Hawks announce re-signing of Williams

By SEKOU SMITH

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Hawks forward Marvin Williams always assumed the paparazzi was only for Hollywood types.

That is until the NBA version found its way to his doorstep this summer.

There were at least two premature reports about Williams, a restricted free agent, agreeing to and signing a new deal with the Hawks.

“It was crazy to look on the Internet and see stuff about me signing with the Hawks or that I was staying with the Hawks,” Williams said Thursday. “Yet there was never anyone quoted. It was always some anonymous person saying it was done or saying it was going to happen.”

All speculation was removed earlier today as the Hawks announce the re-signing of the 23-year-old forward. The team didn't release the terms of the new deal, but it is believed to be a five-year, $37.5 million contract that could increase to as much as $43 million with incentives.

Williams said the sides were never as far apart as reported and that talks actually “got better” as the summer went on. As a restricted free agent, Williams could have accepted the Hawks’ qualifying offer of $7.5 million and become an unrestricted free agent in July 2010.

“I knew from past years with Josh [Smith] and Josh [Childress] that this process could take some time,” Williams said. “But I was patient. I tried to be patient. And thankfully, things worked out.”

Williams, selected by the Hawks with the second pick in the 2005 NBA draft, averaged 13.9 points and 6.3 rebounds last season, but he missed the last month-and-a-half of the regular season with a back injury before he returned for the playoffs.

"Marvin is an important part of our core, and we’re very pleased to keep him in a Hawks uniform,” Hawks executive vice president/general manager Rick Sund said in a statement. "A big priority this summer was to retain as many of our free agents as possible and keep our nucleus intact, so Marvin’s return is significant for us.”

Williams said he never could envision playing somewhere else, not with seven of the top eight players returning from a team that won 47 games, finished fourth in the Eastern Conference and advanced to the second round of the playoffs.

“We’ve all grown together,” Williams said. “The one thing you hardly ever see in professional sports is that loyalty and teams staying together. When you do see it, like in San Antonio or Detroit when they kept their core guys together, you see championships.

“I think that’s everybody’s goal here. We’ve all started off together young in this league, and if we get a chance to grow old together, I think we can do some pretty special things.”