Brooklyn Nets grades: Alan Williams still stuck in between

Future outlook

Alan Williams enters this offseason at a crossroads in his career.

He finds himself stuck in between in a lot of ways — great G League player who can’t seem to find a rotation spot in the NBA, body of a power forward with the skill set of an old school center and lacking the length to guard 5s effectively and the quickness laterally to handle perimeter defensive duties against stretch 4s.

The situation for Williams gets more complicated because the two-way contract option will now be closed to him because he has played in four NBA seasons.

So Williams will have to find a team that will give him a shot at a roster spot next fall and if he falls short, will have to choose between being allocated to a G League team or pursuing his career abroad.

He’s a likable guy from all indications and was one of the leaders of the Brooklyn bench mob celebrations when he was with the club.

Williams will need to work on finding some extra quicks this offseason while continuing to hone his outside shot, something that just began to be added to his arsenal this season.

He hasn’t been a participant in the NBA Summer League since 2016, when he was with the Phoenix Suns, but may have to consider hooking on with someone for some run in Las Vegas to get himself fully on the free agent radar this summer.

Final Grade

Williams gets a good solid B for this season. Being on a two-way deal was more about providing stability and production for the G League affiliate and he did that in spades.

He augmented that by being a solid teammate and maximizing very limited opportunities for playing time with the parent club in Brooklyn.

He obviously impressed the organization enough that the front office granted his request to be released to pursue a deal in China and then happily brought him back when that fell through. That speaks to his ability to fit into a culture.

It’s probably not likely Williams will be back with the Nets next season unless it is as a late-camp signing for the purposes of allocating him back to the Long Island club.