Brooklyn Nets waive Alan Williams, who is heading to China

The Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday waived center Alan Williams from his two-way contract, paving the way for him to sign for a club in China.

The Brooklyn Nets announced Wednesday they have waived center Alan Williams, who had joined the club on a two-way contract just before the start of training camp in late September.

Williams had not appeared in a game for Brooklyn this season and was on the active list just once, the Dec. 26 double-overtime victory over the Charlotte Hornets last week.

According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, Williams requested his release in order to finalize a deal in the Chinese Basketball Association.

The 6-foot-8, 260-pound big man was undrafted out of UC Santa Barbara in 2015 and failed to land a camp deal after playing for Charlotte and the Houston Rockets in the NBA Summer League sessions in Orlando and Las Vegas.

Instead, he spent the 2015-16 season with Qingdao in the Chinese circuit. Williams averaged 20.8 points, 15.4 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.6 blocks in 29.9 minutes a game as a reserve, shooting 50.5 percent overall and 67.5 percent at the line.

That earned him a 10-day contract in March 2016 with the Phoenix Suns, which turned into a prorated deal for the rest of that season and 2016-17.

He re-signed with the Suns as a restricted free agent in July 2017, but missed much of last season with a knee injury sustained in training camp before he was waived by Phoenix on July 2.

Over parts of three seasons, Williams played in 62 games with the Suns and averaged 6.4 points and 5.7 rebounds in 13.6 minutes a game, shooting 50.2 percent overall and 63 percent at the line, while missing his lone 3-point attempt.

Williams had been dominant in his 17 games with the Long Island Nets in the NBA G League this season, averaging 21.0 points and 14.7 rebounds in 26.9 minutes per game, shooting 52 percent from the floor and 75.6 percent at the line while making 3-of-10 from deep.

He was named to the G League’s All-Winter Showcase second team last month after his two performances in Las Vegas and departs as the G League leader in rebounds per game.

It’s actually a much bigger loss for Long Island, which is leading the Eastern Conference in the G League, percentage points ahead of the Westchester Knicks and a half-game up on Raptors 905 as the Nets seek their first postseason berth in their third season since launching in 2016.

Williams missed the preseason with an ankle injury and never got an opportunity in Brooklyn, even as Big Sauce was potentially headed toward a G League All-Star berth.