Robert Williams raised his projected value by putting together a relatively healthy season and may have increased his chances of staying with the Trail Blazers, Keith Smith of Spotrac writes in his preview of the team’s offseason. Portland’s most important free agent decision will be whether to re-sign the 28-year-old center, who earned $13.3MM this year.
Injuries limited Williams to 26 combined games in his first two seasons with the Blazers, but he managed to play 59 this year, his highest total since 2021/22. Serving as a veteran backup to Donovan Clingan, Williams averaged 6.7 points and 7.0 rebounds in 17.1 minutes per night while shooting 70.8% from the field and providing an interior defensive presence with 1.5 blocks per game.
Smith notes that several teams are in the market for center help, including the Lakers, who have plenty of cap space, so keeping Williams likely won’t be cheap. Smith projects a new contract using Williams’ Bird rights at around $36MM over two years or $54MM for three years if the team can partially or non-guarantee the final season. However, he cautions that $20MM per year is too much to spend considering Williams’ injury history and advises the Blazers to look elsewhere if the price gets that high.
There’s more from Portland:
- It’s less certain if the Trail Blazers want to keep Matisse Thybulle, who’s also heading into free agency, Smith adds. The 29-year-old swingman only appeared in 30 games this season, and Smith points out that Portland has plenty of wings who are ahead of him in the rotation. Smith suggests that Thybulle’s value is probably around $8MM to $10MM per season, but that might be too expensive for the Blazers unless they plan to part with some of their other wing players.
- Apart from free agency, Portland faces a tricky financial decision on Scoot Henderson, who will be eligible for a rookie scale extension this summer. Henderson missed most of the season, but he played well during the closing stretch and the playoffs. Henderson was the No. 3 pick in the 2023 draft, but his shot hasn’t improved much in his three NBA seasons and he’ll face a tough battle for playing time, especially with Damian Lillard‘s expected return. Smith believes the Blazers might explore trade options involving Henderson and may decide to see what he can do next season before negotiating with him as a restricted free agent.
- A return to Boston might be in the cards for Williams, suggests Souichi Terada of MassLive. Neemias Queta showed he could handle the starter’s role this season, but the Celtics need a reliable backup after the trade for Nikola Vucevic failed to work out. Williams spent the first five seasons of his career in Boston before being traded in 2023.
Weird spot for Por
They got the room under the tax to easily re-up RW ( and still use full Mle and BAE) but it smacks last years decision of taking Yang Hansen in the face
Maybe a short 2 year high AAV is in store with the idea of flipping him immediately at next years trade deadline for some value
I’m not convinced RW has turned a corner. 8 games playing less than 12 minutes and 12 games playing more than 20. I’m sure Boston has fond memories, but they won’t offer much for him.