Nets Considering Jason Collins

SUNDAY, 10:54am: With the rumor that the Clippers will be signing Glen Davis when he clears waivers later today, this makes it more likely that Collins will sign with the Nets. Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles (Twitter Link) has heard that Collins and the team have a meeting scheduled for this afternoon.

FRIDAY, 4:40pm: The Nets will wait to see if they can sign Glen Davis, for whom they appear to be competing against the Clippers, before further investigating the idea of signing Collins, write Marc Stein and Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPNNewYork.com.

THURSDAY, 6:00pm: The Nets are looking at Collins but also have interest in Ivan Johnson and other bigs, tweets David Aldridge of NBA.com.

5:01pm: The Nets worked out Jason Collins this week in Los Angeles and are giving strong consideration to signing him to a 10-day deal, according to Ohm Youngmisuk and Marc Stein of ESPN.com.  A deal would make Collins the NBA’s first openly gay player.

Sources with knowledge of the situation say the Nets, after letting today’s trade deadline pass without a deal for Lakers big man Jordan Hill, are weighing the addition of another big man and have identified Collins as a prime candidate.  Collins last stepped on an NBA court almost a year ago as a member of the Wizards.

On a conference call this afternoon, Nets GM Billy King acknowledged that he’ll be looking to add a big man via free agency, tweets Rod Boone of Newsday.  He mentioned that the club has guys on the radar in the D-League and elsewhere.

Collins’ name resurfaced in the media this month when NFL draft prospect Michael Sam came out of the closet, putting him in contention to be the first openly gay active athlete in one of North America’s big four leagues.  If Collins puts pen to paper with Brooklyn, he’ll take ownership of that title.

The Nets and Pistons were among the clubs giving Collins consideration over the summer but neither team would up signing him.