Having journeyed through the back roads of the NBA since going undrafted out of Wake Forest in 2022, one might assume that Alondes Williams would have arrived to Miami Heat summer league with a point to prove.
Actually, to the contrary.
The points already have been proven, including a franchise-record 55-point game last season for the Heat’s G League affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce.
Instead, after splitting his first two pro seasons mostly between the G League affiliates of the Brooklyn Nets and Heat, the goal for the 6-foot-4 guard, even amid his contract uncertainty, is to show a more complete package, the ability to also play off the ball, as well as contribute on the defensive end.
“Since I’ve been growing up, I’ve always been a two-way type of player,” said Williams, 25, this past season’s G League Most Improved Player. “So if that’s what they need me to do, I’m going to do it. Like I told them when I first joined the team, I’ve always watched a lot of Jrue Holiday on defense. So if that’s what they want me to do, that’s what I’m going to do.”
Heat assistant Dan Bisaccio, who is guiding the team’s summer roster, said Williams last summer offered a reminder of a potential total package.
“In the Portland game, he’s picking up full court virtually the whole game. He shows us something right there that he’s a competitor,” Bisaccio said, reflecting back, before looking ahead to Saturday’s summer-league matchup against the summer roster of the Boston Celtics on the UNLV campus. “He was doing all the stuff that we like. He displayed that he had the Heat DNA. And then he got to come to camp and it kind of progresses from there. There is a karma to just worrying about making an impact on the court.”
Then came the Heat’s final game this week of the California Classic, when the Heat defeated the summer roster of Bronny James and the Los Angeles Lakers in San Francisco. Williams closed that game with 21 points, nine rebounds, three assists, two blocks shots and a steal.
“I just feel like I’ve always been like a pass-first type of player,” he said, in fact also with eight assists on the night he scored those 55 points for the Heat G League affiliate. “I figure everybody figures I can score. But I can balance everything out.”
All while currently working amid an uneasy balance with the Heat summer roster.
After being awarded a two-way Heat contract last February, when Heat assistant general manager Adam Simon delivered the news in the Skyforce locker room in South Dakota, Williams last month was extended a qualifying offer for another two-way for next season. In a procedural move, the Heat then rescinded that offer Thursday, with the Heat already at the NBA maximum of three two-way contracts already in place to others.
And, so, pro purgatory.
“I think I went through it all my life, so it isn’t anything really different for me,” Williams said of this latest round of uncertainty. “I think for me, it’s just surviving, being in grinding mode, keep showing everybody each day that I deserve to be here. At the end of the day, whatever happens, happens.”
All while attempting to regain an NBA foothold with this Heat opportunity even if it doesn’t come with the Heat.
“It means that the organization trusts in your ability and your leadership,” Williams said of the Heat having him on their summer roster. “This is my third summer league, so I know what’s going on with this.”
Heat summer-league schedule
(All times Eastern)
NBA Summer League
(Las Vegas, UNLV)
Saturday, 6:30 p.m. vs. Celtics NBA TV
Monday, 6 p.m. vs. Thunder, ESPNU
Wednesday, 3 p.m. vs. Mavericks, ESPN2
July 19, 9 p.m. vs. Raptors, ESPN+
(Plus at least one additional game in Las Vegas, based on results from previous four.)
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