The Warriors have agreed to a one-year contract with 27-year-old combo guard Elliot Williams, sources told Shams Charania of The Vertical (Twitter link). The contract has a “strong” partial guarantee, Charania adds. Impact Sports, which represents Williams, tweeted out a congratulations to Williams.
Williams appeared in five games with the Grizzlies last season, averaging 1.6 points in 9.0 minutes. In 2014/15, he played a combined 13 games with the Pelicans and Jazz.
The 6’5” Williams made his league debut with the Trail Blazers in 2011/12, appearing in 24 games. His career was sidetracked by an Achilles injury, forcing him to miss the following season.
His most extensive playing time came with the Sixers in 2013/14, when he saw action in 67 games, including the only two starts of his career. He averaged 6.0 points in 17.3 minutes that season.
The Warriors are quite familiar with Williams, as he played for their D-League team in Santa Cruz last season. Williams averaged 28.4 points, 6.8 rebounds and 6.0 assists in 21 games.
Williams has a shot to earn rotation minutes behind Stephen Curry, Shaun Livingston and Klay Thompson. The other guard options are Ian Clark and Pat McCaw.
Solid move for the Warriors. I think he can replace Barbosa’s ball handling and some of Brandon Rush’s defense and rebounding. I’m guessing him and McCaw make up those minutes. But I do think he will make the team with only Curry, Klay, Livingston, Clark, and Mccaw signed.