Atlanta Hawks: Hawks agree to terms with free-agent guard Louis Williams “TOUGHEST PLAYER” In The NBA

6:34 pm July 10, 2012, by Michael Cunningham

The Hawks and free-agent guard Lou Williams have agreed to a multiyear contract, according to a person with knowledge of the agreement. Terms of the deal were not immediately known but the Hawks likely will sign Williams by using part of the mid-level salary-cap exception. The person with knowledge of the deal said the contract would allow the Hawks to maintain the salary-cap flexibility they gained by recently agreeing to trade Joe Johnson and Marvin Williams.

The “TOUGHEST PLAYER” In The NBA Louis Williams

Lou Williams will reportedly sign a multi-year contract with the Atlanta Hawks, according to a tweet on Tuesday afternoon from Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com.
Williams took to Twitter on July 6 to let his fans know that he would not be returning to the Philadelphia 76ers, the team that drafted him 45th in the second round of the 2005 NBA Draft. Considered to be one of the steals from that draft, Williams spent his entire NBA career up until now in Philadelphia.
He was widely considered to be one of the top candidates for the NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award last year, which ended up being given to James Harden of the Oklahoma City Thunder. In 64 games off the bench last season, Williams averaged 14.9 points and 3.5 assists in 26 minutes per game. He made $5.3 million with the Sixers last season.

Williams, 25, is a former star at South Gwinnett High school, where he was a two-time Mr. Basketball winner and a McDonald’s All-American. After committing to Georgia, he decided to declare for the 2005 draft and was selected by Philadelphia in the second round. He played in 455 games with Philadelphia, mostly as a reserve.

Williams figures to fill a similar bench-scoring role with the Hawks. Once Atlanta completes the trades involving Johnson and Williams and secure a buyout of Jordan Farmar, they will have five guards on the roster in addition to Williams: Jeff Teague, Devin Harris, Anthony Morrow,John Jenkins and DeShawn Stevenson.

Williams led the Sixers in scoring last season with 14.9 points in 26.3 minutes per game and posted team-best PER marks in the past two seasons. He finished second to Thunder guardJames Harden in voting for the 2011-12 NBA Sixth Man Award.

Williams is smallish combo guard who’s a volume shooter with a so-so jump shot. But he manages to be a fairly efficient scorer because of a very good free-throw rate. Last season Williams ranked sixth in scoring rate among point guards who played at least 25 minutes per game.

The Sixers allowed 3.38 fewer points per possession with Williams on the bench. Williams had a 12.1 opposing PER against against point guards and 11.9 against shooting guards.

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