NBA Free Agency 2014: Marvin Williams to sign with Charlotte Hornets for two years, $14 million

Multiple sources have confirmed that erstwhile Utah Jazz stretch big Marvin Williams will be going to the Charlotte Hornets, to the price of $14 million for two years. The contract is unremarkable in every say (no opt out, no trade kicker, no team or player option on the last year), save for the fact that it is worth #7 million dollars a year. I am unreasonably high on Marvin Williams, but even I would have wanted to get it him for Matt Harpring money, which is $6 to 6.5 million a year.

Marvin Williams agrees to two-year, $14 million deal with Hornets, source tells Yahoo. Fully guaranteed, no option.

— Marc J. Spears (@SpearsNBAYahoo) July 12, 2014

Marvin Williams had an okay season last year, but it was a season in transition. But the story of Marvin, clearly, starts further back. He needed a chance of scenery from the Atlanta Hawks, and the Jazz traded away Devin Harris for him. He wasn't fully healthy, but still managed to score 20 points for the Jazz in his first game with the team. It was all downhill there as he would end up having, pretty much, the worst season of his career. Then he got injured and finished the season early. It was no surprise that he did not exercise his Early Termination Option on his contract, and came back to the Jazz in 2013-14. Bereft of ball hogs (let's be honest, they are) Mo Williams and Al Jefferson things were to get better. He transitioned his game from being an athletic small forward to being a face up power forward. He was over matched defensively every night in the Western Conference, but made some threes.

After the trade deadline came and passed his game completely abandoned him And his body gave out again. Not the best contract year ever. But here we are, now looking at Marvin getting $7 per year again. What a wonderful world!

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Does this make sense?

The Charlotte Hornets are a playoff team in the East, and they just lost Josh McRoberts -- a stretch big with great floor vision who can rebound. You aren't going to win a lot of playoff games with Anthony Tolliver out there, so in theory, Marvin is a dynamic upgrade. He can't pass like Josh, but he should be better than Anthony. I don't know if he will, Tolliver shot really well from three last year.

It makes a lot of sense for Marvin, he lives in North Carolina, and this is him coming 'home' (even if he's actually from the Pacific Northwest. But there's no Seattle team... so....). He's not taking a huge paycut, and he has two years. Big Al Jefferson will get him open, but that didn't really make much difference two years ago.

I want Marvin to do well, and Charlotte is a fun team to root for. He's just not really cut out for being a power forward in the West. Maybe in the smaller, quicker, smarter East he will be of better utility? That's what I think we all wish for.

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Does this not make sense?

Yeah, we just have too much data about Marvin and Big Al at this point to think it was a fluke. They play incompatible styles of play. Or at least, they did under OC. They both are best on the left side of the court, and Marvin is best on a team that plays with a bit of pace. If he is to play PF he is going to have to be rewarded with a style of play that goes to his advantages, quickness and North/South footspeed. This is what he has against other PFs in the league. Big Al relies on the half court sets, and needs to be the center of attention. As a result, the play can't start until Al is in place.

I want to see evidence to disprove both the synergy information and the eyeball test.

Furthermore, if they are looking for a guy to replace what McRoberts did it's going to be hard, because he averaged over 4 assists per game. Marvin? Not part of his game. It's not going to happen unless every since coach who has used him before used him wrong.

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I am sad to see Marvin go. He's a great guy. A great team mate. He is willing to put the team first. He's the type of guy you want on your squad. I just don't want him there at $7 million per year. But I am willing to be wrong about all of this, and hope he does great in Charlotte. He was a pleasure to unconditionally root for these last two seasons.