JULY 7, 10:11am: The Hornets have officially signed Carter-Williams, according to the team.
JULY 1, 5:34pm: Carter-Williams’ one-year deal will be worth $2.7MM, per Chris Haynes of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
We’ll see how Charlotte’s cap situation plays out, but that salary would fit into any exception above the minimum. If the Hornets use the bi-annual exception, it would create a hard cap at just over $125MM for the season.
5:19pm: Free agent point guard Michael Carter-Williams has agreed to sign with the Hornets, Jeff Goodman reports on ESPN Now. The deal, which will be for one year, according to Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer (via Twitter), can become official after the July moratorium ends on Thursday.
[RELATED: 2017 NBA Free Agent Tracker]
Carter-Williams had been eligible for restricted free agency, but didn’t receive a qualifying offer from the Bulls in June, making him an unrestricted free agent. As such, the Hornets can sign him outright, though the team won’t have any cap room — MCW will have to sign using an exception. Depending on the terms of the deal, it could be the mid-level ($8.4MM), bi-annual ($3.3MM), or minimum salary exception.
A former lottery pick and NBA Rookie of the Year back in 2013/14, Carter-Williams has played for three teams in his first four NBA seasons, and has seen his usage and his production fall off since his days with the Sixers. After being acquired by Chicago in a preseason trade with the Bucks last fall, Carter-Williams appeared in 45 games for the Bulls in 2016/17, averaging just 6.6 PPG, 3.4 RPG, and 2.5 APG on 36.6% shooting (18.8 minutes per game).
Carter-Williams reportedly received interest from the Thunder, Mavericks, Pelicans, Knicks, and the Rockets, in addition to the Hornets. With Ramon Sessions and Brian Roberts both on the unrestricted free agent market, Carter-Williams appears to have the inside track to be Kemba Walker‘s backup at the point in Charlotte.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Trash
wtf happened to this guy?
He just can’t shoot. Too easy to shut down the passing lanes when that’s all he’s gonna do plus he’s not super gifted defensively.
Smart. Roberts and Sessions were not coming back and MCW is an upgrade even if he isn’t the player he was in 2013 for the sixers
Someone use him like Livingston
Charlotte just needs him to facilitate and not turn the ball over.
Good value though. Now they got money to pursue Rondo or Collison, maybe Gay
How on earth did the sixers get a really high pick for him
Trust the process bruh