Grading Warriors' Georges Niang, Brandon Williams Signings

The Golden State Warriors agreed to terms with point guard Brandon Williams and power forward Georges Niang on Tuesday, completing their 15-man roster.

Both players got veteran minimum deals and will account for $2.4 million cap hits.

Let's grade the signings focusing on a combination of whether they were the best options available on the free-agent market and how they'll fit with the Warriors.

Brandon Williams

Williams was the best point guard free agent remaining, which sets the grade at a good baseline.

But there are significant fit questions that bring the grade down a bit.

At 6'1", Williams is a target on defense. That's to be expected for most backup point guards, but it's an issue nonetheless.

Offensively, Williams will thrive only if Steve Kerr adapts his coaching. Williams has a deep bag, but he's been prone to over-dribbling, which could drive Kerr wild.

Williams is also a non-threat from three-point range. The Warriors will have spacing issues when Williams shares the court with other non-shooters like Draymond Green and Charles Bassey.

With all that said, Williams can get into the paint and score in ways few Warriors can. They need what he can provide.

Interestingly, the Mavericks were one of the worst three-point shooting teams in the NBA last year (34.4 percent), and yet they still scored 4.9 points per 100 possessions more with Williams on the court, per Cleaning the Glass.

The Warriors shot 35.6 percent from last season, and in theory they have better shooters to surround Williams.

One way this signing could look silly is if LJ Cryer severely outperforms Williams. Cryer is on a two-way contract, and though he isn't anywhere near as athletic as Williams, he's a much better shooter and a feisty defender to boot.

Even if that happens, though, the Warriors can find a way to clear a roster spot at the trade deadline to upgrade Cryer's contract.

For the veteran minimum, the Warriors could have done worse. The other PG options—Gabe Vincent and Aaron Holiday among them—were obvious downgrades to Williams.

It's also simply good practice to get 26-year-old players under contract. It's much more common for a player in Williams' age bracket to make a leap than regress.

Grade: B+

Georges Niang

Niang's one big selling point is his three-point shooting. The 33-year-old has a career 39.9 percent three-point percentage.

But the question is, does his shooting make up for his poor defense?

Niang has posted four consecutive seasons of Defensive EPMs in the 24th percentile or worse, per Dunks and Threes.

The Warriors are already down two of their best wing defenders in Jimmy Butler and Moses Moody for at least half the season. They won't have lots of lineup combinations that hide Niang's on-ball defense, and the ones that do could leave Gui Santos or Yaxel Lendeborg exposed.

On the plus side, Niang has played rotation minutes on a lot of winning teams. Besides missing last season with a foot injury, he's been durable.

My guess is he'll play a decent amount in the first half of the season, especially when the Warriors offense is going through a stretch of stagnation or cold shooting.

When Butler and Moody return, the Dubs will have enough wing and frontcourt depth to leave Niang on the bench.

That doesn't make Niang a bad signing. The other veteran-minimum options remaining—Kelly Olynyk, Bruce Brown and Dalen Terry among them—have their warts as well.

But it's fair to say the best-case scenario for Niang is less impactful than the best-case scenario for Williams.

That Niang feels underwhelming is a symptom of not being aggressive on the veteran-minimum market earlier in free agency.

On the plus side, Niang should unlock some extremely efficient groupings. Lineups with Stephen Curry, Brandin Podziemski, Niang and Al Horford will take and make a bunch of threes.

Grade: B-

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