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UNC in the NBA: Isaiah Hicks signs contract, Brice Johnson released

By Blake Cockrum

CHAPEL HILL, NC - OCTOBER 23: Brice Johnson #11 battles for the ball with Isaiah Hicks #4 of the North Carolina Tar Heels during the annual Late Night with Roy Williams basketball kickoff at the Dean Smith Center on October 23, 2015 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)
CHAPEL HILL, NC - OCTOBER 23: Brice Johnson #11 battles for the ball with Isaiah Hicks #4 of the North Carolina Tar Heels during the annual Late Night with Roy Williams basketball kickoff at the Dean Smith Center on October 23, 2015 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images) /
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Pair of former Tar Heels headed in opposite direction

NBA free agency and summer league play are underway, and a pair of former Tar Heels find themselves headed in completely different directions.

Isaiah Hicks signed a two-way contract with the New York Knicks on Tuesday, marking the second consecutive season that he’s done so. Hicks’ was one of the first NBA players to play under a two-way contract when the league introduced them in 2017.

He appeared in 18 games with the Knicks last season, averaging 4.4 points and 2.3 rebounds in just over 13 minutes per game. He scored double-digit points on two occasions, including a career-high 15 in his final appearance of the season against the Cavaliers on April 11th.

Hicks played 37 games with the Knicks’ G-League affiliate, the Westchester Knicks, and averaged 15.6 points, eight rebounds and two blocks in just under 30 minutes a game. He connected on nearly 58 percent of his shots, including 3-of-9 from three-point range. He converted almost 81 percent of his attempts from the free throw line, too, better than he did in any of his four seasons at the University of North Carolina.

Related Story: Damian Lillard, C.J. McCollum upset to see Ed Davis go

Brice Johnson, on the other hand, was released by the Charlotte Hornets less than a week after the team invited him to mini-camp. He was let go after just two practices.

Johnson’s had a difficult time, to say the least, staying on an NBA roster through his first two seasons in the league. Since being drafted by the Clippers in the first round of the 2016 NBA Draft, Johnson has appeared in just 12 games, spending the majority of his time injured or in the G-League.

Johnson averaged 13.3 points and 9.4 rebounds per game in the G-League last season. He hit just under 48 percent of his field goals and 72.6 percent of his free throws. He made an effort to increase his efficiency from long-range last season, taking 53 shots from beyond the arc. He struggled to find consistency, though, connecting on just 14 of them.

After being released from the Hornets, Johnson will be relegated to working out and preparing himself for the next opportunity to come along.

Next: Raymond Felton agrees to deal with Thunder

Stick with Keeping It Heel for more on UNC alumni in the NBA throughout summer league play and leading up to the start of the 2018-19 season.

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