Trading Williams a good thing?

[TalentScout]

Considering William's contract is ending after this season, why would any team offer a trade for him when it isn't guaranteed he would sign an extension with them?

Terms are generally worked out ahead of time. Teams meet with the player, talk to them about the possibility of coming to their team, and negotiate a contract, if not an exact contract the general terms at least, before making the trade.

They could just wait til after the season and sign him without having to give us anything.

Not necessarily. They would have to worry about another team stepping up and trading for him instead. Even if he did make it to free agency, there's no guarantee he'd sign with them and there's the possibility of teams getting into a bidding war significantly increasing what you have to pay him.

[chef17]

Terms are generally worked out ahead of time. Teams meet with the player, talk to them about the possibility of coming to their team, and negotiate a contract, if not an exact contract the general terms at least, before making the trade.

Not necessarily. They would have to worry about another team stepping up and trading for him instead. Even if he did make it to free agency, there's no guarantee he'd sign with them and there's the possibility of teams getting into a bidding war significantly increasing what you have to pay him.

I understand terms are normally worked out in advance, I was just trying to point out that there is no guarantee Williams would accept a deal from any team if we traded him. And trading could also become a bidding war if many teams are willing to pay him top dollar in a trade and offer the Panthers what they want.