Williams moves to bigger stage
ORLANDO — Technically, this won’t be Matt Williams’ pro debut in his hometown and college haunt. But this time it is closer to something for real.
After battling an ankle sprain at the start of the Orlando Pro Summer League on the Orlando Magic’s practice court at the Amway Center, Williams showed enough with the Miami Heat in July to earn an invitation to training camp. That now will put him on the main court Saturday at Amway when the Heat play the third of their six exhibitions.
After dominating from distance at Jones High School in Orlando and then the University of Central Florida, it is yet another showcase in his Orlando evolution.
“It just feels good, just to know that all my hard work paid off, five long years, two great coaches, and I learned a lot,” Williams said of his time at UCF that left him undrafted but on the Heat’s radar. “I learned a lot about trying to be a professional.”
Williams finished his collegiate career as UCF’s alltime leader in 3-pointers (274) and became the 18th player in program history to score at least 1,000 points. As a senior, he set the single-season school and conference records for 3-pointers (126) and set the Knights’ single-game 3-point record with 11 against South Florida on Jan. 17.
Based on coach Erik Spoelstra’s comments about this being a no-cut camp, it means Williams will, at worst, be moving on to the Heat’s developmental-league affiliate, the G League Sioux Falls Skyforce, with at least a $50,000 payout to start his pro career.
“It just shows that my hard work’s paying off,” Williams said. “Hopefully I have a good showing in front my whole family, UCF fans and just everyone in Orlando.”
The 6-foot-5 guard has seen limited action to this point in the preseason, playing five minutes in Sunday’s preseason-opening victory over the visiting Atlanta Hawks, then two in Thursday’s road loss to the Brooklyn Nets.
“He’s got a lot of the Miami Heat DNA qualities that we like,” Spoelstra said. “He has a tremendous work ethic, very consistent. You can see why he was successful in college. The way he shoots the ball and can pass the ball is not an accident.”
Richardson OK
Josh Richardson iced his left ankle after Friday’s practice but otherwise was able to go through full court work after rolling the ankle when he stepped on the foot of Brooklyn Nets forward Trevor Booker during Thursday’s loss at Barclays Center . . . Spoelstra said he was taken by the spirit of his team in recognizing that they did not bring the need effort in Thursday’s loss. “That’s what I love about this group,” Spoelstra said. “They want to play well for each other. They don’t see these games as preseason games. They want to compete.”