The Wolves will exercise Derrick Williams‘ option for the 2014/15 season, owner Glen Taylor tells Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN (Twitter link). Minnesota technically has until October 31st to trigger the option.
The former No. 2 overall pick in the 2011 draft struggled in his rookie year but took a step forward in 2012/13, averaging 12 PPG and 5.5 RPG in 24.6 minutes per contest. For his part, the 22-year-old has been confident that the option would be picked up. Now, it’s all but certain that Williams will earn $6.33MM in the fourth and final year of his rookie deal.
The Arizona product has been linked to trade talk seemingly since the day he was drafted, but president Flip Saunders put that talk to rest over the summer.