Brandon Williams hasn’t played a preseason minute for the Warriors, but the early signs out of camp in Hawaii have already pushed his contract situation in a clear direction.
Golden State brought Williams in after weeks of speculation in August and left him with a fully non-guaranteed deal, a setup that put pressure on the 26-year-old guard before he ever stepped on the floor. That pressure looks a lot lighter now. With the Warriors less than 36 hours from their first preseason game, Williams has done enough in training camp to make his spot on the opening night roster feel secure.
What has stood out most is the burst. Williams has shown the kind of speed with the ball and ability to get downhill that can jump off the page on a roster that has often looked older and slower in recent seasons. That trait isn’t a surprise when you look at what he did last year in Dallas, where he posted a career-best 13.0 points and 3.9 assists after finally breaking through after just 74 games over his first three NBA seasons.
There’s still a reason he landed in Golden State on a non-guaranteed deal. The league has moved away from undersized, ball-dominant guards who don’t bring much efficiency, and the source material points to players like Cam Thomas no longer being in the league and Jordan Poole losing his footing in New Orleans last season after once being such a valuable piece for the Warriors.
But Williams has not looked like a one-note scorer in camp. Steve Kerr has compared his speed to Leandro Barbosa, and he’s also been impressed by Williams’ work as a point-of-attack defender.
So the bigger question now isn’t whether Williams survives the roster cut. It’s how much run he gets once the preseason starts.
There’s a path to him handling all of the non-Stephen Curry minutes as the backup point guard, which would put him in line for around 15 minutes as a creator. And if the defense keeps holding up, there’s even a possibility he could share the floor with Curry.
For now, Williams sits as the fourth guard behind Curry, Brandin Podziemski and former high school teammate De’Anthony Melton. Even so, he appears set to play real minutes while the Warriors try to find offense without the injured Jimmy Butler.
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That plan fits into a broader preseason setup Steve Kerr is already mapping out, with Brandon Williams and Georges Niang also in line for defined roles as the Warriors figure out how best to spread minutes around. Horford is expected to contribute in limited bursts, and Kerr has been careful about managing the workload for his veterans as the preseason opener approaches, leaving the shape of the rotation clear even if the long-term answer at center is still taking form. [Read more 🡒]