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Wizards sign Johnathan Williams under injury hardship

The forward from Maccabi Rishon LeZion also played at Gonzaga, where he was teammates with Rui Hachimura.

Ratiopharm Ulm v Maccabi Rishon - EuroCup
Johnathan Williams, one of Rui Hachimura’s college teammates, is joining the Wizards!
Photo by TF-Images/Getty Images

The Washington Wizards announced that they signed Maccabi Rishon LeZion forward Johnathan Williams. He is averaging 12.2 points and 10.4 rebounds in domestic play within the Israeli Basketball Premier League. Since Rishon LeZion is also in EuroCup, Williams is also averaging 11.3 points and 7.8 rebounds a game in the continental tournament.

Williams played college basketball at Gonzaga alongside rookie forward Rui Hachimura. Though he was undrafted in 2018, he signed a two-way contract with the Los Angeles Lakers. Williams played a total of 24 games for the Lakers, averaging 6.5 points and 4.1 rebounds off the bench. He also appeared in 26 games for the South Bay Lakers, putting up 15.2 points and 8.7 rebounds per game.

On that note, the South Bay Lakers seem to be a “second G League” affiliate for Washington, considering that Moritz Wagner, Issac Bonga and Gary Payton III also played for them in the last couple seasons.

The Wizards were apparently able to sign Williams with a second injury hardship exception. Fred Katz of The Athletic reported on it earlier this week.

We shall see what Williams can provide tonight when the Wizards play the Pistons later tonight.