Grading The Sacramento Kings’ Offseason: Goodbye, Terrence Williams?

When the Sacramento Kings acquired James Johnson from the Toronto Raptors earlier this offseason, the writing was seemingly on the wall for Terrence Williams, who played in 18 games for the purple and black last season.

After being released by the Houston Rockets thanks to some apparently immature ways, Williams appeared to have found a home in Sacramento. T-Will played some of the best ball of his young career for the Kings, putting up nearly 9 points, 3 assists and 4 rebounds in just 20 minutes a contest – that not even taking into account the solid defense or point forward duties Williams provided. From on-court perspective, there’s absolutely no reason you wouldn’t want Williams’ game so it strikes me as odd that on August 13th, the former Louisville Cardinal is void of a team.

The 11th pick in the 2009 NBA Draft said during and after the season that he’d be more than welcome to a Sacramento return and even the normally vague and non-committal GM Geoff Petrie said he’d be interested in bringing Williams back, so what was the problem?

The scenario that initially pops into your head is security, both from a longevity and financial standpoint. While I don’t believe Terrence is asking for a Scrooge McDuck vault of gold coins, he certainly wants his fair share and who can blame him? Unfortunately, my guess is most teams aren’t all that willing to commit long-term to Williams, despite his squeaky clean run with the Kings. It’s hard to shake a self-inflicted reputation, especially when issues arose recently as last season in Houston.

With 14 of 15 roster spots filled, it appears unlikely the Kings have any plans to reunite with Williams, but stranger things have happened.

Giving the Kings a grade on most likely passing on Williams is difficult, simply because we don’t know what type of deal he’ll receive. If it’s relatively cheap and short, it’s a clear whiff, especially with the Kings’ absurd amnesty claim on forward Travis Outlaw last year. But if Williams can find himself a long term deal (unlikely), it’s hard to be upset at either he or the Kings for moving on.

Despite the issues Williams has had in the past, his on-court game was never much of a question. In a perfect world, the Kings would find a way to bring him back on a discount, but it appears the stars aligning aren’t in the forecast barring another roster move for the Kings.

Shame, really.

Grade: Incomplete