JULY 26: The Suns have formally re-signed Williams, the team announced today (Twitter link). The deal will now officially eat into a portion of the cap room Phoenix had available.
JULY 10: The Suns have agreed to a deal with restricted free agent Alan Williams, according to Shams Charania of The Vertical, who reports that Williams will remain in Phoenix on a three-year, $17MM contract.
[RELATED: 2017 NBA Free Agent Tracker]
Williams, 24, took on a bigger role in his second season with the Suns in 2016/17, though he only averaged 15.1 minutes per contest in 47 games overall. Still, he was very productive when he played, recording 17.6 points and 14.8 rebounds per 36 minutes.
A report last weekend indicated the the Suns had made Williams an offer in the neighborhood of $5-6MM annually over four years. His new deal is in that salary range, albeit for three years instead of four. Assuming he plays out the contract, the big man will be on track to return to free agency when he’s 27, perhaps setting himself up for a bigger payday at that point if he continues to develop.
The Suns entered the free agent period this month with an eye on a couple top-tier power forwards, but after missing out on Blake Griffin and Paul Millsap, the franchise decided to focus on retaining its own young players and perhaps accommodating salary dumps to add more assets.
With Williams locked up, Phoenix may shift its focus to getting something done with its other restricted free agent, Alex Len, assuming he remains in the club’s plans.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Love this guy. His mom is also the Phoenix chief of Police. I think the 4 year deal Knicks / Suns were rumored to have on the table was scrapped when Knicks signed Hardaway, so he took the 3 year $17M deal (which isn’t chump change) but pure speculation on my part. Either way, Phoenix did well to sign fan favorite ‘Big Sauce’ to a reasonable contract, especially by todays standards
I didn’t know his mom was Chief of Police. Really happy for him and his mom
Good move but williams need to work hard for playing time !!!
I agree
Seems like they have redundant players in Chriss and Williams. Not bad to have hustle players but their really isn’t a difference in the two except Williams is a little thicker.
I feel like Chriss is more athletic and William is a much better rebounder
Well it’s a good thing neither player will be on the court for 48 minutes. It’s okay to have players with similar skill sets in a rotation
Noel is perfect for the future of the Suns
You mean like Nerlens Noel? Because he’s not going to be a Sun lol
It was a dream from me I’m a fan from Germany I love my Suns since The Time with Stephon Marbury Marion and co.