Which Brooklyn Nets rookies SHOWED OUT in Summer League THRILLER? | NBA Game Analysis

Which Brooklyn Nets rookies SHOWED OUT in Summer League THRILLER? | NBA Game Analysis

Coming up, the Nets fall to the Wizards in the summer league thriller. Who showed out and who stunk it up? I’ll answer that after this. [Music] 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 Locked On 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 Nets be 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 recapping the Net’s second summer league game, breaking down the team’s top performances with a continued emphasis on the team’s four active first round picks. The Nets fell 10296 to the Washington Wizards in their second summer league game. A game that was honestly one of the best summer league games I think you’re ever going to see. The atmosphere was just great. There was actually a fairly solid contingent of Nets fans there. I saw a lot of Nets jerseys. There was I think towards the end of the game when it was getting close, there was a lot of people pulling for the Nets and were hoping for them to win. So that was pretty interesting to see out in Las Vegas, but I guess if you’re going to travel to summer league as a Nets fan, this is the one to do it with, you know, four rookie first round picks playing. It’s never happened in the history of the NBA. So that was cool. And then just from what happened on the court, it was a pretty high level game. like there was, you know, stretches where, you know, in any summer league game there’s going to be stretches where there’s bad basketball, but for the most part, I thought there was a lot of highle play offensively and defensively and I think that it was just a really entertaining game. You know, we saw poster slams, we saw incredible shot making, we saw, you know, incredible assists, all the things along those lines. It was really just a fun game to watch and I think that was reflected in the atmosphere and the way that the fans got into it there at Thomas and Max Center. But first couple guys that I want to focus on, I’m going to continue to focus on the rookies at the top and Jiggorman and Nolan Troy. First two guys I want to touch on. And starting with you know the first summer league game I think we saw I talked about it on my last podman playing a heavier offball role. He really wasn’t too involved offensively outside of being a three-point shooter. And we saw a little bit more involvement in this game. He had 12 points, four rebounds, four assists, one turnover, was four of 12 from the field and four of nine from three. He had one more shot attempt that was like a prayer at the buzzer when they had already lost. So I’m not counting that one. But there was a little bit different in this game. You know, you saw a little bit more of him being involved as an onball guy. And a lot of that was due to the fact that the Nets started and had Nolan Troy come off the bench in this game, which was different from what we saw in game one. And I talked to Nets’s head co summer league head coach Steve Hzel after the game and he said that they wanted to, you know, see Deon, you know, initiate offense a little bit more and have the ball in his hands a little bit more, bring the ball up. So that was kind of the rationale be behind uh bringing Troy off the bench. They wanted to get some different looks. Obviously, there’s so many different combinations that you can get with these three ball handlers and the way that the Nets can configure these lineups. And Hzel said expect to see more changes moving forward. They’re going to continue to experiment, but Domen was on the ball a lot more. And starting with the good, you know, a positive, the major positive from the first game was three-point shooting. And I think that was again the major positive from this game. He was two of five in the first game. He was four of nine um in this game from three if you take away that prayer, you know, at the buzzer. And you know, he’s his stroke really looked good. Like he made four ones. We saw him make threes in a variety of ways. He knocked down a really couple really difficult ones off the catch. you know, contested shots. And then we also had a shot where he was handling in the pick and roll. The defender went under the screen. He pulled up and kind of knocked in a uh off the dribble three and after was kind of saying like why is he going under on the screens like he was feeling himself a little bit. So that was kind of cool to see. But obviously the three-point shot was a major concern among draft analysts and pundits, you know, going into the draft with him shooting like 27% at BYU. But we’ve heard from the Nets and a lot of other teams around the league. honestly I’ve heard the same thing from was that he shot the hell out of the ball in workouts and the Nets have been adamant and pretty much confident that he is going to be a good shooter in the NBA is what they’ve said and through these first two games that take is really not looking foolish because he has looked like a highle shooter. I said four for nine from three tonight and the misses most of them looked really good. Like I’d say most of those five misses were online and hit back rim. So the shooting is a major positive because that’s going to be really huge for Gilman because he’s not a big advantage creator with the ball in his hands on his own in terms of being a self-creation guy as I’m going to touch on in a second. So him being able to shoot off the dribble, make defenders pay for going under screens like we saw him do on one of his pick and rolls tonight, also being able to shoot off the catch and giving him that positional versatility because he’s a guy that ultimately may end up being a wing as opposed to a point guard based on his skill set. So being able to shoot is huge and he’s really looked good in that regard uh through two summer league games. You know, now some of what is a little bad, you know, from this game, I think we obviously know that the knock on Dmen outside of the shooting concerns was that he’s not an advantage creator. He has trouble separating from defenders. He doesn’t have much shake. Um he doesn’t really have the tightest handle or anything along those lines. And you saw in college last season after his first few games and when he started playing some higher level competition, the book kind of got out on him real quick. And college coaches were saying, you go at him and you pressure him and you make him try to handle that pressure as a ball handler. And he had trouble with that a lot throughout the year. And he did have the ball more in his hands in this game. And there were some points where you saw the Wizards defenders like Bub Carrington or Kaishan George or whoever you want to say really getting into Demond and trying to pressure him and he had a little bit of trouble handling that, initiating offense, you know, creating space for himself. That is a little bit of a struggle. So that’s going to be something that Gman is going to have to continue to try to work on in terms of tightening up the handle, getting a little bit more quick side to side, you know, but it’s kind of a tough proposition because ball handling is a really tough thing to project, you know, for a younger player of how it’s going to improve or not improve over the course of their career. But also just having shake and being a a guy who’s able to create separation and, you know, get space away from defenders, that’s not really something that I feel like you learn. I feel like that’s kind of something that is a little bit more natural to a player and I don’t think that Doman has shown that thus far, you know, through what he showed at BYU in these first two summer league games of being a guy who has some shakes and wiggles, able to create separation from defenders and create advantages that way. That hasn’t really been his game. And that might be a big reason why we’re hearing a lot of draft people or I talked to a lot of draft people who said that he’s going to be a wing in the NBA long term because if you can’t create separation like that and you can’t handle that ball pressure as a ball handler, it’s going to be really tough for you to be a primary ball handler obviously. So, and that might be a little weird. I talked about it on my last episode. For a guy whose best skill was pick and roll playmaking to be a wing in the NBA long term, but you look at Dilman and he’s a guy where he’s 6’8, 6’10 wingspan. If he can shoot the ball, you can still create advantage advantages for him and take advantage of his playmaking on the wing. You know, there’s still plenty of wings who handle in spurts and run pick and roll in the NBA. He could do that. And then there’s also other actions like, you know, zoom actions and pin downs and things where you get him coming around and you already created the advantage for him and then he’s going downhill and he’s able to take advantage of his passing abilities that way. So, I thought it was a good game from Gmen overall. I thought, you know, while I just said he wasn’t able to create advantages and some of those things along those lines, he he did get downhill more than he did in the last game. Like he touched the paint several times in the first game, I don’t know if he touched the paint at all. So, you know, that was positive. We saw him, you know, used when he touched the paint and got down low, be able to make some really nice passes. He had one really nice wraparound pass on the baseline to Drew Timmy for a three. He found another one of the Nets big men for a layup. He ran the break in transition. he was orchestrating the break and kind of hit like a little underhand shovel pass to Timmy for a layup in transition. So, that was nice to see. And then he did try to go to the basket a few times, but the finishing and things along those lines like his self-creation and being able to create space is going to be a work in progress. I said four of 12 from the field in this one, four of nine from three. So, he was 0 of three from two. He has yet to make a two-point field goal through uh two games. So, he hasn’t he’s only got to the free throw line once, which was in garbage time. um you know on a like a foul of the last 40 seconds of the first game. So that’s going to be a work in progress. I think we did see him go to the basket and try to initiate some contact a couple times and try to finish that way, but he wasn’t able to finish. And that is something where at BYU he wasn’t really a guy who initiated contact and was going into people’s chest, you know, when finishing up through contact at the rim. And obviously that’ll come with adding more muscle and there’s going to be a little bit of a mentality that he has to get used to there. So overall, I thought it was a good game for Dilman. I think, you know, the shooting is a major positive and that was a major concern among a lot of people entering the draft and seeing him kind of justify what the Nets have said and how confident they have been in him being a highle shooter at the next level. It’s only two games, but through these two games, the confidence is there and you know, it looks to be something where he’s going to be able to do it at a high level or at least has the potential to do it at a high level in the NBA. So that was positive. Next guy I want to touch on quickly is Nolan Troyer who was obviously the star of the Nets’s first summer league game and he came out off the bench in this one and he looked pretty good in this one too. He had seven points, six rebounds, three assists, three turnovers, three of 10 from the field, 0 of two from three. But the major positive in the first game was that, you know, Troy was really just a walking paint and he was able to get downhill and get into the paint really whenever he wanted in that first game and that continued to be the case in this game. He’s just a guy who has a ton of burst. We know one of the quickest and one of the fastest norths south players in the draft. Can turn the corner unlike, you know, few guys can turn the corner how he how he can. And he was doing that again, you know, continuously and getting down low. And there were some struggles finishing like he was, you know, uh, three of eight on twos and, you know, missed some going to the basket. But the ability to get there, I think, and the ability to touch the paint and collapse the defense is the number one skill that you’re looking for in a guard or a lead ball handler. and he has that in terms of, you know, being able to use his speed to get downhill and create advantages and collapse the defense. And then he has good playmaking ability. He had three assists in this one. Could have had a few more if a few guys didn’t miss shots. And I thought that that was really encouraging. So when you have that downhill scoring and that play that downhill ability and that playmaking ability, if he can get the finishing, which is going to be tough because, you know, he is a smaller player at, you know, he’s he has good size for a point guard, but he’s still 6’3, probably plays at 6’4. is a frailer player, plays below the rim. So, that’s going to be a work in progress. But, we did see some highle finishes in this game. Like, he had one where he drove right um turned on the jets and then had two defenders coming at them and he finished really high off the glass over two defenders. So, that was nice to see. But the concern for Troy in this game, I think, was the three-point shooting. Um, you know, through two games, he was one of three in the first game. He was 0 of two in this game. So, one of five overall. And we know, you know, five attempts for a lead ball handler through two games. I know that’s not what the Nets want to see. You know, Jordy Fernandez has been saying about Jayorn, a bunch about a bunch of the other players. I want to see them get 10 threes up. I want to see us take 40 plus threes for per night, which the Nets did in this game. But Shore, there were some possessions where I thought he had some room to pull up. He had some, you know, room to take a shot and he didn’t do it. Especially in the last couple minutes, there was a couple possessions where the Wizards were working underneath screens and Troy had some room and he was hesitant to pull up and just pop it and he wouldn’t do it. And that’s something, you know, Jagor, Troy, Ben Saraf, all these guys were not, even Danny Wolf were not highle three-point shooters last season and they’re guys that there’s questions about. And, you know, with Domen, I think he’s looked promising through these two games and the other guys maybe not so much. for Chore. If you can get a guy where you know you’re going downhill, like you have a guy who can touch the paint consistently, he has playm to complement that, maybe he can improve as a finisher, and then you also add the three-point shot to it. That is where the real upside comes into play. So something where I’d like to see him do, you know, have a little bit more willingness to shoot from three and I think that he will in the coming games because the Net’s coaching staff is just probably going to harp on it a lot with him. But overall, I think, you know, while he struggled from the field, I think another positive game from Troy in terms of him having that skill with just being able to get downhill and create advantages at a really consistent rate, which is really what you want to see from a lead ball handler. So, positive in that regard. But we had another lead ball handler in Ben Saraf. Also, Danny Wolf getting a lot of touches. How did those guys play? I’ll touch on that after a quick break. But before that, want to tell you about our friends over at Hungry Route. Let’s be honest, meal planning and grocery shopping can be overwhelming. Between busy schedules, picky eaters, and trying to eat healthy, it’s a lot. That’s why I love Hungry Root. They take the stress out of planning by filling your cart for you with personalized groceries, and meal options based on what you like and need. Hungry Root uses their smart cart technology to recommend groceries, recipes, and even supplements tailored to your preferences. Whether you’re dairy free, gluten-free, focused on gut health, or just trying to eat better, Hungry Roots got you covered. Guys, I took their quick quiz and right away Hungary recommended meals and snacks that I actually want. The schedule can get busy. What I love most is that I don’t waste time at grocery stores or stress over what’s for dinner. Hungarroot has already figured that out for me. Guys, take advantage of this exclusive offer. For a limited time, get 40% off your first box, plus a free item in every box for life. Go to hungerroot.comlockdown NBA and use code lockdown NBA. That’s hungarroot.comlockdown NBA. Code lockdown NBA to get 40% off your first box and a free item of your choice for life. Coming out of the break on today’s Lockdown Nets episode, talking about Brooklyn’s second summer league game with a focus on the performances from their four rookie first round picks. Touched on Gagorman and Nolan Troy at the top. And the next two we got are Ben Saraf and Danny Wolf. And starting with Saraf, I thought that, you know, while Saraf struggled from an efficiency standpoint in the Nets’s first game, I thought there was a lot of encouraging things that he brought to the table and put on full display. And I think that that was again the case in this one. He finished with seven points, six assists, four turnovers, two of five from the field, 0 of two from three, three of seven from the free throw line. And I thought that the main thing that Saraf brought to the table in the first game was just his advantage creation. And like Troy, his ability to get downhill, but in a little bit of a different way than Troy. Troy is more of a speed guy. Sarra just really has been a guy who’s been able to create separation from defenders. And you look at it in the first half of this Wizards game, these Wizards defenders really just couldn’t stay in front of him. And I thought that that was really encouraging to see, especially given this is a Wizards team that’s featuring several guys who played, you know, 50 plus NBA games last year and other guys and Trey Johnson. Like, you know, Trey Johnson’s going to be a high level player. You have Bub Carrington, Keshan George. You have all these guys that are going to be guys who are playing for them and they really could not stay in front of Ben Sarra for a large part of the beginning of this game and even in the second half as well. He’s a guy who has a lot of shake. I think unlike you know a guy like Gilman, he can handle the ball and he looks more comfortable creating separation whether just to get defenders off him and initiate offense or to create or to create advantages and get downhill. So I like that from him. He you know was getting downhill in a variety of ways. has a really nice crossover move where he has a little bit of shake and a little like hesy move and he’s able to use that to get downhill. We obviously know he has the spin move in his bag. So that was nice. You know, he got downhill and he, you know, missed some shots at the rim. But I did think what I like when he was going downhill. He was trying to be physical as a driver, which was really nice to see. you know, when he was either getting past that first defender and you had a help guy rotating or if he just had that first defender kind of on his hip or on his backside, he wasn’t afraid to get in the lane and kind of initiate contact and be a physical driver and try to finish either get fouled or finish up through contact at the rim. So that was nice to see from Saraf and he’s a guy that you know I think there was a lot of different things that you could take from this game where you say that that’s like a translatable NBA skill and that’s something that you can definitely work with if you’re the Nets and you hope that some of the other areas of his game can round out and become better which I’m going to touch on in a second. But the ability to be an advantage creator and a self creator and get downhill consistently and touch the paint consistently also when you have nice playmaking ability like he does and like you know Troy and Gilman if Gilman can start getting downhill they all have it. That’s really positive. Saw another move in this game where Saraf was kind of driving left. He got the defender going left a little bit. He crossed over to his right and stepped back a little bit and drained a mid-range jumper. So, that was nice to see him getting some work from the mid-range and creating separation in that area. So, just good stuff from Saraf in that regard. I think, you know, like some of the other guys like Tore, the three-point shooting is a little bit of a concern here because he was 0 of two from three today. The misses that he had really didn’t look good. I think I don’t think he made a shot a three-pointer in the first game. So, no threes through the first two games and then he was three of seven from the free throw line. So, he’s a guy that I don’t think looked as comfortable shooting from three. And right now, it’s only two games, but if we’re talking about out of, you know, Gman, Troy, Saraf, who’s the guy that I’m not so confident in the three-point shot, it’s definitely Saraf. And I think that that’s something that’s going to need to improve, but he’s a guy that at least can create advantages. And I said, like Troy, that’s a major skill and a major asset to bring to the table for the Nets. And I think that a lot of people were surprised that the Nets took Sarath with this, you know, 26 pick because they had already taken two international point guards. But I would say that I under first I would say that he has some positional versatility if he can shoot the ball like Gman because he’s a guy who’s 6’6, you know, barefoot, plays probably at 6’7, 6’9, 6’10 wingspan, has a little bit of bulk to him already. So, I think that he could have some positional versatility if he can shoot the ball. And also, I would say that I just understand watching him play these first two games and the things that he’s able to do as an advantage creator and really look really natural in that ability. I understand the thought process the Nets could have had there because if you have a guy who, like I said, is, you know, 67, close to a 6’10 wingspan, is a self-creator. It can get downhill and has really good playmaking ability like these other guys, you know, can really make every pass in, you know, in the book. And if you have a guy who can get downhill, he can finish, you know, okay, at the rim and he can improve there and become an average finisher at least has the playmaking ability and then if the three-point shot can come around, that’s a really potentially highle prospect and it’s a guy that, you know, I think that if you’re getting a chance to take a swing on him with the number 26 pick, I understand why the Nets did it. even if you disagree with them having already taken, you know, two international point guards before him. But I said he could have some positional versatility and if he’s a guy who can be an advantage creator and get downhill and be a playmaker there and then also get the three-point shot to start to fall to either f to even further accentuate that and also give him some ability to play off the ball. I think that that’s a really intriguing player. And while the three-point shooting, the turnovers are a little bit of a concern, you know, through these first two games, but I expect that from a 19-year-old guy who’s handling the ball a lot, I just think like Troy, the advantage creation, the way to get downhill in a little bit of a different way than how Troy was doing it, I think is a major positive and I’m really encouraged by it. So, you know, that was really positive to see from Saraf and I think it’s a performance that was a good performance overall for him. Next guy, Danny Wolf. guy who struggled in the Nets’s first game and we talked to him after and he was pretty hard on himself and he said that he felt like he was pressing a little bit. He felt like he got sped up. He wasn’t letting the game to come to him. A lot of the things along those lines. I think we saw some of those struggles, you know, persist in this game, but I do think we saw him make an impact in some other areas. He had five points, 10 rebounds, two assists, three steals, four blocks, three turnovers, was three of six from the field and two of three from three. So, I thought that he did some good things. I think that there were still some of the struggles that we saw. And Wolf, honestly, through these first two games, and I felt the way about him coming into the draft and after the Nets took him as a guy that I’m just not so sure, you know, what position he’s going to play at the next level and what kind of how he fits into the equation because he’s obviously a guy who’s 6’1., he has really good ball handling ability. He was kind of a pick and roll playmaker at Michigan. But, you know, in these first two games, the Nets are playing him a power forward. They’re playing him alongside Drew Timmy for most of the game. and the handle and handling the pressure from opposing, you know, defenders has been a little bit of a struggle for him. He hasn’t really looked comfortable handling the ball, handling the ball. There’s been a lot of turnovers and he just looked like a guy who hasn’t really been able to create separation. You know, similar to Domen, but he’s 6′ 11 and, you know, really as close to center size. So, it’s a little bit different in that regard, but he hasn’t really looked comfortable creating, you know, advantages on his own. And it leads me to believe, you know, some of I I’m not going to make any conclusions based off of two summer league games, but a lot of people were saying, you know, about Danny Wolf, like, could he be a big wing in the NBA? Is that what he’s playing? And through these first two games, just how he looks handling the ball and trying to separate for some of these defenders, I think it might be tough for him to be a wing in that regard. And then also, the three-point shot just has to come around, which was a positive in this game. We saw him shoot two of three from three in this game. He hit one really nice one where he was at the top of the key and he pumped faked and dribbled and stepped back a little bit to the top of the key and drained a three off the pole, you know, a pull up three off the dribble. So, that was nice to see. We saw him hit another one off the catch. So, I thought that that was positive from the shooting perspective, but still low volume. I think the Nets would like to see him get up a little bit more than three attempts. But, in terms of is he a power forward in a wing or is he a center, I think that there’s positives and negatives to both of that. I mean, if he’s a guy who can play on the wing, he has great size there. I’m just not sure, you know, how the advantage creation and the ball handling and some of the things that he does if you know how it’s going to translate against NBA level defenders and just better athletes because he’s a guy who does have some shake and does some really interesting things. But this is just a whole another animal when you’re getting to the NBA. So, is he going to be able to create those advantages? Is he going to be able to shoot the ball, which he’ll definitely have to be to play the four or be on a wing? I think at center there could be some really intriguing things for him there as a short roll playmaker, as a guy you can run inverted pick and rolls with, as a handler. That would be intriguing. I think even there though, he would have to shoot the ball well because he’s not a um a lob threat. So, you’re going to need to shoot the ball there. And then defensively, there’s also questions because if he’s playing center, he’s not a rim protector. So, that kind of, you know, limits what you can do as a defender there. And then if he’s guarding on the wing, is he going to have the foot speed to keep up with NBA fours or potentially even, you know, threes? That’s a question that I think is very much, you know, still open to interpretation. So, I think that there’s some concerns or there’s just some questions to me about how he fits in. And I think when you see him playing, he’s still trying to figure out how he fits into this equation because he’s such a unique player. He’s a guy who’s playing alongside is a ball handler himself and is playing alongside three other ball handlers in this rookie class. So then also playing alongside a traditional center and Drew Timmy who’s not a lob threat or anything like that. So trying to figure out how he fits into the equation. I think you’re seeing him try to figure it out and process it on the fly. That could lead to some struggles which is understandable for a guy who’s playing, you know, in his first two summer league games. So we’ll see. I think that he did some positive things in terms of on the boards. 10 rebounds, three steals, four blocks, who was really active defensively and was really active on the board. So, some positive stuff there, but I do think that, you know, there’s still a little bit of him just trying to figure out how he fits into the equation. I think we’re going to see him settle in a little bit more offensively, and you’d like to see the handle, the self creation, maybe the pick and roll ball handling, some of the things that he did at Michigan look a little bit more fluid and clean, and then also the three-point shooting. I think that that would be a positive for Wolfe. And I would expect him to improve because I think he’s just feeling his way into it. But after a quick break, going to close out the show talking about Drew Timmy and Tyson ETN, two of the Nets, uh, more established guys, guys who were here last year and some of the really encouraging performances that they turned in in this second summer league game. But before that, want to tell you about FanDuel, guys. Summer sports are in full swing and whether you’re all about baseball under the lights, golf on the green, or high stakes 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 sunburned at the beach. Guys, you can use FanDuel to track all 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. Whether you’re placing a same game parlay or watching a bet ride into the ninth inning, FanDuel makes it feel like you’re part of the action. New to FanDuel, new customers can bet just $5 and get $150 in bonus bets. If your first $5 bet wins, open the FanDuel app today and visit fanuel.com to get started. Closing out today’s Locked on Nets episode, talking about Brooklyn summer league game and a couple of guys from last year’s roster, who really showed out in this one. Starting with Drew Timmy was really the star of this game. Put up 30 points game high. Five rebounds, three assists, was 13 of 24 from the field and two of seven from three. And honestly, I’m not surprised, you know, seeing this from Drew Timmy. He’s a guy who is one of the older guys on this Net summer league team, and the summer league coaching staff has told us that they’ve really looked to him to be a leader, and they’ve said, “Be a rock for these rookies. You know, there’s four rookie first round picks. Be a guy that they can lean on.” And he has definitely done that through these first two games. He was the Net’s best player in the first game, and then in this game, he was the best player on the floor. He really dominated. So, not too surprising from a guy who we saw what he could do at Gonzaga, you know, when we saw the talent that he had. We saw it in spurts last season at the end of the year when the Nets brought him up from Long Island and he has those skills, he has the IQ, there’s obviously a reason why he hasn’t fit into the NBA with the concerns about his player archetype and some of the things that he’s able to do at center. But in a setting like this, playing against a lot of younger guys, a lot of, you know, G-League guys, I fully expect him to dominate as he did in the G-League last season. He had he put up 50 point games in the G-League last year and he did that today. You know, just the way that he’s able to score around the hoop whether, you know, on the ro whether as a roller after screens or whether just as a postup guy, the spins, the uh drop steps, the you know, finishing with English off the glass with the left, with the right, left hand hook, right hand hook, all the things that he’s able to do, he just has such amazing body control and he’s able to score in such a variety of ways and he’s such a smart player that it’s really just intriguing for to watch him do this. And it’s going to be intriguing to keep watching it because he’s a guy who’s fighting for a roster spot. You know, he signed the deal with the Nets last year at the end of the season and now he’s on a non-g guaranteed minimum contract as are several other guys like Keon Johnson, Tyrese Martin, Jaylen Wilson, all non-g guaranteed guys. And the Nets are going to be, you know, these guys are all fighting for roster spots because if you say you include Cam Thomas coming back to the Nets, which I think all of us expect him to, that’s 17 players the Nets have on standard contracts. You’re only allowed 15 of them. So, there’s going to be some guys that are odd men out and Timmy is fighting and making a really strong case to be one of those guys that gets a standard roster spot. So, great stuff from him. Next guy, Tyson ETN, want to touch on quickly, a guy who was called up from the G-League last year at the end of the season and then signed a two-way contract with the Nets at the start of free agency. And he played really well in this one. Put up 18 points, three assists, was five of 12 from the field and five of 12 from three. So, all of his shots were three-point attempts. but a player who was really just bringing the energy. You know, he’s a smaller guy, 6’1, but really stocky, really strong, really fast, and was really just bringing it on both ends of the floor. And he said when we talked to him that that’s what the Nets liked about him. And that’s what when he got the two-way contract, the expectation for him was to be an energy guy. And I think you saw that from him in this game, just chasing guys around screens all over the floor on defense, you know, off the ball, on the ball, being a guy who was pressuring ball handlers, really being a vocal leader. and I think he was trying to do that and embrace that. So, that’s nice to see from anybody. And then offensively, he’s a very elite floor spacer. He’s a guy who shot close to 46% from three on five or six attempts per game last year in the G-League, was one of the top three-point shooters in the G-League. So, nice to see from him there. He was not afraid to put it up. He’s a guy who hit some really, really tough shots off the move. Um, you know, from three, you know, guys just coming off of, you know, double screens and kind of fading one way and hitting threes off balance. You know, it kind of reminded me of you guys remember Armani Brooks who came to the Nets. I think that was during the 2023 24 season was with him in the beginning of the year. Had that one game against the Heat. He played at summer league and had the one game against the Heat where he hit like seven threes in the beginning of the season that year. So ETN kind of reminds me of him, but he’s a little bit stronger, a little bit faster, a little bit stockier, does a little bit more defensively than Brooks did. So, I think an encouraging player and another guy that while he has the two-way contract, these guys are all battling for roster spots because two-way contracts got Nets have two guys, Tossana Woman and ETN on them. Right now, they have one open two-way spot, but two-way spots, um, two-way contracts aren’t guaranteed until the beginning of January. So, those guys, we’ve seen that guys, you know, last season the Nets bring in two-way guys and then move on from them a couple weeks later. So ETN and Timmy, both guys, you know, who are fighting for, you know, their lives in the NBA and fighting to stick with this Nets team. And, you know, with the Nets having that one open two-way spot, you have a few guys who are on the non-G guaranteed deals like Timmy, um, Tyrese Martin, even Jaylen Wilson, I don’t think he’s going to get cut, but if any of those guys were to get waved, they’re eligible to sign two-way contracts. And Phil, you know, that last two-way spot or ETN and a Wulmont also could be, you know, moved out and one of those guys could take one of their spots. You also have a guy in Grant Nelson uh from Alabama who is playing with the Nets summer league team and is battling for a two-way spot. So between the last few standard roster spots and the two-way spots, you just have a bunch of guys, you know, with the Nets bringing in all these rookies with them bringing in some guys via trade. You have all these guys with, you know, Timmy uh Keon Johnson, Tyrese Martin, Jaylen Wilson, Tyson ETN, Grant Nelson, Tossana Wulman. There’s just limited amount of spots with those last few standard roster spots and then that those two-way spots. There’s going to be a lot of battle for those. I think we’re going to see that throughout summer league and into training camp. And I think that Timmy and ETN through these first two games are doing a really nice job of making a case for why they should stick around. So, that was nice to see and it was just a great night at Thomas and Mack. Really a really fun summer league game. As I said, one of the best summer league games that I’ve ever watched in person, probably with the Nets, the best one. And it’s going to be fun to see these final two games, how the rookies play, how some other guys potentially shine. And I’m going to have coverage of all that here on Locked on Nets. So, that does it for today’s episode. Thank you to all of you for tuning in and supporting the show. If you do not already, subscribe to Lockdown Network on YouTube and wherever you get your podcast, whether Apple Podcast or Spotify. Be sure to like, comment, anything you can do to engage is much appreciated. Let me know in the comments section what you thought about the rookie performances in this game, what you thought about Timmy and ETN or anyone else, and I’ll definitely try to get back to you and comment on that. But I’ll be back tomorrow talking more Brooklyn Nets basketball.

Erik Slater breaks down the Nets’ Summer League thriller against the Washington Wizards. He analyzes the performances of first-round picks Egor Demin, Nolan Traore, Ben Saraf, and Danny Wolf before highlighting impressive showings from two roster hopefuls.

Follow & Subscribe on all Podcast platforms…
🎧 https://lockedonpodcasts.com/podcasts/locked-on-nets/

Locked On NBA League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Draft, WNBA & More
🎧 https://linktr.ee/LockedOnNBA

📲 Follow Locked On Nets on Socials
Locked On Nets https://twitter.com/LockedOnNets

#BrooklynNets #NBA