Summer league stats do not hold much weight once the regular season rolls around. But the Atlanta Hawks have more than just the first game of the 2024 Las Vegas Summer League to go off of with former undrafted free agent guard Keaton Wallace.
Wallace finished the tilt, a 94-88 loss to the Washington Wizards, with 10 points, six assists, four rebounds, two steals, and one block.
It did not take long for his strong effort to pay off.
“Free agent guard Keaton Wallace has agreed on a two-way contract with the Atlanta Hawks, his agents Max Lipsett and Marcus Monk of @excelbasketball tell ESPN,” ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported on X on July 12. “Wallace has had G League stops with the Hawks and Clippers.”
Wallace showed well on both ends of the floor, controlling the pace and playing sound defense, two things the Hawks need at all levels.
Wallace, 25, was on the Hawks' 2023-24 summer roster.
But the Hawks waived him nine days later. He averaged 12.9 points, 5.8 assists, 4.4 rebounds, and 1.6 steals in 16 G League Showcase Cup games with the College Park Skyhawks in 2023-24.
WITH FEROCITY!! 😲
— NBA G League (@nbagleague) December 21, 2023
Keaton Wallace makes it a 1-point game! @CPSkyhawks #GLeagueWinterShowcase pic.twitter.com/4OA9eWuiUi
The Skyhawks traded for Wallace in August 2023.
College Park sent its first and second-round picks in the 2024 G League Draft along with guard Armoni Brooks – another former UDFA – to the Ontario Clippers for the 6-foot-4 Wallace, whose younger brother, Cason Wallace, plays for the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The elder Wallace averaged 14.6 points, 4.2 assists, 3.7 rebounds, and 1.8 steals in 30 regular season games with 29 starts G League Clippers in 2022-23.
He posted an 18.1/5.9/4.7 line with 1.6 steals in 31 games for the organization in 2021-22.
Former Hawks 2-way guard suits up for Lakers in summer league
Wallace figures to replace former two-way guard Trent Forrest. Forrest signed an Exhibit-10 contract with the Los Angeles Lakers’ summer squad, which gives LA the option to convert his deal to a two-way pact like Wallace received.
On his two-way contract, Wallace can suit up for the Hawks up to 50 games in 2024-25 before his deal would need to be converted into a standard contract to continue.
Wallace joins 2023 second-round pick Seth Lundy as the Hawks’ two two-way contracts.
They can have up to three players on two-way contracts. Wallace’s addition makes sense in light of the loss of 2023 first-round pick Kobe Bufkin for the rest of summer league. Bufkin injured his shoulder in practice on the eve of the Hawks’ summer league opener.
Lundy also missed the contest and will miss the rest of summer league after undergoing ankle surgery on May 1.
Bufkin and Lundy are expected to be ready for the start of the 2024-25 season.
In the meantime, Wallace will get a chance to showcase his wares through the summer and into the preseason. The Hawks’ final two-way slot could go to 2024 second-round Nikola Đurišić, who is also a candidate to be stashed overseas.