Westchester Knicks Acquire Donovan Williams in Three-Team Trade

NEW YORK – October 23, 2024 – The Westchester Knicks, the official NBA G League affiliate of the New York Knicks, have acquired the Returning Player Rights to Donovan Williams in a three-team trade involving the Santa Cruz Warriors and the Rip City Remix.

As part of the deal, the Westchester Knicks will trade the Returning Player Rights to Aaron Wheeler to the Santa Cruz Warriors and their own first-round pick in the 2025 NBA G League Draft to the Rip City Remix. In exchange, the Santa Cruz Warriors will trade the Returning Player Rights to Donovan Williams to the Westchester Knicks; along with the Returning Player Rights to Hyunjung Lee and their own second-round pick in the 2025 NBA G League Draft to the Rip City Remix. The Rip City Remix will then trade the Returning Player Rights to Kevin Knox to the Santa Cruz Warriors. 

Williams, 23-years old (6-6, 190-pounds), appeared in 48 games (41 starts) with the Santa Cruz Warriors during the overall 2023-24 NBA G League Season, recording 17.4 points, 4.1 rebounds, 1.7 assists, and 0.9 steals in 27.2 minutes of action. During the 2023-24 Regular Season, Williams played in 32 games (all starts) and finished the season with averages of 20.1 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 1.9 assists, while shooting 48.2-percent from the field and 30.1-percent from beyond the arc. He matched his career-high registering 30 points to go along with five rebounds, three assists, and two blocks vs. the South Bay Lakers (Jan 13, 2024).

Undrafted in the 2022 NBA Draft, Williams went on to sign a contract with the Brooklyn Nets before being placed on waivers and joining the Long Island Nets during the 2022-23 NBA G League Showcase Season. His performance would eventually earn him a Two-Way Contract with the Atlanta Hawks, where he would close out his 2022-23 rookie season. In his rookie season, Williams finished with 14.1 points, 4.2 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.0 steal in 50 games played (40 starts), over the course of 28.6 minutes. 

Williams, most recently played for the San Antonio Spurs NBA 2K25 Summer League Team in Las Vegas, where he played in five games (one start) and averaged 11.0 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 2.0 assists on 50-percent shooting from the field and 60-percent from three. Williams also played for the Scarborough Shooting Stars of the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL), where he played under Westchester Knicks Associate Head Coach Devan Blair. Williams played in 11 games (all starts), and held an average of 17.7 points, 5.5 rebounds, 2.09 assists, and 1.0 steals in 26.7 minutes of action. 

The Fort Bend, Texas-native played three years collegiately. He began his collegiate career with the Texas Longhorns (2019-20, 2020-21), before eventually playing his junior season (2021-22) with the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) Runnin’ Rebels. Williams played in 27 games (13 starts), recording 12.7 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 1.1 assists in 22.3 minutes. In his junior season he received the Mountain West Sixth Man of the Year award.