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Alfonzo McKinnie definitely made the most of his hardship deal with the Chicago Bulls. With as many as 10 Bulls players being in health and safety protocols at the same time, the 29-year-old wing was forced into action and he hit the hardwood running.
Over three appearances, McKinnie has averaged 8.0 points and 2.3 rebounds per contest while shooting a cool 50% from three-point range. As a result, he just became the first hardship signing in the NBA to have his contract converted to a standard deal.
While that was an incredible development for McKinnie — and hardship success story — it wasn’t the best news for power forward Alize Johnson. In order to open up a spot for McKinnie on the team’s roster, Chicago elected to waive Johnson on December 26 after 16 games with the club.
However, he didn’t have to wait long to find his next home in the Association.
Woj: Johnson Signs 10-Day Contract With East Rival
On Tuesday, mere minutes after he cleared waivers at 5 p.m. ET, Johnson signed a 10-day contract with the Washington Wizards, per Adrian Wojnarowski. The ESPN insider further noted that the 25-year-old had already landed in Miami where the Wizards are slated to take on the Heat.
Given that Washington has several players in protocols, including three frontcourt players in Montrezl Harrell, Rui Hachimura and Anthony Gill — not to mention the injured Thomas Bryant — there’s a chance that Johnson goes from getting off a plane to playing major minute against one of the Eastern Conference’s elite squads.
In any case, Johnson is joining a Wizards team that needs something — anything — to work out in its favor. Washington is fresh off of a 21-point shellacking at the hands of the Philadelphia 76ers and has lost eight of its last 11 games.
Over that span, the team ranks 24th offensively (with an O-rating of 108.4), 28th defensively (conceding 117.5 points per 100 possessions) and dead last in rebounding percentage (46.3). Johnson could make a big difference in the latter department; his rebounding rate of 15.4% is the third-best mark on the Bulls this season.
Johnson’s Career at a Glance
After wrapping up his collegiate career with the Missouri State Bears, Johnson was selected by the Indiana Pacers with the 50th pick in the 2018 NBA draft. He went on to show out during summer league play and earned a guaranteed contract worth $2.2 million over two years.
However, he would appear in just 31 games for Indy from 2018 to 2020, spending a significant portion of his time with the G League’s Fort Wayne Mad Ants, with whom he averaged 19.6 points and 13.3 rebounds over a combined 50 games.
He played well enough, though, to catch eyes in the Toronto Raptors organization, and ultimately signed a camp deal with the club. From there, he became an affiliate player with Raptors 905 and resumed his life as a G League star.
In March, he signed a 10-day contract with the Nets, which led to a second 10-day contract and, eventually, a partially guaranteed, multi-year deal. In 18 games with Brooklyn, he put up 5.2 points and 5.0 rebounds per contest. He also made 58.8% of his field-goal attempts.
After the Nets opted to go in a different direction, Johnson caught on with the Bulls in September. However, he was seldom used by coach Billy Donovan and averaged just 1.8 points and 2.3 boards in limited action. His contract was slated to become guaranteed for the year on January 10.
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