Lou Williams excited about Toronto Raptors
As the offseason began, the Atlanta Hawks were looking to create cap space. That’s why they dealt point guard Lou Williams and big man Lucas Nogueira to the Toronto Raptors for swingman John Salmons. Salmons’ contract was unguaranteed so the Hawks waived him and only had to pay him $1 million.
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Williams is excited to be part of a Toronto Raptors’ squad that won the Atlantic Division and returned to the playoffs a season ago.
“I am excited to a part of a young core, I am excited be on a team that wants me, that has a high expectation level for me,” Williams told Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders. “My time here in Atlanta, I realized that they were going in a direction that probably didn’t fit my style of play and I probably didn’t fit Coach Bud’s style of play. I’m a guy that needs the ball to be effective and they really didn’t need that from me. They were building a different core of a basketball team. I felt like it worked out for both sides, they got some talented guys in making moves this offseason and I feel great about the fit that I’m in.”
Williams averaged 10.4 points, 3.5 assists and 2.1 rebounds per game while shooting 40.0% from the field, 34.2% from beyond the arc and 84.9% from the charity stripe last season. In his nine-year NBA career, he’s put up 11.4 points, 3.1 assists and 2.0 rebounds per game while shooting 41.9% from the field, 31.3% from three and 80.7% from the free throw line.
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