The Nets signed and then waived 2021 second-round pick RaiQuan Gray, according to the official transaction log at RealGM.com.
The No. 59 overall pick in last year’s draft out of Florida State, Gray signed a G League contract and spent his first professional season with the Long Island Nets, Brooklyn’s affiliate. In 26 regular season NBAGL games (22.8 MPG), the 6’8″ forward averaged 6.3 PPG, 6.4 RPG, and 3.0 APG on .441/.240/.821 shooting.
The Nets still held Gray’s exclusive NBA rights entering this offseason. However, teams are required to submit a tender – essentially a non-guaranteed one-year contract – to players whose draft rights they hold in order to retain those rights. It appears that Gray signed that tender and then was waived by Brooklyn, freeing him up to seek new opportunities.
This is essentially the same thing that happened with another Nets second-rounder, Marcus Zegarowski, earlier this week. Zegarowski is now an unrestricted free agent and Gray will join him on the open market, assuming he clears waivers on Saturday. There’s no indication that either player received an Exhibit 10 contract from Brooklyn, so I wouldn’t count on them returning to Long Island in 2022/23.
The Nets still have 18 players under contract with training camp around the corner, including 12 on guaranteed salaries, four on partially guaranteed or non-guaranteed deals, and a pair on two-way contracts.
RaiQuan Gray = Royce White×.75 – mental illness
Waste of draft picks
Is it still possible for the Nets to sign these two guys to Exhibit 10 contracts since they have two spots open? I’m thinking they could, but the maneuvers the Nets executed released them from their exclusive rights.