for months or years, with no breakthroughs on the horizon, even a bargain basement prosthesis is going to start looking really good.
You are assuming that those are his true numbers -- unlikely unfortunately. He did not look THAT skinny to me when he was in camp, but when you see numbers listed like that for a borderline prospect they are almost surely inflated to make him sound more appealing to teams in the market.
Brick, I am surprised that you are not more positive about this move. We both know that he will not see much PT, but he will be practicing with the Kings. He has potential to be everything (maybe not everything) that we need in time. IMO this shows that GP and the Malloofs are willing to somehow address the holes. As well as seriously hinting at a realistic rebuild with focus on the future and not the present.
I am really excited about this move, but that does show how boring this team is right now.
3) Muss and Petrie cut this kid just a few months ago. So neither party deserves much credit for being forced to admit they ****ed up a few months later. Nor am I exactly swimming in confidence that 60 days after cutting a kid outright and not even retaining his rights, that we have suddenly decided that this is a major piece signalling a new directionf or the team.
2) I am realistic about the move, a key survival skill here. Kid was undrafted for a reason. Cut for a reason. In the NBDL for a reason. Not picked up by another team before us for a reason. Something there, but not clear he'll even get a shot to display it, let alone be an impact guy.
3) Muss and Petrie cut this kid just a few months ago. So neither party deserves much credit for being forced to admit they ****ed up a few months later. Nor am I exactly swimming in confidence that 60 days after cutting a kid outright and not even retaining his rights, that we have suddenly decided that this is a major piece signalling a new directionf or the team.
Good move Petrie! I think that Justin will probably see some playing time in the first few games simply because the staff needs to assess whether or not he is worth keeping around. And yes, this is great news that we have a good core of young talent developing.
I think it is a good move too, but it could be the precursor to something else brewing. Possibly a trade sending 2-3 players away for 1 which would weaken the numbers during practice. (But that is a subject for another thread) My guess is that Justin is being brought in primarily for practice sessions. Whatever the reason, I am very happy that Williams is coming back, if only for 10 days at a time.
If he works out I am very excited about our future prospects.
3) Muss and Petrie cut this kid just a few months ago. So neither party deserves much credit for being forced to admit they ****ed up a few months later. Nor am I exactly swimming in confidence that 60 days after cutting a kid outright and not even retaining his rights, that we have suddenly decided that this is a major piece signalling a new directionf or the team.