The Phoenix Suns said they will offer...

The Phoenix Suns said they will offer first-round draft choice Jayson Williams a one-year contract for the minimum $170,000, and he probably won’t be on their NBA roster this season.

Jerry Colangelo, the Suns’ president, said he had a verbal agreement with Williams, a 6-foot-10 forward from St. John’s, and his agent, Bob Woolf, on a contract Aug. 5, but Woolf then informed Colangelo that his client was considering signing a one-year, $1.5-million contract with the Italian team, Il Messaggero.

That deal never materialized, and Williams joined the Suns for informal workouts on Sept. 13. However, Colangelo withdrew his original offer of about $600,000 a season for five years.