HoopsHype recently published an article that listed the best, all-time free agent signings for all 30 NBA teams.
For the Oklahoma City Thunder, this included the franchise’s history as the Seattle Supersonics. The best free agent signing for the Thunder was Gus Williams, who signed in 1977 and was a two-time All-Star during his tenure with the team.
“One of the unfairly forgotten-about players from the pre-Magic Johnson/Larry Bird revival era in the NBA, Gus Wiliams was a stout two-way guard who was a terror in transition and could score and create at impressive levels while racking up takeaways on the other end of the floor.
Williams was nicknamed “The Wizard” and was considered one of the top guards in the league in the late ’70s and early ’80s, even leading the then-Seattle SuperSonics in scoring in the 1979 NBA Finals (29 points per game), the last time the franchise tasted championship gold.
Williams joined the Sonics in the 1977 offseason after spending his first two seasons with Golden State. He signed a three-year contract worth – get this – $510,000.
‘Williams came to Seattle as a free agent before the 1977-78 season, after contract hassles with his first NBA team, the Golden State Warriors. He signed a three-year deal with the Sonics at $170,-000 a season and proved a bargain, leading Seattle into the NBA finals his first season and to the title his second.’
How’s that for a value signing?
Needless to say, Williams, whose numbers exploded during his time with Seattle on his way to first-team All-NBA and second-team All-NBA distinctions, was a fantastic free-agent pickup for the Sonics.”
Williams averaged 20.3 points, six assists and 2.3 steals on 47.5 percent shooting in his six seasons with the Sonics. Overall, Williams was with the Sonics for seven seasons, but he missed the 1980-1981 season due to a holdout.
An honorable mention went to Spencer Haywood, who spent five seasons with the Sonics from 1971 to 1975 after leaving the ABA to join the NBA.
