Heat shuffles deck with two-way contracts, adding Alondes Williams and releasing Hampton
The Heat moved on from guard R.J. Hampton on Friday and signed guard Alondes Williams to a two-way contract, giving a commitment to a player who has blossomed in the G League this season.
Williams, a 6-4 guard, has averaged 20.3 points, 6.5 assists and 5.2 rebounds in 32 games for the Sioux Falls Skyforce, the Heat’s G-League affiliate in South Dakota. He was shooting 49.9 percent from the field and 37.3 percent on three-pointers.
Williams -- who was named G League Player of the Week twice in January -- scored 55 points in a game on Jan. 7 and his 361 points are fourth-most in the G-League this season.
Williams is scheduled to participate in the G League All Star game next weekend in Indianapolis, part of the NBA’s All Star weekend. He also was selected for the Rising Stars event next Friday night.
Williams is taking the two-way contract spot of Hampton, who was released.
Williams, who played for the Heat in preseason, has appeared in one NBA game, for Brooklyn, last season, logging five scoreless minutes.
After playing his first two college seasons at Oklahoma, Williams transferred to Wake Forest and was named Atlantic Coast Conference men’s basketball Player of the Year in his one season there (2021-22), averaging 18.5 points, 6.4 rebounds and 5.2 assists.
He went undrafted in 2022 and spent much of last season with the Nets’ G-League team in Long Island.
Williams’ rights were traded to Sioux Falls last July. The Heat released him Oct. 14 but he signed with the Skyforce on Oct. 30.
NBA teams are permitted to swap out players on two-way contracts whenever they wish. The other two players on Heat two-way contracts are Jamal Cain and Cole Swider.
Because the Heat has 14 players under standard contracts, its three three-way players are eligible to be active for a total of 90 NBA games, as opposed to a combined 150 games for teams with the maximum 15 players on standard deals.
The Heat has 25 such availabilities remaining this season.
But if Miami adds a 15th player on a standard contract, the Heat can use its two-way players in as many as 150 combined games this season.
Miami also can add another player on a standard contract if it chooses.
After returning from a preseason knee injury, Hampton appeared in eight games for the Heat and started twice, while spending the remainder of his time with the Heat’s G-League team in Sioux Falls.
In Hampton’s NBA appearances this season, he averaged 1.3 points, shooting 4 for 14 from the field and 1 for 8 on three-pointers in 76 minutes, with eight assists and three turnovers.
This story was originally published February 9, 2024 at 6:45 PM.
