Alondes Williams Rumors

NBA G League Announces Participants For 2025 Up Next Event

January 29th, 2025 at 2:44pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA G League announced today that 27 players have been selected to participate in the 2025 Up Next event at the NBA’s All-Star weekend next month in San Francisco.

The event – which highlights standout players at the G League level and essentially serves as the NBAGL All-Star Game – features a tournament-style format with four teams made up of seven players apiece. Those clubs face one another in semifinals (first team to 30 points), with the winners meeting in the final. All three games will be played on the afternoon of Sunday, February 16, ahead of the NBA’s All-Star Game.

Ten players for the next Up Next pool are selected by fan votes, while the other 18 are selected by the league. Here are the players who have been named as participants for the 2025 event:

Fan voting

Note: Players are listed in order of votes received. Players marked with an asterisk (*) are on two-way contracts with an NBA team.

Yuki Kawamura (Memphis Hustle) *
Justin Champagnie (Capital City Go-Go) *
Jahlil Okafor (Indiana Mad Ants)
Adama Sanogo (Windy City Bulls) *
Skal Labissiere (Stockton Kings)
Kevon Harris (College Park Skyhawks)
Maozinha Pereira (Memphis Hustle)
Trevelin Queen (Osceola Magic) *
Armando Bacot (Memphis Hustle)
Keisei Tominaga (Indiana Mad Ants)

G League selections

Note: Players are listed in alphabetical order. Players marked with an asterisk (*) are on two-way contracts with an NBA team.

Moses Brown (Westchester Knicks)
Josh Christopher (Sioux Falls Skyforce) *
Jeff Dowtin (Delaware Blue Coats) *
PJ Hall (Grand Rapids Gold) *
Elijah Harkless (Salt Lake City Stars) *
Isaac Jones (Stockton Kings) *
A.J. Lawson (Raptors 905) *
Isaiah Miller (Austin Spurs)
Jaylen Nowell (Capital City Go-Go)
Dink Pate (Mexico City Capitanes)
Daeqwon Plowden (College Park Skyhawks) *
Quinten Post (Santa Cruz Warriors) *
Lester Quinones (Birmingham Squadron)
DJ Steward (Memphis Hustle)
TyTy Washington Jr. (Valley Suns) *
Alondes Williams (Sioux Falls Skyforce)
Jahmir Young (Grand Rapids Gold)

The G League announced 27 names today, leaving the pool one player shy of the 28 required for four seven-player teams. However, the NBAGL’s announcement says two more participants will be named at a later date to round out the player pool.

It’s unclear if there’s a math error happening here or if Pate will need to be replaced since he’s also participating in the Rising Stars event. Further confusing matters is the fact that Williams’ name shows up in the graphic released by the G League but not in the press release.

However it happens, the Up Next player pool will eventually increase to 28 names, with those players drafted into four teams by a quartet of “influencer” general managers and then coached by G League coaches at All-Star weekend.

Pistons Sign Ron Harper Jr., Tolu Smith To Two-Way Deals

January 6th, 2025 at 4:03pm CST by Dana Gauruder

JANUARY 6, 4:03pm: The Pistons have officially signed Smith and Harper and placed Williams and Swider on waivers, the team confirmed in a press release (Twitter link).

JANUARY 5, 8:30pm: The Pistons are also signing Tolu Smith to a two-way deal, according to Jake Fischer (Twitter link).

Smith, a 6’11” rookie forward, was waived by Detroit in training camp and has been playing for the G League’s Motor City Cruise. He’s averaging 20.2 points and 14.8 rebounds in four regular season NBAGL games and also made five appearances with the Cruise in the G League Showcase Cup.

Smith spent his freshman season at Western Kentucky before transferring and playing the final four years of his collegiate career at Mississippi State. He went undrafted in 2024 and made three preseason appearances with Detroit.

To make room for Harper and Smith, the Pistons are waiving Alondes Williams and Cole Swider, according to Fischer.

Detroit signed Williams to a two-way deal just before the start of the season after he was cut loose by the Clippers. Similarly, the Pistons signed Swider after he was waived during the latter stages of training camp by the Pacers.

JANUARY 5, 7:17pm: The Pistons have agreed to a two-way deal with Ron Harper Jr., ESPN’s Tim Bontemps tweets.

Harper was waived in training camp by the Celtics and has been playing for the Maine Celtics in the G League. He has averaged 22.8 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists in four regular season G League games and also played 11 games in the NBAGL’s Tip-Off Tournament.

Harper went undrafted out of Rutgers in 2022 and signed to a two-way deal shortly after the draft by the Raptors. He only appeared in six games in the G League last season. He suffered a season-ending shoulder injury after playing in just one NBA game in ’23/24 and was waived by the Raptors in December of last year.

Detroit has all of its two-way spots filled, so it will have to make a corresponding move to bring in Harper.

With Jaden Ivey sidelined indefinitely with a fractured fibula, Harper will give Detroit more depth at the guard spots.

Contract Details: Gordon, Moody, Suggs, Green, Sengun, Murphy, More

October 23rd, 2024 at 7:07am CST by Luke Adams

The three-year veteran extension that Aaron Gordon signed with the Nuggets is worth $103,608,840 in total base salary, Hoops Rumors has confirmed. As expected, Gordon is getting the maximum 40% raise on his 2025/26 salary ($22,841,455), with 8% annual raises after that.

Gordon’s is also getting the maximum 40% bump (and 8% subsequent increases) on his $1.2MM in incentives for the ’25/26 season, so they’ll increase to $1.68MM in the first year of the extension and will be worth $5,443,200 in total across the three years of the deal. That means that if the Nuggets forward earns all his bonuses, he could make up to $109,052,040 over those three seasons.

The trade kicker on Gordon’s extension is for just 3%, which represents the lowest percentage of any active trade kicker around the NBA.

Here are more details on some of the contracts recently signed by players across the league:

Moses Moody‘s three-year extension with the Warriors actually has a total base value of $37.5MM, rather than the $39MM initially reported. The deal includes $1.5MM in incentives that could push the total value up to $39MM.
Jalen Suggs‘ five-year, $150MM extension with the Magic starts at $35MM in 2025/26 and has a descending structure. By the fifth year, in 2029/30, Suggs’ cap hit will be just $26.7MM.
The exact value of Jalen Green‘s three-year extension with the Rockets is $105,333,333. It starts at $33,333,333, with matching $36MM cap hits in years two and three (the third year is a player option).
Alperen Sengun‘s five-year, $185MM extension with the Rockets has an ascending structure, though it doesn’t increase by the maximum allowable 8% per year. It begins at $33,944,954 in 2025/26 and eventually gets as high as $39,036,697 in years four and five. The fifth year is a player option.
Trey Murphy‘s four-year, $112MM extension with the Pelicans begins at $25MM and increases by $2MM annually, getting up to $31MM by year four.
The new standard contract Alex Reese signed with the Thunder is a straightforward one-year, minimum-salary deal that is fully non-guaranteed. I’d be a little surprised if Reese lasts the whole season on that contract, but if he does, he’d be eligible for restricted free agency in the summer of 2025.
Alondes Williams‘ two-way contract with the Pistons is for two years. While it’s pretty rare for a player to play out a full two-year, two-way contract, Detroit could technically keep Williams on his current deal all the way through the end of the 2025/26 season.

Pistons Sign Alondes Williams To Two-Way Deal

October 22nd, 2024 at 11:58am CST by Luke Adams

The Pistons have officially filled their third and final two-way slot by signing free agent guard Alondes Williams to a two-way contract, the team announced today in a press release (Twitter link).

Reporting on Saturday indicated that Detroit planned to sign Williams. However, the team had to wait for him to clear waivers first. That happened on Monday, two days after he was cut by the Clippers.

Williams, who played college ball for Triton College, Oklahoma, and Wake Forest, went undrafted in 2022 and spent his rookie season with the Nets and their G League affiliate in Long Island. Last August, he signed an Exhibit 10 contract with the Heat and opened the season with the Sioux Falls Skyforce, Miami’s G League affiliate, before signing a two-way contract with the Heat in February and finishing the season on their 18-man roster.

Although Williams has only played 21 total minutes across eight appearances for Brooklyn and Miami at the NBA level, he’s coming off a big year in the G League. In 43 Showcase Cup and regular season appearances for the Skyforce in 2023/24, he put up 20.3 points, 7.1 assists, and 5.3 rebounds in 37.4 minutes per game, with a shooting line of .499/.369/.742. The 25-year-old also helped the Heat win a Summer League title in July, averaging 12.0 PPG and 4.8 APG with a .480 3PT% in five games in Las Vegas.

Williams was in camp with the Clippers on a non-guaranteed deal, but didn’t secure a spot on L.A.’s regular season roster. The Pistons reached a deal with him immediately after he was waived and have now added a pair of former Heat youngsters in the past two days, having also inked Cole Swider to a two-way contract.

Now that the Pistons have all three of their two-way slots filled, the Magic are the only NBA team that still has a two-way opening. That means 89 of 90 two-way spots around the league are occupied, as our tracker shows.

Pistons Plan To Sign Alondes Williams, Cole Swider

October 19th, 2024 at 5:43pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Pistons plan to sign Alondes Williams and Cole Swider, who were both placed on waivers this weekend, to two-way contracts, sources tell Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter links).

Williams, a 25-year-old shooting guard, was released by the Clippers earlier today. He signed a two-way contract with Miami in February and made brief appearances in seven games. He also got into one game with Brooklyn during the 2022/23 season.

Swider, a 25-year-old small forward, was let go by the Pacers on Friday. He spent all of last season on a two-way deal with Miami, averaging 2.3 PPG in 18 games. He played seven games with the Lakers in 2022/23.

Williams and Swider will have to clear waivers before they can sign with Detroit. The 48-hour waiting period means Swider will become a free agent on Sunday and Williams will be available on Monday if they don’t get claimed.

The Pistons currently have 13 players with fully guaranteed contracts, along with Paul Reed, whose $7.7MM salary is non-guaranteed. Daniss Jenkins currently holds the team’s lone two-way deal.

Clippers Waive Elijah Harkless, Alondes Williams, Braxton Key

October 19th, 2024 at 4:46pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Clippers have waived guards Elijah Harkless and Alondes Williams, along with forward Braxton Key, according to NBA.com’s transactions log. In addition, Tosan Evbuomwan has officially been signed and waived.

Harkless played for the team’s G League affiliate last season and seems likely to return there. He averaged 11.6 points, 3.9 rebounds and 3.2 assists in 20 regular season G League games a year ago.

Williams appeared in seven games after signing a two-way contract with Miami in February. He was also on a two-way deal with Brooklyn in 2022/23, making one short appearance in an NBA game.

Key got into 20 games on a two-way contract with Denver last season. He also has brief NBA experience with Philadelphia and Detroit.

Evbuomwan signed with the Clippers after being waived on Wednesday by Detroit, where he held a two-way contract. He appeared in 13 games for the Pistons and four with the Grizzlies last season.

All four players appear headed to the Clippers’ G League affiliate in San Diego, where they will be eligible for bonuses up to $77.5K if they remain with the team for at least 60 days.

The Clippers will have 15 players with standard contracts on their opening-night roster, along with three two-way deals.

Pacific Notes: Huerter, Monk, A. Williams, Redick, Rivers, Ham

October 11th, 2024 at 9:52pm CST by Rory Maher

Kings wing Kevin Huerter, who underwent left shoulder surgery in the spring due to a torn labrum, has been cleared for full contact work, the team announced (Twitter link via Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee).

While it’s obviously great news that Huerter is getting closer to a return, he’ll still have to clear the Kings’ return-to-play protocol before he suits up in an official game, per the team.

Huerter, whose name has popped up in several trade rumors over the past year-plus, is coming off a down 2023/24 season in which he averaged career lows in multiple statistics, including minutes per game (24.4) and three-point percentage (36.1%). He’s under contract through ’25/26.

Here’s more from around the Pacific:

Kings guard Malik Monk exited Wednesday’s preseason contest early due to personal reasons. He remains away from the team and will miss Friday’s preseason contest vs. Golden State, but sources tell Anderson that the Sixth Man of the Year runner-up is “not expected to miss an extended period of time” (Twitter links).
Third-year guard Alondes Williams, who is on an Exhibit 10 deal with the Clippers, impressed several of his veteran teammates with his strong performance in Tuesday’s preseason game vs. Brooklyn, tweets Law Murray of The Athletic. Williams finished with 10 points (on 4-of-7 shooting), six rebounds, seven assists and a steal in 16 minutes off the bench. If he keeps it up, it’s possible the 25-year-old could earn a promotion — Exhibit 10 deals can be converted to two-way contracts, and the Clips have a two-way opening.
JJ Redick had some pointed criticism for Bucks coach Doc Rivers, his former head coach with the Clippers, last season while he was working as an analyst for ESPN. Asked about the status of their relationship before Thursday’s preseason game, the new Lakers head coach didn’t offer many details, writes Dave McMenamin of ESPN. “I don’t carry beef with people,” Redick said. “And I’m not going to get into the history of Doc and I’s relationship right now. And I probably won’t ever. He’s fine in my book.”
At his media availability on Wednesday, Rivers was critical of the Lakers‘ decision to fire Darvin Ham, who is now his top assistant in Milwaukee (YouTube link). “I’m not going to get into the whole thing that happened there, but he took a team to a Western Finals, and then the following year, he won the in-season tournament, which they say we should have a lot of value on, and then they release him,” Rivers said (hat tip to Paul Terrazzano Jr. of TalkBasket.net). “It literally makes no sense, but it happens. It happens to all of us. It’s part of what we do.”

Alondes Williams Signs Camp Deal With Clippers

September 30th, 2024 at 12:29pm CST by Luke Adams

SEPTEMBER 30: Williams was included on the training camp roster officially announced today by the Clippers, signaling that his camp contract with the team is now official (Twitter link).

SEPTEMBER 17: Former Heat guard Alondes Williams is set to join the Clippers on a training camp contract, according to Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel (subscription required).

Williams, who played college ball for Triton College, Oklahoma, and Wake Forest, went undrafted in 2022 and spent his rookie season with the Nets and their G League affiliate in Long Island. Last August, he signed an Exhibit 10 contract with the Heat and opened the season with the Sioux Falls Skyforce, Miami’s G League affiliate, before signing a two-way contract with the Heat in February and finishing the season on their 18-man roster.

Although Williams has only played 21 total minutes across eight appearances for Brooklyn and Miami at the NBA level, he’s coming off a big year in the G League. In 43 Showcase Cup and regular season appearances for the Skyforce in 2023/24, he put up 20.3 points, 7.1 assists, and 5.3 rebounds in 37.4 minutes per game, with a shooting line of .499/.369/.742. The 25-year-old also helped the Heat win a Summer League title this summer, averaging 12.0 PPG and 4.8 APG with a .480 3PT% in five games in Las Vegas.

The Heat initially tendered Williams a two-way qualifying offer to make him a restricted free agent, but they withdrew that QO in July after filling their two-way slots, freeing him up to sign outright with any team.

Williams will likely sign an Exhibit 10 contract with the Clippers and could be a candidate to have it converted to a two-way deal, since Los Angeles has a two-way slot open alongside Jordan Miller and Trentyn Flowers.

Since Sioux Falls still controls Williams’ G League returning rights, he wouldn’t be eligible for a $77.5K Exhibit 10 bonus with L.A. unless the San Diego Clippers acquire his rights from the Skyforce.

Heat Notes: Mills, Jovic, Adebayo, Swider, Williams

August 6th, 2024 at 5:26pm CST by Tristan Tucker

Unrestricted free agent and Australian national team guard Patty Mills, who finished last season with the Heat, turned back the clock in an Olympic quarterfinal game against Serbia on Tuesday. He made 11 of his 21 shots to finish with 26 points in a 95-90 overtime loss to Serbia.

“I mean, he deserved better,” Australian teammate Josh Giddey said, per The Athletic’s David Aldridge.

Mills scored 12 of his points in the first quarter and knocked down a shot over Nikola Jokic that forced overtime.

“I thought we threw everything at them in the first half,” Mills said. “You’re playing against world-class individuals, world-class teams, world-class coaches. And this is why you play international basketball. It’s a different sport than any other league around the world. It brings the best out of everyone. I think for us, we just threw everything we could at them, and maybe nothing left in the tank at the end of the day. Full credit to what Serbia was able to do — get us out of our comfort zone. And in international basketball, once you lose that momentum, it’s hard to get it back.”

The 35-year-old guard signed with the Heat toward the end of the 2023/24 regular season after being waived by the Hawks and immediately stepped into a sizable role. He started in five of his 13 appearances with the team and appeared in three playoff games.

However, barring a trade, Mills is unlikely to be back with Miami, at least for the first part of the season. Due to their positioning against the second apron, the Heat don’t appear willing to add a 15th player to their roster to begin the year.

We have more on the Heat:

Heat forward Nikola Jovic missed Serbia’s win over Australia due to an illness, Ira Winderman of South Florida’s Sun Sentinel reports. Jovic’s offseason has been marred with an ankle sprain that threatened his Olympic availability and now an illness.
If Jovic is healthy, he and Heat teammate Bam Adebayo will face off for the third time this summer in the Olympic semifinal round, Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald observes. Team USA defeated Brazil on Tuesday, with Adebayo finishing with nine points and seven rebounds in 19 minutes. Adebayo is averaging 8.5 points and 5.3 rebounds in the Olympics while Jovic has averaged 7.0 points for Serbia. The two previously matched up in an exhibition on July 17 and the group stage opener on July 28. The U.S. won each game by more than 20 points.
Due to the fact that the Heat don’t seem to be bringing in a 15th player on a standard contract to begin the season, it was always unlikely they’d be able to funnel all the talented pieces who brought home a summer league championship to their G League affiliate. That rang true when Cole Swider signed with the Pacers after averaging 13.5 points on 49.1% shooting from deep in eight summer league games. In a recent mailbag, Winderman explores Swider’s departure, ultimately concluding that the Heat rarely play pure shooters and that Duncan Robinson‘s minutes only came around when he developed other areas of his game. While the exact details of Swider’s deal with Indy are unknown, it’s possible he competes for a standard roster spot if not a two-way pact, giving him a higher likelihood of ending up with the NBA team than if he came back to Miami.
Unrestricted free agent Alondes Williams, who – alongside Swider – finished last season on a two-way deal with the Heat, finds himself in a similar position. Williams had an impressive summer league, averaging 11.5 points and 4.4 assists in eight games but remains unsigned. The Heat currently have Keshad Johnson, Josh Christopher and Dru Smith on two-way deals. However, Isaiah Stevens also positioned himself well to compete for and potentially replace one of the Heat’s two-way players, giving Williams an outside shot to earn back his spot on the roster. If he doesn’t end up signing a standard contract elsewhere, Winderman is optimistic Williams would get the chance to compete for a two-way deal in training camp.

Heat Notes: Summer League, Christoper, Larsson, Ware

July 23rd, 2024 at 8:27pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Heat won the Las Vegas Summer League championship with a dramatic 120-118 overtime victory over the Grizzlies on Monday. The Heat won all six of their games in Vegas, plus the last two in the California Classic. Second-rounder Pelle Larsson made the game-winning shot.

“By the end of this (Monday), a lot of us coaches, we were really hoping that it wouldn’t be over,” Summer League coach Dan Bisaccio said, per Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald. “Obviously, yes the priority is we want to win the championship. But at the same time, this journey that we were on with this group was amazing. It was something truly special.

“I understand this is summer league. But the fact that these guys came together as a group like that, they kind of put aside their individual goals for the better of the team. I just think that speaks volumes to who they are and what their character is.”

We have more on the Heat:

The team has 14 players on standard contracts and don’t plan to add a 15th player until later in the regular season due to tax apron concerns. They also have all three two-way slots filled. Those two-way spots could change — they don’t count against the cap — in the aftermath of Summer League performances. Josh Christopher, Caleb Daniels, Cole Swider and Alondes Williams — all of whom are free agents at the moment — made compelling cases to receive a two-way deal or at least a training camp invite, according to Chiang.
Speaking of Christopher, he was named Most Valuable Player of the championship game, Chiang tweets. The former first-round pick scored a team-high 24 points, including six 3-pointers. He also added four rebounds, one assist, three steals and two blocks. “I think this Heat culture thing just brought the best out of me. I don’t think I’ve had a series of games better than this in my life, honestly,” Christopher said.
Larsson signed a three-year contract prior to summer competition and impressed the coaches in a number of ways, according to Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel. “He’s a tireless worker,” Bisaccio said. “He’s a great leader on the floor and he’s just got a really good disposition and he’s a man of a craft, is the word I’m looking for. Behind the scenes, he’s always trying to work on his shot. He’s always trying to find that new angle that he can give you, that extra detail on a pick and roll.”
First-round pick Kel’el Ware, Jaime Jaquez and Keshad Johnson earned A grades on Winderman’s Summer League report card.