Charlotte Hornets: A Battle Of Non-Guaranteed Contracts

This week the Charlotte Hornets signed another player to a non-guaranteed contract to give them three such players as training camp approaches.

Former Ohio State player Sam Thompson will go to training camp with the Charlotte Hornets, according to league sources.
— Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) August 15, 2015

Sam Thompson will join Aaron Harrison and Elliot Williams as non-guaranteed players for the Hornets that, as of right now, will be battling for the final roster spot of a team that currently has 14 players on guaranteed deals.

The Hornets are thinnest at the wing so it’s no surprise that’s what these three players are. Harrison and Thompson are rookies while Williams has been in the league awhile.

Here’s a look at the potential of the three players:

Aaron Harrison

Harrison was the first of the three to sign and is a higher touted rookie than Thompson. Harrison was much more well-known too playing at Kentucky and making it to two Final Fours in his two seasons under John Calipari.

Harrison is a natural two-guard having played alongside his twin Andrew, who is a point guard, for most of his life. But he has some combo-guard potential, and that’s what Charlotte would hope for him to show he’s capable of in the NBA.

ALSO ON HOOPSHABIT: The NBA’s 50 Greatest Players of All-Time

He shot 35.6 percent from three as a freshman, but that fell to just 31.6 percent last year, which is a bit concerning. He has the size necessary to be a good defender on the wing at 6’6″, but even the best of incoming defensive rookies go through a learning curve when arriving in the NBA.

Harrison was impressive in NBA Summer League and may have a leg up on Thompson or Williams since he was signed first. His shooting has to be the biggest concern, but if he can provide hope that he can become reliable from deep, the other stuff he does might be enough to make him the frontrunner of these three.

Elliot Williams

Williams was one-and-done at Memphis and a first round pick (22nd overall) of the Portland Trail Blazers in 2010. He’s played on four teams in four seasons and that includes 2012-13, when he did not play in the league.

The 6’5″ lefty is just a career 31.2 percent three-point shooter who was even worse than that the two seasons that he saw consistent minutes. He made 29.6 percent in 67 games with the 76ers in 2013-14 and the same percentage in 24 games as a rookie with the Blazers. Williams led the Warriors’ D-League team, Santa Cruz, to a title this past season and was named the MVP of the Finals.

Coming into the league, the hope was Williams would be much better from deep and that would open up more things in his game, but it simply has yet to happen. His only advantage over these two is that he has NBA experience, but it’s not very much and not very successful.

Sam Thompson

Thompson spent four years at Ohio State, seeing his minutes and role increase with each season. Last year as a senior, he averaged 10.2 points and 3.9 rebounds per game.

Thompson never attempted a lot of threes but he shot respectable percentages his sophomore and junior seasons (40.4 and 35.5). He saw that number drop to 26.2 percent last year despite playing alongside superstar point guard D’Angelo Russell. Thompson has a solid stroke and has the potential to be at least a solid three-point shooter from the corners.

He did a lot of things at Ohio State that may not translate to the NBA. Scoring from the inside and using his size (6’7″, 180) to finish off imperfect drives was something he could get away with in college, but won’t be as easy to pull off in the NBA.

Thompson is the biggest of the three and may be the most athletic as well. If he can put in the work and become the best outside shooter of the three, he may turn enough heads to give himself a solid shot at making the team. As of right now, he feels third in line and a longshot to do so.

Next: Charlotte Hornets: Grading The Offseason

More from Hoops Habit

Home/Charlotte Hornets