Clippers Waive Jamil Wilson, Sign Tyrone Wallace to Two-Way Deal

According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Clippers have waived two-way forward Jamil Wilson, and signed Agua Caliente Clippers guard Tyrone Wallace to a two-way deal.

Wilson had used up almost his entire 45-day allowance on the Clippers’ NBA roster. Wallace will receive a pro-rated 24 day allowance on the NBA roster. This move comes with the Clippers in desperate need of guards due to injuries to Patrick Beverley, Milos Teodosic, and Austin Rivers.

Due to injuries to Danilo Gallinari, Blake Griffin, and Wesley Johnson at the forward positions earlier in the season, Wilson got a crack at rotation minutes, averaging 18 minutes a game in 15 appearances, even earning 10 starts. He was a big part of the Clippers’ efforts to stay afloat during a difficult December, averaging 7 points and 2 rebounds and shooting 43% from deep. Wilson reached double-digit scoring four times, including a career-best 17-point game in his final game as a Clipper against the Sacramento Kings. He certainly proved that he has a high-level NBA three-point shot, which is a valuable skill. It would surprise me if this is Wilson’s last crack at the NBA level.

However, the Clippers, in a luxury tax dilemma with few options, found themselves needing healthy bodies. Wilson’s time with the team was almost expired, and the Clippers badly need guard depth in the short-term. A 10-day contract counts towards the luxury tax number, while replacing a two-way player does not, and so the Clippers had to free up a two-way roster spot in order to add a new player.

And there’s no better option among NBA G-League guards than Tyrone Wallace. A former second-round draft pick by the Utah Jazz who never made the team, Wallace was with the Clippers in training camp this year and impressed the team enough for the Agua Caliente Clippers to trade for his G-League rights when he couldn’t make the NBA roster. He’s been stellar for ACCO: 22.8 points, 6.0 rebounds, 5.4 assists, 1.5 steals and 0.9 blocks per game for an overachieving 13-10 G-League franchise in their inaugural season.

Wallace, like any G-League call-up, has flaws, the most critical of which is his three-point shot is poor (just 29% on only 2 attempts per game). Still, he’s more than capable of doing what Doc Rivers needs at the point guard position: someone to initiate the offense so that Lou Williams can focus on being a scorer. Rivers told reporters after the Clippers’ loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder that he would have to get creative to find lineup solutions which kept Williams off of the ball—a difficult proposition with foul-prone second-round rookie Jawun Evans being the only healthy point guard.

Expect Wallace to play early and often for the Clippers.