There was never any real doubt that Kenrich Williams would make the Pelicans‘ regular season roster, but doing so will give him some financial security. As ESPN’s Bobby Marks notes (via Twitter), Williams is one of three players who will have his salary for 2019/20 fully guaranteed today, barring any last-minute roster moves.
Williams, 24, emerged as a rotation player for the Pelicans last season, averaging 6.1 PPG and 4.8 RPG in 46 games (23.5 MPG). He’ll likely see regular minutes to start this season too, as New Orleans doesn’t have a ton of depth at the forward position now that Darius Miller is out for the season and Zion Williamson will miss six to eight weeks.
Williams’ $1,416,852 salary for ’19/20 had already been partially guaranteed for $200K, per Basketball Insiders’ contract data. After today, he’ll become the 14th Pelican with a fully guaranteed contract for this season, leaving Jahlil Okafor as the only player on a non-guaranteed deal.
[RELATED: 2019/20 Non-Guaranteed Contracts By Team]
Here are the other players who will receive salary guarantees if they remain under contract through today, per Marks:
- Chris Boucher (Raptors): $125,000 partial guarantee increases to full guarantee of $1,588,231.
- Malcolm Miller (Raptors): $150,000 partial guarantee increases to full guarantee of $1,588,231.
- Ryan Anderson (Rockets): $250,000 partial guarantee increases to $500,000 partial guarantee (full salary is $2,564,753 with a $1,620,564 cap hit).