This past Monday, the Los Angeles Lakers slightly upgraded their forward and wing depth by getting Ziaire Williams, a 6-foot-9, 24-year-old forward, to agree to a one-year veteran minimum contract that will pay him $3 million.
Williams is very lean at about 185 pounds and has mostly played the 3 position, but he’s known as a capable defender who is athletic. He isn’t a good 3-point shooter, but he has improved in that department over the last couple of years. Wing and forward depth was the Lakers’ biggest positional need when Williams agreed to that one-year deal.
The deal became official on Sunday, per the Lakers’ official X (formerly Twitter) account. Williams will wear jersey No. 11.
Williams averaged 10.2 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.4 steals in 22.9 minutes a game while shooting 34.3% from 3-point range this past season for the Brooklyn Nets. Since he’s young, he at least theoretically still has some upward potential, especially as an outside shooter, and the Lakers could still use more 3-point threats.
He will likely come off the bench, but the team can now have a decent bench with players such as him, Collin Sexton and possibly Sandro Mamukelashvili and rookie Cameron Carr coming in to provide offense. Los Angeles was 29th in bench scoring last season.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Lakers have officially signed forward Ziaire Williams
Reporting by Robert Marvi, LeBron Wire / LeBron Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Robert Marvi, LeBron Wire | USA TODAY Network
