New Orleans Pelicans: Worst free agent signings of the last 3 years

New Orleans Pelicans free agents: Kenrich Williams was not a good signing

Kenrich Williams

This one hurts a bit because Kenrich “Kenny Hustle” Williams was a fan favorite in his brief time with the New Orleans Pelicans.

They signed him on July 23, 2018 and at the time it looked like a good signing, a potential contributor that the Pelicans got on a team-friendly contract that paid him just $1.4 million last season.

The problem is that Williams only played in 46 games in 2018-19 and just 39 games in 2019-20, which really ended up hurting the Pelicans.

Williams’ salary wasn’t a problem but the Pelicans really could have used his defense off the bench. The Pels were light on forwards all season, and even when Williams was in there, he wasn’t 100 percent.

The Pelicans thought they had a solid 3-and-D contributor in Williams, but his shot disappeared, going from a bad 33 percent from 3-point range to an abysmal 25.8 percent. He also shot just 34 percent from the free-throw line, adding to the Pels woes there.

Williams may have “hustled” but didn’t ever really play the consistent defense the Pelicans needed, even when he was in there.

Williams may find a job with another team but he was a bust for the Pels, an intriguing wing who was never healthy and never played up to his potential.

They could have signed a guy like Nerlens Noel for the same price and actually gotten some contributions.