All five of the Nets’ draft picks participated in the NBA Summer League that concluded on Tuesday. I wrote about Cam Thomas, the league’s leading scorer and co-MVP, in yesterday’s column. (A Dominant Summer League Performance Doesn’t Prove Nets Thomas Is Ready To Take On NBA’s Best--Yet - by Steve Lichtenstein - Steve’s Newsletter (substack.com))
But what about the rest? And what should we make of one particular undrafted free agent? Here are some short blurbs on the other prominent Summer Nets, and, I must add, may we never have to be subjected to the likes of a Brandon Knight/Quindarry Weatherspoon backcourt ever again:
Day’Ron Sharpe: Brooklyn’s other first-round pick (29th overall, acquired in the trade for shooting guard Landry Shamet), the 6-foot 11 center from North Carolina had a mixed performance in Las Vegas. He is voracious on both backboards despite subpar athleticism, grabbing an average of 14.7 rebounds per 36 minutes, which was a rate that would have placed him 6th in the NBA last season. However, his physical limitations also hinder his rim protection, so having him in drop pick-and-roll coverage as ballhandlers turned the corner was a prayer session, and his footwork on switches wasn’t acceptable either. Other than that… Sharpe is developing a more well-rounded offensive game but didn’t shoot it particularly well in the games (46% from the field, missing both three-point attempts). Signed to a four-year contract (though only the first two years are guaranteed), he’ll likely replace Reggie Perry, who reportedly had his qualifying offer rescinded, on the roster as the Nets development big man. Can’t see Sharpe earning many minutes this season, though, as he’ll be behind Blake Griffin, Nic Claxton, and maybe even DeAndre Jordan, if the plan calls for him sticking around Brooklyn.
Kessler Edwards: Of all the Nets draft picks, I had the highest hopes for Edwards based on his sorely -needed 3-and-D forward position. Oh well. He just didn’t look the part physically. Instead, Brooklyn justifiably gave the first of their three second-round selections one of their two two-way slots. Edwards’ shot is a bit funky with a rather low release, but he converted nearly 40 percent of his 3s over three seasons at Pepperdine, so the potential is there for him to feast on all the wide-open looks that will get generated from the attention paid to Brooklyn’s Big 3. It looked to me like Edwards has the ability to effectively drive closeouts, but also that he lacked confidence in it. In fact, he pulled a Rodions Kurucs the first time he touched the ball in the tournament and travelled. Defensively, he was exceptional at weak-side help rim protection, but he also had a bit of that Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot form where it appeared as if he was giving a quality late contest on opponent jumpers but in actuality gave too much room for them to knock down shots over him.
Marcus Zegarowski & RaiQuan Gray: Neither of Brooklyn’s later second-round picks is a favorite for the other two-way slot after their efforts in Las Vegas. That doesn’t mean they’ll never be heard from again. They could both be stashed on G-League Long Island for the season where they wouldn’t count on Brooklyn’s roster or salary cap but still have their rights held. Gray in particular is an intriguing prospect, with Jordan Ott, Brooklyn’s Summer League head coach, raving about his basketball IQ after the finale. Others have drawn comparisons to Draymond Green due to his body type and ability to facilitate an offense. I guess we’ll see. Meanwhile, Zegarowski looked like a poor man’s Payton Pritchard to me, only not as quick in his movements on the court. Maybe he’ll give Long Island a boost this season with his three-point accuracy.
David Duke Jr.: Twitter has been going gaga over this undrafted free agent, though I think much of it is overboard. Give him an “A” for his hounding defense in Las Vegas, which should at least be worthy enough to differentiate him from his contemptible namesake for good. Unfortunately, his shot is a bit of a corkscrew, which may have been the root cause of the late-season slump at Providence that dropped him out of the Draft. He made just 1-of-9 from deep in the tournament but shot 50% on his 2s, including several impressive takes to the basket. Marks signed him to an Exhibit 10 deal to attend Nets training camp, and if Duke wows the brass there, a two-way contract could very well be on the horizon.
The bottom line is that when you factor in Thomas, the Nets did well to re-stock their program with young players who have the potential to develop in the same system that not only produced LeVert and Allen, but also players like Joe Harris and Spencer Dinwiddie for use in future years or as trade assets. For this season, however, I’d expect a heavy reliance on veterans, like with the vast majority of championship contenders.
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I see Cam Thomas as a poor man's version of Kyrie Irving, perhaps a raw version of D'Angelo Russell off the bench. He's a rookie, so placing him in a position where we need him off the bench, or to play alongside KD and James Harden in the crunch is most likely too much for him, thus the need for a guy like Patty Mills in case Kyrie is out. His upside is higher than Patty's, therefore, I can see plenty of load management for Kyrie, giving Patty and Cam the run they need to produce.
The only other guy I see contributing is Day'Ron. Perhaps dropping some weight will help his agility. I see him playing a backup Center role by the trade deadline