Brooklyn Nets set to UNLEASH historic rookie class in Las Vegas | What to watch for at Summer League

Brooklyn Nets set to UNLEASH historic rookie class in Las Vegas | What to watch for at Summer League

Coming up, what were the biggest surprises on the Nets summer league roster? And what should fans be watching for in Las Vegas? I’ll answer that after this. You are Locked on Nets, your daily Brooklyn Nets podcast, part of the Locked On podcast network. Your team every day. Welcome in to the Lockdown Nets podcast right here on the Locked on Podcast Network. It’s your team, the Brooklyn Nets, every single day. I’m Eric Slater, Brooklyn’s beat reporter for clutchpoints.com. Thank you for making me your first listen of the day. This show is 100% free on all those great platforms. Today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Right now, new customers can get $150 in bonus bets when your first $5 bet wins. And on today’s show, I’m going to be reacting to the Nets summer league roster release and outlining what fans should be watching for during the team’s games in Las Vegas. The Nets released their summer league roster on Saturday. The games will tip off on Thursday. They have four games scheduled out in Las Vegas. I will be there attending and covering. But first thoughts on the roster, reaction to it. There weren’t too many surprises. I think it was really great to see that all five of the Net’s first round picks will be playing. So, Jaor Demond, Nolan Troy, Drake Pal, Ben Saraf, Danny Wolf, all those guys will be out there and sharing the floor together, which will be really interesting to see. I’m going to get into that a little bit later how that could potentially play out. But of the the major surprises, I think there was only one. I think no Dariq Whitehead. He will not be playing. None of the Nets thirdyear players will be playing those draft picks um from 2023. Noah Clowney, Dariq Whitehead, and Jaylen Wilson. None of them will be taking the floor. And I don’t really think that was surprising in Clowney and um Jaylen Wilson’s case. You know, Clowney, a guy who, you know, got minutes during his first two seasons of the NBA. Really played a feature role in the Nets rotation last season, as did Jaylen Wilson. Wilson won summer league MVP last year. So, not surprising to not see those guys playing. And in Whitehead’s case, you could say it’s not surprising because the Nets typically don’t play third-year players at summer league. You look at, you know, all their first round picks or just draft picks in general over the years, none of them play into that third year at summer league. It’s usually just the first two seasons. You look at, you know, Nick Claxton didn’t do that. Jared Allen, Caris Lever, whoever you want to name, they don’t play that third year. But in Tariq Whitehead’s case, he’s obviously, you know, a unique example of this because he’s a guy who hasn’t just hasn’t played much basketball up to this point in his NBA career. He’s entering his third season. obviously, you know, had the injury riddled college freshman year at Duke, you know, dealing with those foot injuries, those knee injuries. And then he comes into the NBA and he doesn’t really play during his rookie season. Then last season, he got more run, but still over the first couple years, he’s only played in 68 total games in his first two NBA seasons. That’s between the GLeague and the NBA. And he’s a guy that, you know, really struggled last season at summer league. I think we all, you know, saw how that played out and then got into the season and had some encouraging moments in the G-League and when he got called up late in the year uh to the Nets in the NBA, but still obviously is pretty unsure of himself with the ball in his hands as a guy who really needs to just get more reps to try to, you know, get his, you know, physicality, get his athleticism in order, also get his decision-m and his ball handling, all that stuff. He’s just he’s extremely raw entering his third NBA season and I thought that this would be, you know, another opportunity for him to potentially get more minutes, play against, you know, some higher talent, have some, you know, ability to reaclimate his body and his mind to, you know, making decisions on the floor. But at the same time, the Nets did just bring in five first round picks. You know, they have other guys who are going to be playing from last year’s roster. They brought in some guys, you know, undrafted guys who are going to, you know, potentially get some time. So, it could have been a thing where there might just not be enough minutes to go around on this team. There’s so many guys who are going to need to play. There’s so many guys who are going to be, you know, headliners to this summer league roster. If you throw a third-year player like Dariq Whitehead in the mix, it might be tough to get him minutes. But, I do think it was surprising, you know, somewhat surprising that Dariq wasn’t on this roster and that he’s not going to be playing here. But, you know, maybe they think it’s better for him to just be training with his team with the team and, you know, with his own people and just, you know, getting his body right and getting ready for this coming season, you know, not out in Las Vegas. So, somewhat surprising, but, you know, not shocking, I would say. Just, you know, thought maybe he would be on there. Now, talking about what I think fans should be watching for, you know, in this summer league in Las Vegas for the Nets, you know, the f the five first round picks obviously are going to headline this and Jor Deon specifically the player that the Nets took at eighth overall and a lot of people, you know, were shocked by it. A lot of people labeled it a massive reach. And this is going to be his first time obviously taking the floor as a professional and there’s going to be a lot of things that fans should be watching out for. You know, the biggest for me, you know, there’s two things obviously the outside shot. We’ve talked about that. I’ve talked about that ad nauseium, how important that’s going to be to unlocking his game as a pick and roll ball handler and also his ability to play off the ball. So, that goes without saying the outside shots going to be big. He struggled at BYU. He apparently shot it exceptionally well with uh the Nets at their workouts with him and also during his pro day. And we got some really confident comments from Shawn Marks and Jordi Fernandez after the draft. You know, Jordy Fernandez in the introductory press conference for these rookies flat out said his shooting was part of what attracted us. he’s going to shoot the ball well as an NBA player. There’s no lack of conviction from the Nets about what David Demond’s shooting capabilities are going to be. So, that’ll be something to watch. But also, you know, you hear the knocks on Demond coming out of the draft. It’s the lack of athleticism, the lack of ball handling capabilities, the lack of shake to be able to create separation off the dribble. You know, how does he respond to the athleticism of these defenders at summer league? Like, these are no way like, you know, stud NBA players that are out there. There’ll be some of those guys, but obviously the majority of these guys are NBA roster hopefuls, but it’s still a step up in terms of athleticism, physicality, and all that stuff to what he saw at BYU. And he did struggle for a decent portion of the season with that at BYU. So, how does he respond to that as a ball handler? How is he able to, you know, handle the ball, control the offense, play with tempo as a pick and roll ball handler, also as a guy, you know, just in other sets? And how can he handle that? That’s going to be something that Nets fans should definitely be watching out for. Then also just the position, how are the Nets utilizing him? You know, this is this team is going to be coached by at summer league. Uh Steve Hzel, one of the Nets lead assistants, you know, a really trusted guy under Jordy Fernandez. So obviously, you know, it’s different playing summer league from what you’re going to see in NBA games, but there is obviously a coaching staff presence there that Jordy knows what he wants. You know, he’s with these guys practicing and Hzel’s going to be coaching it. So, how are they using these guys positionally? you know, particularly Demond, but it really extends to the entire rookie class because a big criticism of this draft class for the Nets, you know, they used all five of the first round picks that shocked everybody, but also them taking three international point guards in Jaor Deon, Nolan Tro, Ben Saraf, a lot of people thought there was a lot of overlap in those skill sets. And when we asked Shawn Marks and Jordi Fernandez about it, they both said that they feel that this is a very versatile class. All these players have really good size and measurables. They think that, you know, athletically they’ll be able to hang, you know, with NBA uh type talents. So, how are they using all these guys positionally? Because it’ll be interesting to see, you know, Jagor Deon, he’s been labeled as a point guard. But I talked to some draft analysts on my show who said, you know, I just had Derek Parker on the show. He said he sees him more as a wing long term in the NBA. So, how are they using Demon offensively? Is he playing alongside Trayor? You know, how does that how do those two kind of fit together in tandem? also Ben Saraf obviously another ball handler who’s going to enter the mix. So it’ll be really interesting to see positionally how all those guys fit together. So you know how much is Demond on the ball versus off the ball. Where does where do Trior and Sarra fit into that equation? That’ll be really interesting to see. You also have, you know, Drake Pal, a guy who’s not a ball handler and is a little bit more of a clean fit because he’s just a three and D wing, but I outlined it on my show yesterday, a guy who is an elite defender. You know, he his defensive capabilities really stick out. A lot of people think he’s the best athlete in this year’s draft class. So, he has that. He shot the ball well on low volume. So, can he continue to keep shooting it well? And then I outlined yesterday the usage rate was just historically low for a wing player drafted um you know where he was or just drafted at all. So, is he able to do some more things in the ball in with his with the ball in his hands? How does he look? Does he look comfortable in those spots? Potentially attacking closeouts, maybe even doing some things from a self-creation standpoint. So, that’ll be interesting to see. And then the last guy, Danny Wolf, you know, he’s just going to be a lot of fun. You know, he’s another guy positionally. He could play center, he could play power forward. He played a little bit of a point forward at Michigan. So, he’s a guy who can be used in various ways. How does he match up defensively against these teams? How is he guarding centers? How is he guarding some quicker guys, you know, quicker for potentially even switched on to some wings? How does he hold up there? What is where does he factor in to the pick and roll ball handling conversation? That that’s obviously a main skill that he had at Michigan. But we have these guys with Demen, you know, Trayor Saraf, other guys that the Nets have on this summer league roster who I’ll get into in a little bit. There’s just a lot of ball handling. So, how does Danny Wolf fit into that? And then how does he also look, you know, as a floor floor spacer, potential, you know, short roll playmaker and all those things. There’s just a lot of different ways that they can use him. There’s a lot of ways that all of these pieces can fit together positionally and there’s a lot of, you know, strengths and weaknesses that, you know, were major question marks for draft analysts coming out who were evaluating this next draft class. So, how do those things look at the summer league? We’re going to get a look at all five of these guys individually and on the floor together. So, it’ll be really fun to see, you know, how they all fit in together and, you know, what their, you know, first action as professionals as Nets players alongside one another looks like. So, all things that Nets fans should be excited to watch and I’m really excited to cover out in Las Vegas. But there are more players on this summer league roster outside of the draft picks who could have some implications for Brooklyn’s roster moving forward. So, who are they and how can the Nets approach that? I’ll get into that after a quick break. But before that, want to tell you about our friends over at FanDuel. Summer sports are in full swing. And whether you’re all about baseball under the lights, golf on the green, or highstakes soccer action, FanDuel is the best way to make every game even more exciting. You’re already following the action. Why not make it a little more thrilling? With FanDuel, you can get in on the game while your friends are getting sunburnt on the beach. Guys, you can use FanDuel to track your favorite matchups, and the app keeps it fresh with new daily promotions and fun ways to bet. It’s easy to use, fast to pay out, and makes even regular season games feel like mustwatch events. New to FanDuel? New customers can bet just $5 and get $150 in bonus bets if your first bet wins. Open the FanDuel app today or visit fanduel.com to get started. Coming out of the break on today’s Locked on Nets episode, talking about the summer league, the Nets roster, and some of the players who could play a significant role. I just touched on the five first round picks were obviously going to headline the action, but there are other contributors from last year’s Nets team. You know, in the NBA who are going to be getting time at summer league this year. You know, three guys who played last season, played, you know, some significant minutes throughout the year for the Nets are Tosan Awulman, Tyson Etn, and Drew Timmy. All of those guys are going to be with the Net summer league team this year. Woman and ETN are on two-way contracts while Drew Timmy is on a non-g guaranteed standard deal. And I think it’s going to be intriguing for all three of these guys. Their performance at summer league I think will be significant, you know, especially in Timmy’s case because Timmy is the guy who’s on a non-g guaranteed standard deal. So there’s a little bit more uh question about, you know, where he’s going to fit into the roster this coming season and whether he’s even going to be on the roster. And you look at the Nets roster, they have 16 players on standard contracts right now. And that’s going to be uh going up to 17 if they resign Cam Thomas, which the expectation is that they will. So 17 guys on standard contracts, you’re only allowed 15, you know, in the NBA. So there’s going to be some guys who are odd men out and there’s going to be a lot of competition for these two-way spots. You know, you get in this new CBA, you get three two-way spots and that’s already have two players on two-way contracts in Awulan and ETN. But there’s guys who are on standard deals, you know, non or partially guaranteed. you know, non-g guaranteed in all of these guys’ cases, uh, standard deals who could be cut and are eligible for two-way contracts. You look at guys like Drew Timmy and Tyrese Martin, they’re eligible for two-way contracts if they’re waved by the Nets because they have under four years of NBA service under their belt. So, there’s going to be a lot of competition for these two-way spots. And which one of these guys come away with it, it’s going to be really interesting because even though a Wulman and ETN are on two-way contracts, they can be waved. like these two-way contracts don’t fully guarantee until I think January 7th or January 10th, I’m pretty sure is the date. So, up until then, you see a lot of roster shuffling with the two-way guys from NBA teams. Like last year, we saw some guys brought in by the Nets on two-way deals and then cut shortly thereafter, then new guys brought in. So, just because you’re on a two-way contract like a Woman and ETN are, you’re no way guaranteed that spot for the rest of the season. It’s not, you know, it’s not a guaranteed contract in that way. So, with Drew Timmy, with Tyrese Martin being eligible for two-way contracts if they are waved, there is going to be some competition there. And all these players bring different things to the table that I think are really intriguing for the Nets. If you’re talking about a Wulman and ETN as the two guys on the two-way contracts right now, Aulman plays, you know, a really funky style of offensive ball. He’s a guy who can do some things off the dribble. He can do some things as a scorer in the mid-range, as a decision maker sometimes. And I think the three-point shot hasn’t come around up to this point, but there could be some potential there. They could think that he’s going to improve as a shooter and if he can improve there along with some of the things he can do as a scorer on the ball and also some of the defensive capabilities he has as a guy who, you know, is pretty athletic and has some measurables there that are, you know, working in his favor in terms of wingspan, you know, athleticism, you know, fluidity, mobility, all of that. He could be interesting. And I think he’s a player who the Nets liked what they saw last season. So, he’s a guy who a two-way spot, you know, I think it makes sense for him. You have Tyson ETN, a smaller guard who, you know, struggled when he came up with the Nets last season, but in the G-League last year, was one of the top three-point shooters in the G- League, shot, you know, I think it was around like 44 45% on six or seven attempts per game. So, really elite there. I think the Nets like what they saw there from his buyin late in the season. And then you have, you know, Drew Timmy, a guy who is obviously a fan favorite, um, going back to his college days, his NCA tournament success there with Gonzaga, played last season and really performed well. Like we saw a game late in the year where Drew Timmy went headto-head with Anthony Davis in Dallas and really outplayed him in the fourth quarter. And I think there’s obvious reasons why Timmy went undrafted after being a college star. You look at his, you know, player archetype as a center who’s grounded. He’s not a rim protector. He doesn’t shoot the ball well from three up to this point in his career. You shot it really well with Long Island, but hasn’t shot the ball well. You know, when he got called up with the Nets, he struggled from three. But a guy who’s a really smart player, a guy who can do some interesting things as a postcore and with the ball in his hands as a decision maker. You know, a guy who’s just a really high IQ, high field guy. And I know that’s something the Nets are putting a priority on. You know, based on what you look at the guys that they drafted this year, those were a lot of the buzzwords, you know, high IQ, high field, unselfish. Drew Timmy checks a lot of those boxes. And while, you know, the rim protection isn’t there, the three-point shooting hasn’t been there up to this point. If he can develop into a floor spacer to complement some of that stuff, it’s not out of the question that he could be a guy who could, you know, stick in the NBA or at least have a roster spot, you know, for a few uh years into the foreseeable future. So, Drew Timmy, another interesting guy to Tyrese Martin, also going to be eligible for a two-way contract if he’s waved, which he could very well secure a standard roster spot. I wouldn’t be surprised. There’s just a lot of competition there as I outlined with 17 guys on standard deals right now and you know if they resign Cam Thomas 17 and there only being 15 that are allowed on a roster. But Tyrese Martin shot the ball really well last season. Had a career best shooting year was at like 35% I think on you know pretty high volume. Had that one game in Phoenix where he hit nine threes or whatever that was. also a guy who I was surprised by what he was able to do with the ball in his hands in terms of being a pick and roll ball handler, being a guy who could get to the cup there, and also being a facilitator, had a little bit more passing and playmaking chops in the pick and roll than I expected. So, he’s another guy who I think is interested and if the Nets were to wave him, I definitely think he’d be a prime candidate to be back on a two-way contract. Probably, you know, definitely, I would say, the most promising player of this group amongst the guys, you know, when you’re evaluating what they did last season. So, there’s going to be con there’s going to be competition for these two-way spots. You have three guys in Timmy, Wulman, and ETN who are going to be getting minutes at this year’s summer league. And I think their play, you know, will tell you something about, you know, what it could look like moving forward if they are to struggle or whether or not they’re able to ball out because they are older guys. You look at, you know, Timmy, ETN, Wilmont are all in that 24 to 25 range. Also, Tyrese Martin in that age range. So, all these guys are in, you know, similar age ranges, bring similar things or similar and different things to the table, you know, as fringe roster guys. So, I think it’s going to be interesting to see how they play because there’s going to be a lot of competition. There’s also two more players on this summer league roster who could factor into that two-way equation. Who are they? I’ll answer that after a quick break. Coming out of the break, closing out today’s locked on Nets episode, talking about the Nets summer league roster and potentially some competition for two-way and backend roster spots. I just touched on, you know, the Nets guys who are going to be playing at summer league who were on the team last season and will be competing or have or could be, you know, in competition for two-way contracts uh in training camp and leading into the regular season. That was Tossana Wulman, Tyson ETN, Drew Timmy, also Tyrese Martin, not going to be playing at summer league, but a guy who would be eligible for a two-way if he got waved from his non-g guaranteed standard deal. But there’s two more guys who were added to the Nets summer league roster who I think could factor into that two-way conversation, and that is Quincy Olivari and Grant Nelson. Going to start with Olivari, a guy who spent last season on a two-way deal with the Lakers after going undrafted out of its Xavier. a 6’3 point guard, 24 years old. Uh went went undrafted out of Xavier, then signed an exhibit 10 with the Lakers, played really well at training camp, and they gave him a two-way deal. Only appeared in two games in the NBA last season, but played pretty well in the G- League. You look at what he did with the South Bay Lakers, averaged 18, five and five on 40, 34, 78 shooting splints last season over like 34 or 35 appearances, something like that. So, a guy who I think has some intriguing tools. You know, I got to watch him play a little bit at Xavier. I didn’t see him as much last season because he was in the G-League most of the year, but things I’ve read about him, you know, a quicker point guard, has some ball handling ability, has some three level scoring capabilities. So, we’ll see. You know, the Lakers saw something in him last year and gave him that two-way deal. Obviously, they don’t bring him back. But, you know, if you look at him, you look at Tyson ETN, there’s guys who could be some competition there for potential point guard spot in the back court. And next guy, I said Grant Nelson. I think you’re if you’re someone who followed college basketball these past couple seasons, especially last season, you would know who Grant Nelson is. Obviously, starred at Alabama the last two seasons. Before that, spent three years at North Dakota State. He’s a 6’10 forward. He uh went undrafted, but signed an exhibit exhibit 10 contract with the Nets, which is pretty much a training camp uh non-caranteed training camp deal, training camp invite, but a really versatile player who I think has some intriguing tools. I got to watch him at the credential center in the sweet 16 of the NCA tournament. They played against uh played against Jagor Demond and BYU in that game. And a guy who has some just intriguing tools. You’re he’s really versatile at 6’10. A really fluid mover. A guy who can handle the ball a little bit. You know, can do some things off the dribble. Also, you can use him in screening sets. A little bit of short roll playmaking ability. Really struggled shooting the ball at Alabama and he’s already uh 23 years old. Played five college seasons. So those are obviously some of the drawbacks there, but you know, a versatile player where if the shot can come around, he has some ball handling ability, has some things he can do on and off the ball at 6’10 with incredible size there in the front court defensively has some capabilities there like isn’t an unbelievable athlete by any stretch in terms of leaping or mo, you know, or lateral quickness or anything of that, but I think has the fluid mobility to be able to stay with some guys and protect the rim just using his height and um, you know, length and all that. So, I think an interesting player, a guy who I think could be another candidate for a two-way contract. Like, if we’re looking at these two-way guys on the back end of the roster, you have a Woman, ETN, Timmy, potentially Tyrese Martin. Now, you add Olivari and Grant Nelson. You know, five of those six guys are going to be playing for the Nets at summer league. And Nelson, a guy who I think, you know, while he played five college seasons, had the most college pedigree. Like, you look at what he did last season at Alabama. And he really was, you know, he replaced Noah Clowny there when Noah Clowny left and he really was an effective replacement. I think I don’t think people would call him a star, but he was definitely one of the some of the more notable players, one of the more notable players who was on that Alabama squad that, you know, went to the Elite 8 and played really well there. So, I definitely think that he’s a guy who could factor into the two-way conversation depending on what he does at summer league and also, you know, how he looks going into training camp. But, there’s a lot of roster uncertainty on the back end of this Net’s roster right now. now. And I think there’s going to be a lot of headlines obviously about the five draft picks playing at summer league, but all these other guys I think will be interesting to watch and see how they play, you know, and how they kind of fit in with the new guys and the new roster of the Nets brought in. So, a lot of exciting developments for the Nets there at summer league. I think fans are going to be really excited to see how all these pieces fit together and how Steve Hel and Net’s coaching staff if there are any hints of how they’re envisioning, you know, utilizing some of these players, you know, especially guys like Jaor Demen, you know, Nolan Troy, Danny Wolf, how some of these guys fit into the puzzle. So, really exciting and I’m going to have coverage of all that there out there in Las Vegas. But that does it for this episode of Locked on Nets. Thank you to all of you for tuning in and supporting the show. If you do not already, go to YouTube and subscribe. Also, subscribe wherever you get your podcast, whether Apple podcast or Spotify. Be sure to like, comment on this content if you enjoyed it. Anything you can do to engage is much appreciated. Let me know what you think about the Net Summer League roster. Let me know what you think about Dariq Whitehead not playing. Let me know what you’re most excited to see amongst the draft picks and some of the backend roster guys that I laid out. But heading out to Las Vegas here soon to cover all of that. But I’ll have that on Clutch Points with my writing and here on Locked on Nets where I’ll be back tomorrow talking more Brooklyn Nets basketball.

Erik Slater reacts to the Brooklyn Nets’ NBA Summer League roster. He then breaks down what fans should be watching for in Las Vegas, including storylines surrounding the rookie class, returning players, and notable additions to the roster.

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