Five points you need to know about new Charlotte Hornet Michael Carter-Williams

The Charlotte Hornets get a former NBA Rookie of the Year when they sign point guard Michael Carter-Williams to a one-season free-agent contract after the league’s moratorium ends July 7.

However, it seems a long time since Carter-Williams won that award with the Philadelphia 76ers. The Hornets will be his fourth NBA team in five seasons. Carter-William agreed to a deal that will pay him $2.7 million for a single season, playing for the salary cap-strapped Hornets.

He’ll back up Kemba Walker, replacing Ramon Sessions, after the Hornets chose not to exercise Sessions’ team option of nearly $6.3 million for next season.

Five things to know about Carter-Williams:

▪  He is big for his position at 6-6. With that body type, he is sometimes compared to former Charlotte Bobcat Shaun Livingston, who has won two championships with the Golden State Warriors.

▪  Carter-Williams’ height should come in handy in two regards: The Hornets would like to be able to play him with Walker sometimes, similarly to how Walker and Jeremy Lin played together two seasons ago. Also, Carter-Williams’ height could help mitigate the lack of height for the Hornets’ first-round pick, 6-3 shooting guard Malik Monk.

▪  Carter-Williams ought to be hungry to restore his reputation around the NBA after a disappointing season with the Chicago Bulls. He finished with career lows in points (6.6), assists (2.5), rebounds (3.4) and minutes (18.8).

▪  The Bulls had the option to make a $4.2 million qualifying offer to Carter-Williams to restrict his free-agency at the end of his rookie contract. The Bulls declined that, after acquiring point guard Kris Dunn from the Minnesota Timberwolves in the Jimmy Butler trade.

▪  He won’t make many 3-pointers, based on his first four NBA seasons. His career 3-point percentage is 25.2 and last season he was 23.4.

This story was originally published July 2, 2017 at 5:44 PM with the headline "Five points you need to know about new Charlotte Hornet Michael Carter-Williams."