Ryan Boatright has improved his chances of making the Nets with a strong summer league performance, according to Don Amore of The Hartford Courant. After being passed over in this year’s draft, the rookie from Connecticut signed with Brooklyn for $1.4MM over two years, with $75K guaranteed if he stays on the roster past August 1st. Boatright, who is hoping for an invitation to training camp, played in both the Orlando and Las Vegas summer leagues, averaging 14.1 points, 2.2 assists and 23 minutes per game. When Brooklyn waived Deron Williams, that may have opened a space for Boatright. Coach Lionel Hollins said the rookie is a “candidate” for the third point guard slot, but added, “I don’t know who else we’ll bring to camp.”
There’s more news out of Brooklyn:
- GM Billy King accomplished nearly all of his goals for the offseason, writes Mike Mazzeo of ESPN.com. He was able to re-sign Brook Lopez and Thaddeus Young, lessen the burden of Williams’ contract, avoid the luxury tax and make the team younger and more athletic. By settling with Williams for $27.5MM of the $43.3MM that was owed to him, Brooklyn was able to save an estimated $40MM to $50MM in luxury tax payments for next season and create an additional $17MM in cap space for next offseason. Mazzeo estimates the Nets could have $40MM in cap space next summer, enough to chase the league’s top free agents.
- Hollins raved about the summer league performance of Markel Brown, according to Kathryn Przybyla of NBA.com. The second-year player was the team’s top scorer in Las Vegas, averaging 15.8 points in five games. “This year he came out, made an impact on the game, made shots and made plays,” Hollins said. “That’s how you get noticed, by coming out and helping your team win.” Brown is under the Nets’ control through the 2016/17 season.
- The Nets are ranked No. 24 on Forbes’ list of the most valuable sports franchises, mainly due to the league’s new TV contracts with ESPN and TNT, according to Norman Oder of the Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Report. The Nets are valued at $1.5 billion after failing to make the Top 50 list last year when they were valued at $770MM, Oder continues. That’s why it’s a good time for minority owner Forest City Enterprises to be selling the 20% share of the team owned by Nets Sports & Entertainment.
Dana Gauruder contributed to this post.
The Nets are in a tough position. Not enough draft picks coming their way to go to a full-fledged rebuild, but not nearly enough pieces to fight for more than one of the last playoff spots. It’ll be crucial for them to take guys like Boatright and turn them into productive players who can either be used as trade chips or complementary pieces on better rosters down the line.
As UConn alum, would like to see Boatright make it in the league. But he’s more of a shooting guard than a point guard and his size dictates that he plays the ‘one’ in NBA. Best hope is for him to emerge as a D specialist, ball-hound type.