Every weekend, we’ll be updating the Nets’ off-season with bits and pieces of information, gossip, etc. to help fans get ready for … whatever
Busy weekend … so far. In the space of 36 hours, Shams Charania and Mike Scotto reported two Brooklyn Nets signings: Ricky Council IV, the 23-year-old 6’6” wing to a partially guaranteed deal (Shams) and Fanbo Zeng, the 22-year-old 6’11” power forward to an Exhibit 10 training camp invite (Scotto.)
That brings to 21 the number of Nets players under some sort of contract, yes, including Cam Thomas whose future may be unresolved, but who’s still a Nets’ restricted free agent. Twenty-one, of course, is the limit for NBA training camps. That said, Sean Marks & co. still have a lot of flexibility in terms of cap space — a minimum of around $20 million — and roster spots with half of those 21 spots non-guaranteed in some way or another.
Here’s the latest roster math, as of Sunday, noting that the weekend signings are not yet official and NBA teams don’t have to get down to 21 until the opening of training camp, the last week of September…
GUARANTEED STANDARD NBA CONTRACTS (10):
- Terance Mann, 28
- Michael Porter Jr., 27
- Nic Claxton, 26
- Noah Clowney, 21
- Dariq Whitehead, 21
- Egor Demin, 19
- Nolan Traore, 19
- Drake Powell, 19
- Ben Saraf, 19
- Danny Wolf, 21
NON-GUARANTEED NBA CONTRACTS (5)
- Keon Johnson, 23
- Jalen Wilson, 25
- Tyrese Martin, 26
- Drew Timme, 25
- Ricky Council, 23
Johnson and Wilson are partially guaranteed. They’ll receive $271,000 (Johnson) and $88,000 (Wilson) if cut. Those amounts would become so-called “dead money,” added to the cap. The Nets already had $100,000 in dead money after they failed to extend Maxwell Lewis.
RESTRICTED FREE AGENTS (3)
- Cam Thomas, 23
- Day’Ron Sharpe, 23
- Ziaire Williams, 23
Sharpe and Williams have reportedly agreed to identical, two-year $12.0 million deals with the second year a team option. The only Thomas situation remains unresolved.
NON-GUARANTEED TWO-WAYS (2)
- Tosan Evbuomwan, 24
- Tyson Etienne, 26
Two-ways are non-guaranteed and their salaries do not count against the cap.
EXHIBIT 10 (1)
- Fanbo Zeng, 22.
An Exhibit 10 gives the Nets flexibility in retaining Fanbo. Even if waived, his G League rights are automatically transferred to Long Island.
Eight questions that remain
Beyond the roster math, here’s eight questions still left unanswered:
- There have been reports that the Nets have interest in big men Tyrese Samuel and Grant Nelson, both of whom played for them in the Summer League. Are they still on the radar, after the signing of big man Fanbo Zeng?
- Will the five non- and partially guaranteed deals competing for a finite number of roster spots? What’s that number? Would any of them agree to accept the open two-way spot?
- Is that third two-way reserved for someone or just a possibility being dangled in front of those with non-guaranteed deals? How safe are Evbuomwan and Etienne? Deals are not guaranteed.
- How closely are the Nets watching the waiver wire? The agreement with Ricky Council IV was unexpected and apparently came only three days after he cleared waivers following Philly’s decision to cut him.
- More than one pundit has suggested the Nets are “active” in the trade market? For whom? With what assets?
- Is there a veteran there they have their eye on? Possibly a point guard?
- Can they get to that CBA salary floor and how? They could get a lot closer with a big deal and it’s hard to imagine they’ll accept the sanctions associated with being under. They have until October 21.
- Finally, the big one: what’s going on with Cam Thomas and do the weekend signings clear the air a bit for that to be resolved? Doubtful.
Long Island increasingly a big deal for Brooklyn
Back at the Nets’ post-draft press conference on July 1, our Brian Fleurantin asked Sean Marks about his plans for the Long Island Nets this season, noting that the Nets had drafted five first rounders, a historic gamble. Marks’ GM counterparts and draftniks had (and still have) questions about developing that many firsts … as well as a number of other younger players.
Marks was somewhat vague about how many of his players will wind up playing at Nassau Coliseum when Long Island opens it season on November 7.
“I assume some of these guys will definitely spend some time in Long Island” he said in answer to a question about the draft picks. “We’ll have to see how the season sort of plays out and what minutes are there for everybody, but as the same time, as Jordi mentioned, it’s an environment of competitive nature out here. So that’s what we want to see. These guys go compete. There’s no promises given to anybody, let alone the draft picks or all of the guys we currently have on our roster. Go compete and may the best man win.”
As noted above, the Nets roster currently is very young. There’s a very good chance that when the season opens on October 22 that it could be the youngest in NBA history. Currently, that’s the 2022-23 Houston Rockets whose average age with 22.69 years. Eleven Nets are 23 or younger. No Net is older than 28 (Terance Mann.)
Long Island does have a good development record. More than half the current roster has spent time in the G League proving ground. Nic Claxton, Cam Thomas, Day’Ron Sharpe, Dariq Whitehead, Noah Clowney, Jalen Wilson, Keon Johnson, Drew Timme, Tosan Evbuomwan, Tyson Etienner and Tyrese Martin (although Martin was only there for Media Day, spending all of his two-way playing time in Brooklyn.) In addition, Ziaire Williams (Memphis Hustle) and Ricky Council IV (Delaware Blue Coats) had productive gigs on G League clubs.
Some were there on two-way contracts, some on assignment during their rookie contracts, some on Exhibit 10s and that mix is likely now. Some even moved from one category to another. In each case, as Marks said in July, players may be listed on two teams but will deal with the same system, the same schemes, the same nomenclature. Go for the win, yes, but development is the priority: physical, mental, emotional.
“Long Island, they are exactly the same as the Brooklyn Nets,” Marks said. “Maybe in a different infrastructure and a little bit further away, but we wanna make sure whenever our players from Brooklyn spend time in Long Island, there’s nothing amiss.”
The Nets also have had continuity in their key personnel. Matt MacDonald, the GM, Mfon Udofia, the head coach and Shawn Swords, the associate head coach are all been around for a while. MacDonald has been with the Nets organization, both Brooklyn and Long Island, since 2019. This is Udofia’s third season as head coach in Uniondale. Same with Swords and Development Director Steven Kaner.
This year of course will be a different challenge. Players will be jumping back and forth between Barclays Center and Nassau Coliseum more than ever (although probably not as much as Chris McCullough did back in 2016-17 when he shuttled back and forth 21 times, as we recall.)
“Player development is going to be important. We’ve been very diligent. The coaching staff has done a great job making our guys work, and those guys have improved, and we believe they’ll do the same thing,” Fernandez said of his team’s G League grads.
Might we expect an ungrade? more staff? Would make sense.
Also, expect the marketing and ticketing side of Long Island to push the development angle to reach its goal of 3,000 fans a game. “See the future!” etc. Long Island had some success last season with attendance and Morgan Taylor who runs the business side has said the team would like to up that next season. Having some “name” players even if 19 years old could help.
Performance team changes?
As we noted earlier in the off-season, Ben Williams, the Nets director of high performance, left Brooklyn and returned home to his native Britain where he’ll take a new, expanded job with the Queens Park Rangers, where he had been working prior to his hire by the Nets. Williams was in charge of “overseeing all aspects of the Nets’ performance team.” according to a Nets announcement of his hire in September 2024.
Since then, we’ve learned (from her Instagram account) that Stefania Rizzo, the team’s long-time director of rehabilitation therapy, has also left. Rizzo hasn’t disclosed her next gig but she is president of the National Basketball Physical Therapy Association (NBPTA) which she founded last year. Rizzo is widely respected around the league and was a big part of Kevin Durant’s achilles rehab for which he has expressed his personal gratitude on departure (which is more than he did for the fans.) “Bad loss,” said one league source. “She’s amazing.”
The Nets haven’t announced who will be replacing the two of them but word around the league is that Dan Meehan, who’s been with Brooklyn for nine years in a variety of roles most recently the assistant director of high performance, will succeed Williams. He was seen with Marks in May scouting draft prospects, an indication of the trust between the two.
As for the rehab director, word in Australia is that Brenton Egglestone, Head Physiotherapist at the North Melbourne Football Club, will be moving to New York at the beginning of September … yet another Aussie to join the Melbourne Mafia. Like a number of “physios” around the NBA, he’s a product of the vaunted Australian system and his North Melbourne Kangaroos have been among the leaders in keeping athletes healthy.
That has not been the case for the Nets of late. Last season, they set a franchise record for most games missed to injury/illness (374) according to InStreetClothes which tracks injuries. They also tied a franchise record for most players under contract in a single season (27).
The Nets are generally seen as an NBA leader in performance training and rehab, having the best resources in the NBA at HSS Training Center. But they’ve also had a high turnover at the top. Williams is the third high level performance team executive to leave Brooklyn in the last four years.
The Nets did not respond to a request for information on the changes. They annually update training staff in one big announcement closer to the start of training camp. Last year, they announced new strength and conditioning coach, head trainer, dietician in addition to Williams as director of high performance.
Brooklyn Basketball
We’ve haven’t wandered around the periphery of Barclays Center in a while but we assume construction is underway at the shuttered Modell’s store, opposite Barclays. It will be the new home of Brooklyn Basketball, the Nets and Liberty’s youth basketball program. After all, it’s scheduled to open in the fall…
The 18,600-square foot training facility, whose cost has not been revealed, will include two full courts and a half court as well as a “‘shooting lab’ half court, auxiliary baskets, multi-purpose court flooring for other events, “cutting-edge technology and expert coaching,” per the release announcing the facility back in June.
Also, it will “complement” BSE Global’s existing free community training program which operates in conjunction with the New York City Department of Education, the release noted. That initiative has integrated basketball training into gym classes in 200 schools as well as community clinics that have reached 40,000 city school children. The training center will offer after-school and weekend training, camps, daily clinics, advanced training, even international program not further defined.
In the meantime, as it ramps up the center, Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment is using both the Barclays Center main court and practice court to run clinics, muck to the delight of the kids who participate. Bernard King, the former Nets now a team ambassador was on the main court last month running a clinic. He noted the 40 youths, ages 8-14, on hand had a double surprise.
Meanwhile, on the practice court where the Liberty will run their plays, Brooklyn Basketball ran a clinic this past week for 40 girls between 6 and 14. They even ran a simulated Media Day for the girls…
“It’s an opportunity for the girls to pose with the basketball and have a little bit of fun. To sort of pretend that they are the star for the day. I think those are memories that will last forever,” said Marissa Shorenstein, the chief external media officer for BSE told PIX News.
Talking to Cam about his game
Nothing new on the Cam Thomas front. The standoff is, as we’ve noted before, likely to wait till everything else gets done. The Nets can always sign Thomas to a contract outside the salary cap so it’s efficient at least financially to be patient and wait.
But rummaging through our files, we found something of note as fans debate how much of a priority is a Cam signing and at what price level: Cam Thomas talking about his game with our Lucas Kaplan during the season, the two of them sitting in front of a screen talking hoops.
A different look at the Nets 23-year-old shooter.