Brandon Williams’ non-guaranteed contract with the Golden State Warriors looks more and more like a bargain, having further proving his value during a respectable loss to the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday night.
Playing without essentially all their main rotation, Williams was the main highlight of a first-half where the Warriors were able to match it with a full strength Trail Blazers team headlined by the returning Damian Lillard and blockbuster offseason addition Ja Morant.
Brandon Williams’ non-guarantee contract looks like a bargain
Williams continue to show why he’s going to be so valuable for the Warriors when Stephen Curry is off the floor, and while six-time All-Star Jimmy Butler remains sidelined by injury. The 26-year-old had 17 points in less than 18 minutes, shooting an efficient 7-of-11 from the floor as Golden State managed to tie things heading into the fourth-quarter.
Williams also added three rebounds and four assists, but his dime count could’ve been significantly more if not for some disappointing misses from teammates. After two strong showings with the main rotation through the first two preseason games, this served as a hint at what we could see during the regular season on the inevitable night where Curry is resting or battling an injury concern.
Williams’ contract remains non-guaranteed before opening night, yet there is clearly no doubt over his place on the roster, nor his place even in the rotation as the Warriors look to bounce from a 20th-ranked offense in the league last season.
Whether guaranteed or not, signing Williams to a minimum contract so deep into free agency could be one of the more underrated and value moves of the offseason, and one rivals come to regret missing out on after he enjoyed a career-best year with the Dallas Mavericks last season.
Warriors’ lesser known players impress in Portland
Golden State eventually fell to a 123-118 defeat, and might actually consider themselves disappointed that they didn’t come away with victory given where they were at entering the fourth.
It was nonetheless a promising showing from some of the Warriors lesser known players, led by former Chicago Bulls and Philadelphia 76ers Dalen Terry who nearly recorded a triple-double. Terry finished with 23 points, eight rebounds, nine assists and four steals on 4-of-5 3-point shooting in nearly 43 minutes, while Miles Kelly, another player bound for Santa Cruz in the G League, had 24 points, seven rebounds and six assists off the bench.
Charles Bassey had 13 points, six rebounds, three steals and three blocks on a perfect 6-of-6 shooting, continuing to press his claim for minutes in the opening night rotation. Second-year guard Will Richard also had 15 points on 3-of-3 from beyond the arc in nearly 33 minutes.
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