FRIDAY, 10:16am: The signing is official, the team announced via press release.
THURSDAY, 12:58pm: The Grizzlies are expected to sign Elliot Williams to a 10-day contract, reports Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). It’ll necessitate a corresponding move, since Memphis already has 15 players on its roster. Ryan Hollins joined the club just last week, while James Ennis has a partially guaranteed contract. JaMychal Green does, too, though he’s an unlikely candidate to hit waivers. All salaries for this season become fully guaranteed if not waived by 4:00pm Central today.
Memphis will become the fourth team to sign Williams to a 10-day contract in the past two seasons, since he had 10-day deals with the Jazz, Hornets and Pelicans last year, as our 10-day Tracker shows. He didn’t end up sticking for the balance of the season with any of those three teams, though he was back with Charlotte for the preseason before the Hornets again let him go. The five-year NBA veteran who was the 22nd overall pick in 2010 joined the D-League affiliate of the Warriors in early November, and he’s put up impressive numbers in 16 appearances for that club, averaging 28.1 points, 7.1 rebounds, 5.8 assists and 2.9 turnovers in 40.9 minutes per game.
The 26-year-old has also canned 36.1% of his 3-pointers in the D-League this season, a key stat for Memphis, which lacks outside shooting, but Williams is just a 31.2% shooter from behind the arc over the course of his NBA career. The Grizzlies, at a disappointing 19-18, begin a key six-game homestand Friday.
I’m a fan of Elliott Williams from his time with the Blazers.