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The New Jersey Nets have signed free agent forward Eric Williams, Nets CEO Rod Thorn announced today. As per club policy, terms of the contract were not released.

"We are pleased to add Eric to our team," said Thorn. "He is a quality NBA veteran who can play both forward positions."

Williams is rugged and will do the dirty work. He's not a prototype small forward, but he's tough, a defender, and fights hard for his team. Williams is a nice guy to bring off the bench or to use as a limited-time starter.

The 6'8" Williams, a native of Newark, New Jersey, holds career averages of 9.2 ppg and 3.4 rpg in 554 games over nine NBA seasons. The 16th overall pick in the 1995 NBA Draft, Williams played his first two seasons with the Boston Celtics. He was then traded to the Denver Nuggets on August 21, 1997, where played a total of 42 games over two seasons. Following the 1998-99 season, Denver traded Williams back to Boston as part of a six-player deal. Williams played the next four and a half seasons in Boston, becoming a key component of a Celtics team that would reach the Eastern Conference Finals in 2002. After starting the 2003-04 season with the Celtics, Williams was traded on December 15, 2003, to Cleveland along with Kedrick Brown and Tony Battie in exchange for Chris Mihm, Ricky Davis, Michael Stewart and a second round draft pick. In a total of 71 games last season with Boston and Cleveland, Williams averaged 10.0 ppg and 4.0 rpg.

Williams reached the postseason with Boston in both the 2001-02 and 2002-03 seasons. He has played in 26 career playoff games, averaging 8.5 ppg and 3.9 rpg.