JULY 15: The signing is official, according to a team press release.
JULY 13: The Hawks are signing free agent guard Keaton Wallace to a two-way contract, agents Max Lipsett and Marcus Monk tell Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).
Wallace, 25, spent four years at the University of Texas at San Antonio prior to going undrafted in 2021. He has spent the past three seasons playing in the NBA G League for the Clippers’ and Hawks’ affiliate teams, briefly spending time on a two-way contract with the Clips in 2022/23.
Wallace has yet to make his NBA regular season debut. He is currently playing for Atlanta’s Summer League squad in Las Vegas. In the team’s first game on Friday, a six-point loss to the Wizards, Wallace put up 10 points (on 4-of-8 shooting), four rebounds, six assists (one turnover), two steals and one block in 23 minutes.
In 16 Showcase Cup games with the College Park Skyhawks last season, the 6’4″ Wallace averaged 12.9 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 6.1 APG and 1.6 SPG on .438/.370/.789 shooting (30.0 MPG). He had an assist-to-turnover ratio of nearly 3-to-1, a solid mark for a guard.
If he stays on a two-way deal for the entire ’24/25 season, Wallace will earn a little under $579K. He will be eligible for restricted free agency in 2025, assuming his contract is for one year and he isn’t released before then.
As our two-way contract tracker shows, the Hawks had a pair of two-way openings before Wallace’s addition was reported, so they will soon have just one vacancy. Atlanta has a roster crunch for players on standard contracts, with 15 players on guaranteed deals plus the non-guaranteed salary of Bruno Fernando.
He was very efficient in that first game. His agility/quickness appears to be off the charts and he was easily breaking down the defense on the dribble. Makes me wonder why he hasn’t gotten more looks in the past. Maybe size limiting defense? No idea.
Rough offseason for Buffkin, as he might get leap-frogged by Djurisic and Wallace if he doesn’t come back healthy and really play well. They both played very well the other night. Guessing Wallace will be the odd man out at first for a spot on the 15, but he played exceptionally well.
I liked Wallace two years ago