Keon Johnson played on a two-way contract with the Nets last season and is now an unrestricted free agent. He’s trying to earn another NBA deal while playing on Brooklyn’s Summer League team.
Johnson appeared in five Nets games last season.
“It’s really their interest that they’ve shown to me at the beginning,” Johnson told Brian Lewis of the New York Post. “Brooklyn had interest in me during the draft. They couldn’t get me in the draft, but really just having an organization around me that is hands-on and wants to see me grow. So I feel like with the free agency that I have right now, all I’m focused on is just someone giving me the opportunity to play ball. I feel like everything else will settle itself whenever I step out onto the court. But right now I’m just focused on step [one], being on the court and showing what I can do.”
We have more New York notes:
- Jordi Fernandez and his Nets coaching staff want to establish their philosophy and approach during the Summer League, according to Brian Lewis of The New York Post. “From our standpoint, as a group, as a coaching staff from Jordi and also the front office, we don’t see our style of play changing necessarily with our roster compared to the summer league,” Summer League coach Steve Hetzel said. “And that’s the importance of summer league is to set a foundation of how we want to play. … We want our Brooklyn Nets team to be disruptive, physical and help, and we want to play fast and share the ball. So the messaging, it will just carry over into that team.”
- Knicks second round pick Kevin McCullar won’t play in the Summer League, The Athletic’s Fred Katz tweets. The 56th pick of the draft out of Kansas is still rehabbing a knee injury he suffered in his final college season.
- Rokas Jokubaitis, a 2021 draft pick, is on the Knicks’ Summer League roster but he’s apparently returning to Europe, rather than coming to the Knicks’ training camp. After three years with Barcelona, the draft-and-stash prospect is close to returning to Zalgiris Kaunas in his home country Lithuania, according to Donatas Urbonas of Basket News.
- Jalen Brunson‘s extension includes a 15% trade kicker, Katz tweets. The Knicks star guard signed the four-year extension on Friday.
Seems to me Rokas will be trade bait. Kolek is going ahead if him now. This kid is for real.
McCullers is another Hart imo. And he’s bigger. Nice pickup
Could be trade bait. The Kolek pick might have cooled his interest in the Knicks but maybe he’d come over for an opportunity to play real minutes for someone else
@AL, what’s your best guess who makes the Knicks 15 man roster? Who’s in and who’s out? I’m still waiting for Precious and possibly Tyus Jones if Kolek is not ready for prime time.