Portland Fire Waive Former Kansas State Forward Peyton Williams
Peyton Williams, a recent free agent signing, is the expansion team's first cut. Learn more in this piece.
The business side of professional basketball is often remarkably frigid, as Peyton Williams can now attest.
On Monday, the Portland Fire celebrated their free agent signing’s 28th birthday. On Friday, they waived her.
Williams is the first of many anticipated roster cuts ahead of Portland’s regular season opener on May 9th. Two weeks ago, Portland’s training camp roster featured eighteen names, but the franchise needs to trim the roster to twelve - plus two additional developmental players - before the opening tip next Saturday.
Her short stint clad in Rose City red represents a career highlight for the Topeka native, who toiled for years in a determined pursuit of her WNBA dreams. A month after her standout tenure at Kansas State was cut short by the Coronavirus pandemic, the 2020 WNBA Draft came and went without the forward’s name called. Undeterred, she traveled the world in search of any opportunity to further her career. Williams spent time in Russia, France, Hungary, and China before signing with Portland several weeks ago.
During Wednesday night’s preseason opener - a loss to the Seattle Storm - Williams played seven minutes. She scored three points on one shot, with one block on defense.
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Matt Bagley is a professional sportswriter and broadcaster with a passion for women’s sports. Outside of work, he cherishes quality time with his birth family, his chosen family, and one very pesky house panther.
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