Brooklyn Nets Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Rookie Scale Option Decisions Due On Thursday

October 27th, 2024 at 5:29pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA’s transaction wire has been pretty quiet since the regular season got underway on Tuesday, but we can still expect one last flurry of moves in October. The deadline for teams to exercise their 2025/26 team options on rookie scale contracts arrives on Thursday (October 31), and several of those decisions have yet to be reported or announced.

Unlike player or team options on veteran contracts, third- and fourth-year options on rookie scale contracts for former first-round picks must be exercised a year in advance. For instance, when the Thunder picked up Chet Holmgren‘s fourth-year option on Wednesday, they were locking in his salary for the 2025/26 season — his ’24/25 salary became guaranteed last October when the team exercised his third-year option.

As our tracker shows, 35 options have been picked up so far, but a number of teams still have decisions to make on players who were first-round picks in 2022 and 2023. Some of those remaining option decisions are no-brainers — the Hornets haven’t yet exercised Brandon Miller‘s $11.97MM option for 2025/26, but there’s no doubt they’ll do so.

Other decisions are less cut-and-dried. For example, the Bucks must decide whether they want to pick up MarJon Beauchamp‘s $4.78MM fourth-year option for ’25/26. Given Milwaukee’s position relative to the luxury tax line and the fact that Beauchamp has yet to secure a regular rotation spot, the Bucks may not want to lock in that cap hit.

Here’s the list of the 23 option decisions that have yet to be officially finalized:

Atlanta Hawks

Dyson Daniels (fourth year, $7,707,709)
David Roddy (fourth year, $4,831,766)
Kobe Bufkin (third year, $4,503,720)

Brooklyn Nets

Noah Clowney (third year, $3,398,640)
Dariq Whitehead (third year, $3,262,560)

Charlotte Hornets

Brandon Miller (third year, $11,968,800)
Mark Williams (fourth year, $6,276,531)
Nick Smith Jr. (third year, $2,710,680)

Detroit Pistons

Wendell Moore (fourth year, $4,574,283)

Golden State Warriors

Brandin Podziemski (third year, $3,687,960)

Houston Rockets

Jabari Smith (fourth year, $12,350,392)
Amen Thompson (third year, $9,690,600)
Tari Eason (fourth year, $5,675,766)
Cam Whitmore (third year, $3,539,760)

Los Angeles Clippers

Kobe Brown (third year, $2,654,880)

Los Angeles Lakers

Jalen Hood-Schifino (third year, $4,064,640)

Memphis Grizzlies

Jake LaRavia (third year, $5,163,127)

Milwaukee Bucks

MarJon Beauchamp (fourth year, $4,781,276)

Toronto Raptors

Ochai Agbaji (fourth year, $6,383,525)
Gradey Dick (third year, $4,990,560)

Washington Wizards

Bilal Coulibaly (third year, $7,275,600)
Johnny Davis (fourth year, $6,746,229)
Patrick Baldwin (fourth year, $4,420,156)

Atlantic Notes: Celtics, Walker, Claxton, Hart, Raptors

October 27th, 2024 at 4:17pm CST by Luke Adams

The Maine Celtics, Boston’s G League affiliate, officially announced their training camp roster this weekend ahead of the 2024/25 NBAGL season. The roster features several players who were in camp with the NBA team earlier this month, including Ron Harper Jr., Jay Scrubb, Tristan Enaruna, and Dmytro Skapintsev.

However, there’s one notable absence among the players waived by the Celtics during the preseason: Lonnie Walker.

Walker’s contract with Boston included a $77.5K Exhibit 10 bonus that he could earn by spending at least 60 days with Maine, and he said in September that he was “perfectly fine” with the idea of playing in the G League. But it appears as if he’s still weighing his choices.

While playing in the G League may be the most logical path back to the NBA for Walker, there are other options available to him this season. The veteran wing was rumored last week to be drawing interest from Spanish powerhouse Real Madrid.

Here’s more from around the Atlantic:

Nets center Nic Claxton, who was sidelined by a hamstring injury during the preseason, has come off the bench in the first two games of the regular season and has been on a strict minutes limit, logging 15 minutes on Wednesday and 20 on Friday. That limit will increase again on Sunday, tweets Brian Lewis of The New York Post. As Lewis writes in a full story, it sounds like head coach Jordi Fernandez will only reinsert Claxton into the starting five once he’s been cleared for a starter’s workload. “Obviously, you can be creative. But if you go to starter minutes, then it’s somewhere around low 30s, because I think if you do more, health is an issue,” Fernandez said. “But for me, starters usually play starting at 24 all the way to 33-34, that range.”
Josh Hart struggled to find his fit in the Knicks‘ new-look starting five during the preseason, but those frustrations haven’t carried over to the regular season, writes Andrew Crane of The New York Post. After scoring 20 points on Friday in the team’s first win of the season, Hart made light of his preseason comment about feeling “lost” on offense. “I was just having fun with y’all, man,” he told reporters. “I knew I was going to be solid. It was preseason. I have a good feel for everybody. I think we’re all really getting into a rhythm offensively and, more importantly, defensively — playing with each other, seeing where everyone likes the ball and those kind of things. I’m good.”
A lawsuit filed by ex-Clippers strength and conditioning coach Randy Shelton against his former team opens an old wound for Raptors fans, according to Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca. The suit alleges the Clippers conducted an extensive recruitment of Leonard during his time in Toronto that “leapt well beyond the bounds of the NBA constitution” and included sending then-assistant GM Mark Hughes to about 75% of the Raptors’ games in 2018/19. Leonard, whose desire to play in Southern California was widely known, left Toronto for L.A. in 2019 immediately after winning a title with the Raptors.

Nets Notes: Thomas, Young Players, Wilson, Arena

October 26th, 2024 at 2:49pm CST by Luke Adams

Nets guard Cam Thomas wasn’t one of the 11 players from 2021’s draft class who signed a rookie scale extension prior to Monday’s deadline, but if he can consistently play like he did in the team’s regular season opener on Wednesday, he should have no problem cashing in as a restricted free agent next summer.

As Steve Lichtenstein writes on his Substack, Thomas racked up 36 points despite frequently being defended by Dyson Daniels, but it was his other contributions that were even more encouraging. The 23-year-old, viewed by critics as a one-dimensional player, filled up the box score by also contributing five rebounds, three assists, and three steals in his 34 minutes of action, and earned praise from head coach Jordi Fernandez for both his shooting efficiency and his performance on the other side of the ball.

“It was great, very efficient, shot over 50 percent from the field and from three, five rebounds,” Fernandez said, per Brian Lewis of The New York Post (subscription required). “And I thought that his physicality defensively was there, too. He worked on both sides of the floor.”

Thomas made just 7-of-17 shots from the field in his second game of the season on Friday, but hit 3-of-5 three-pointers and once again contributed in other ways, grabbing six rebounds and handing out three assists.

Here’s more on the Nets:

Although the Nets traded away Mikal Bridges over the summer, the team didn’t fully tear down its roster, with veterans like Dorian Finney-Smith, Dennis Schröder, and Cameron Johnson remaining in Brooklyn. Still, as Lewis writes in a subscriber-only story for The New York Post, the club is carving out plenty of minutes for its younger players in the early going this season, with Thomas, Nic Claxton, Jalen Wilson, Ziaire Williams, and Noah Clowney all part of the rotation.
While not everyone from the Nets’ current group of youngsters will be part of the team’s long-term core, Wilson recognizes that there’s an opportunity for those players to show they deserve to be in the club’s plans. “Orlando was at a point in time where they were young and they lost a lot of games,” Wilson said, referring to Brooklyn’s Friday opponent. “The same guys came back and they’re just getting better. So you see the process; we’ve just got to buy into it, continue to grind, continue to show up even when days may be tough. And that’s part of the process really.”
Fernandez is giving Wilson, who scored 16 points on Wednesday, a mandate to improve on defense and is confident the 23-year-old will show more on that end of the court. “Every time I challenge him and I tell him, he always responds,” Fernandez said, according to Lewis. “So I know J-Wil will be a very good player on both ends, a two-way player. But that’s what I’m going to demand. If I see one day that he’s not, I’m going to let him go. And that goes for everybody, too.” Wilson doesn’t have a fully guaranteed contract, so he’s still vying to earn a full-season roster spot.
BSE Global, the Nets’ parent company, announced a five-year, $100MM plan to “enhance (the) fan experience” at Barclays Center, which will include upgrading the arena entrances and installing a new state-of-the-art sound system, among other changes.
As we relayed earlier this afternoon, the Long Island Nets agreed to acquire Colin Castleton‘s returning rights from the South Bay Lakers in a deal that sent the No. 5 pick in today’s G League draft to L.A.’s affiliate, according to Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report (via Twitter)

Trade Rumors: Kuminga, Nets, Sixers, Murphy, Springer, Tucker

October 25th, 2024 at 5:04pm CST by Luke Adams

Jonathan Kuminga was believed to be seeking a maximum-salary or near-max contract ahead of Monday’s rookie scale extension deadline, which is why he and the Warriors didn’t agree to terms on a deal, Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report said today on the B/R App. However, Fischer believes Golden State will be comfortable paying Kuminga big money if he shows this season that his impressive stretch from January to March was no fluke and continues to take strides toward stardom.

“The Warriors will be happy to pay Jonathan Kuminga that top dollar if that sample size is stretched out over the entire course of the 2024/25 season,” Fischer said.

Still, Fischer noted that Kuminga isn’t necessarily a lock to remain with the Warriors long-term and suggested two potential suitors worth keeping an eye on for the fourth-year forward (video clip).

One is no surprise: Brooklyn is currently the only team projected to have maximum-salary cap room and Fischer says Kuminga has “come up” in past trade talks between the Nets and Warriors. The Nets aren’t necessarily specifically targeting the 22-year-old, Fischer clarifies, but their cap situation makes them a potential threat when Kuminga reaches restricted free agency, especially since general manager Sean Marks has shown a willingness in the past to sign RFAs to lucrative offer sheets.

The other team worth watching, according to Fischer, is the Sixers, who would only have a chance to acquire Kuminga on the trade market. Philadelphia has conveyed a willingness to give up draft capital to add another impact player, Fischer explains, and could use KJ Martin‘s pseudo-expiring contract as a salary-matching piece.

That sort of deal may not appeal to the Warriors, and acquiring Kuminga and then paying him in free agency would result in a massive payroll in 2025/26 and beyond for the 76ers, who already have three players on maximum-salary contracts. But Fischer suggests Philadelphia has “a lot of willingness” to go deep into luxury tax territory for the right opportunity to “cement (their) title window.”

Here are a few more trade notes and rumors from around the league:

According to Fischer, Trey Murphy was another player believed to be on the Nets‘ and Sixers‘ radars as a potential free agent and trade target, respectively, but he’s off the table after signing a four-year, $112MM extension with the Pelicans.
After identifying Celtics guard Jaden Springer as a trade candidate last week, Fischer reiterated that point in his rumor round-up on Friday, noting that moving Springer at or before the February trade deadline would create tax savings for Boston and would open up a roster spot for Lonnie Walker or another player. Fischer added that the Celtics recently called a number of teams to gauge Springer’s trade value.
The Sixers, Heat, Bucks, and Suns are among the teams that have spoken to P.J. Tucker‘s representation about a possible trade, sources tell Kelly Iko and Law Murray of The Athletic (Twitter link). As we relayed on Thursday, the Clippers have granted Tucker’s agent Andre Buck permission to talk to potential trade partners to try to find his client a new home, but the veteran forward’s $11.54MM cap hit will make it difficult to find a deal that works for L.A.

Raptors Push Back Bruno Fernando’s Guarantee Date

October 25th, 2024 at 4:01pm CST by Luke Adams

The non-guaranteed minimum-salary contract that Bruno Fernando signed with the Raptors in August initially included language stating that it would become fully guaranteed if the big man wasn’t waived on or before the first day of the regular season.

However, according to Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca (Twitter links), the Raptors and Fernando agreed to amend his one-year deal when he made the opening-night roster. Rather than becoming guaranteed, the contract will remain non-guaranteed until the league-wide salary guarantee deadline in January.

If the terms of the deal had remained unchanged, Fernando would have locked in a $2,425,403 salary, while Toronto would have been on the hook for his full $2,087,519 cap hit.

Instead, the 26-year-old will earn $13,939 for every day he’s on the roster, with his full salary and cap hit becoming guaranteed if he remains under contract through at least January 7.

The Raptors had some leverage, since they could have waived Fernando if he hadn’t agreed to amend his contract, leaving him without even a partial guarantee. Now the team will have some flexibility in the first half with that 15th roster spot.

This sort of agreement is nothing new for Fernando, who began the offseason with Atlanta on a deal that called for his 2024/25 salary to become guaranteed if he wasn’t waived by June 29. He and the Hawks reached an agreement to move that date back to July 10, then pushed it back again to August 1. Atlanta waived him on July 30.

Fernando served as Jakob Poeltl‘s primary backup center in the first game of Toronto’s season on Wednesday, recording six points and seven rebounds in 15 minutes of action.

As our list of early salary guarantee dates shows, Fernando was the only player on a contract that called for his salary to become fully guaranteed if he made a regular season roster. However, Dalano Banton (Trail Blazers), Keon Johnson (Nets), and Jalen Wilson (Nets) had deals assuring them of partial guarantees for remaining under contract through opening night.

We’ll give it another day or two before updating our tracker to see if any reports trickle in indicating that one or more of those players amended their contracts like Fernando did, but for now our assumption is that Banton, Johnson, and Wilson locked in their respective partial guarantees.

Atlantic Notes: Bridges, Towns, Tatum, Thomas, Shead

October 23rd, 2024 at 2:04pm CST by Luke Adams

Neither of the Knicks‘ two major offseason acquisitions got off to the sort of start they were hoping for this season on Tuesday night in Boston.

While Mikal Bridges salvaged his night to some extent by making 7-of-8 shots for 16 points in the second half, he went scoreless on 0-of-5 shooting in the first two quarters, didn’t grab a single rebound in his 35 minutes on the court, and was a team-worst minus-33 in his Knicks debut, writes Peter Botte of The New York Post. Bridges also admitted he wasn’t at his best defensively against Celtics forward Jayson Tatum, who poured in 37 points.

“I definitely could have done better. I think my performance at the defensive end wasn’t that (good) for me personally, as well as our team,” Bridges said. “Me personally, I think I just could have been better, especially (against) a guy getting it and having that rhythm from the three, just getting up a little bit more (on Tatum).”

Meanwhile, Karl-Anthony Towns had a relatively quiet night in his first game as a Knick, scoring 12 points and recording seven rebounds. The Celtics also frequently targeted him in screening actions, as Botte writes in a separate New York Post story. Like Bridges, Towns didn’t express concern about New York’s offense, but said the defense needs to be better.

“I just think that we just didn’t do enough defensively to give ourselves a chance to win the game,” the four-time All-Star said. “We’ve just gotta do a better job of executing on that end. Our defensive identity is what’s gonna give us a chance to do something great. Offensively, I think we showed tonight we can score, we’ve just gotta play defense.”

Here’s more from around the Atlantic:

Ahead of Tuesday’s regular season opener, Tatum spoke to Marc J. Spears of Andscape about what it means to have won his first title and why he believes the Celtics are well positioned to win another championship.
None of the three Nets players eligible for rookie scale extensions signed a new contract before Monday’s deadline, but that was expected, since Day’Ron Sharpe and Ziaire Williams have played limited roles in their first three NBA seasons and extending Cam Thomas would’ve eaten into Brooklyn’s projected 2025 cap room. As Brian Lewis of The New York Post relays, Thomas said on Tuesday he’s not bothered by not having completed a deal, while head coach Jordi Fernandez told reporters he didn’t feel the need to discuss the guard’s contract situation with him. “Yeah, conversations have been great. I think he’s in a good place, and I didn’t see anything that I should go and talk to him about it, the way he feels,” Fernandez said. “I think he’s been great. He’s done his job, and we have a clear path and direction for what we’re trying to do.”
In an in-depth feature for Sportsnet.ca, Blake Murphy takes a closer look at what the Raptors are getting in Jamal Shead, a “high-IQ, high-motor” rookie guard who may have been overlooked this offseason as the third of four players selected by Toronto in the 2024 draft. “Jamal actually should have gone in the first round,” Kelvin Sampson, Shead’s former coach at Houston, said of the No. 45 pick. “There’s such an undervaluing of the things that he does well. … If you’re a coach, you want Jamal. All he does is win.”

Nets Notes: Claxton, Simmons, Thomas, Lawson

October 22nd, 2024 at 12:19pm CST by Luke Adams

Sixth-year center Nic Claxton will enter the 2024/25 season as the Nets‘ longest-tenured player. Although he’s still just 25 years old, he’s ready to take on the challenge of being a veteran leader on a Brooklyn roster that features 10 players younger than him, as Peter Botte of The New York Post writes.

“I had a lot of really good vets since I’ve been in the league, and I’ve been able to soak up a lot of knowledge from a lot of different players (and) coaches,” Claxton said on Monday. “DeAndre Jordan, Blake (Griffin), KD (Kevin Durant), Kyrie (Irving), James (Harden), Caris (LeVert), It’s so many dudes and I’m a sponge. I’m always just listening, and I remember things. So just using what I’ve learned from those guys and from all the things that I’ve seen out there on the court, helping others, and also just taking my game to another level.”

Claxton missed the entire preseason due to a hamstring injury, but he went through a full practice on Monday and said he’ll be “ready to go” for the season opener in Atlanta on Wednesday, according to Botte. Head coach Jordi Fernandez declined to say whether or not his starting center will be on a minutes restriction to open the season.

“That’s a good question and I’m not answering for obvious reasons because I’m not giving out secrets, but he’s doing very well,” Fernandez said. “We’re very happy with where he’s at physically right now. Health is the No. 1 priority for us and he’s done a really good job.”

Here’s more on Claxton and the Nets:

After signing a four-year, $97MM contract as a free agent in July, Claxton said he feels like a “weight has been lifted” from his shoulders entering this fall, per Botte. “It’s my first time I feel like I’m not worried about the contract, I’m not worrying that I need to stay healthy, I just need to go out here and just have fun playing the game of basketball,” Claxton said. “I just wanna feel like a kid again and just enjoy this with a younger group.”
The Nets’ front office is trying to tank, their new head coach is looking to build a winning culture, and many of their players will enter the year with something to prove, Brian Lewis writes for the New York Post (subscription required) in a preview of Brooklyn’s season. Figuring out who will and won’t be able to achieve those seemingly contradictory goals will go a long way toward determining what sort of year it will be in Brooklyn, as Lewis details.
Lewis also published a Nets season preview for non-subscribers of The Post, posing five burning questions for the team, including whether Ben Simmons can stay healthy and whether Cam Thomas can establish himself as a franchise cornerstone. Lewis’ preview includes several other predictions for the season and suggests the most important decision Brooklyn makes in 2024/25 will be determining who to trade — and when.
Former Mavericks guard A.J. Lawson, who was waived by Dallas (twice) ahead of the regular season, is expected to join the Long Island Nets, Brooklyn’s G League affiliate, for the start of the 2024/25 campaign, league sources tell Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link). Lawson appeared in a total of 56 NBA games for the Mavericks during his two seasons with the team, including 42 in 2023/24. He averaged 3.4 points and 1.3 rebounds in 7.4 minutes per contest and posted a shooting line of .457/.307/.548 at the NBA level.
Day’Ron Sharpe (hamstring), Trendon Watford (hamstring), and Bojan Bogdanovic (foot) are expected to be the only Nets players not available for the regular season opener on Wednesday, tweets Lewis. Everyone else should be available.
In case you missed it, three Nets – Thomas, Sharpe, and Ziaire Williams – were among the 13 players eligible for rookie scale extensions who didn’t sign new contracts ahead of Monday’s deadline and are now on track for free agency in 2025.

Extension Rumors: Nets, Hyland, Mitchell

October 21st, 2024 at 1:57pm CST by Rory Maher

Three Nets players — Cam Thomas, Day’Ron Sharpe and Ziaire Williams — are eligible for rookie scale extensions until Monday at 5:00 pm CT. Sources tell Brian Lewis of The New York Post (Twitter link) that none of the three are expected to reach agreements, which means the trio will hit restricted free agency next summer if they receive qualifying offers.

Thomas, who turned 23 years old last week, led Brooklyn in scoring last season (22.5 PPG) and could see his role expand further after the Nets traded Mikal Bridges in the offseason. Sharpe has spent most of the past three seasons as Brooklyn’s backup center, while former lottery pick Williams was acquired in an offseason trade with Memphis (it was a salary dump for the Grizzlies).

The Nets project to be one of the few teams with significant cap room in 2025 free agency, so Lewis’ report isn’t exactly surprising, but it’s certainly noteworthy that they seem to be aiming to preserve as much financial flexibility as possible heading into the 2025/26 league year.

Here are a couple more rookie scale extension rumors heading into today’s deadline:

Fourth-year guard Bones Hyland will not be signing an extension with the Clippers, according to NBA insider Chris Haynes (Twitter link). Hyland only appeared in 37 games last season, posting career lows in most major statistics, and was reportedly unhappy with his limited role. He’ll earn $4.16MM in ’24/25 ahead of possible restricted free agency next summer.
The Raptors and point guard Davion Mitchell are not expected to reach an agreement on an extension, tweets Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca. The No. 9 overall pick of the 2021 draft, Mitchell was sent to Toronto from Sacramento in a salary-dump deal over the offseason. As Grange observes, holding off on a new contract makes some sense for both parties — Mitchell will get a chance to prove his value, while the Raptors will get a full season to evaluate whether the former Baylor star should be in their plans going forward. Like the other players mentioned, Mitchell will be a RFA in 2025 if he’s tendered a qualifying offer.

New York Notes: Achiuwa, McBride, Hart, Johnson, Hayes

October 20th, 2024 at 9:55pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Precious Achiuwa struck an optimistic tone regarding his hamstring injury. In a video posted by New York Basketball (Twitter link), the Knicks big man called it a “minor setback.”

“We’ll get back better, stronger. It’s just a minor setback,” he said. “We still have the same agenda. Gonna come back a lot stronger…We have a goal to accomplish this year.”

Achiuwa has a left hamstring strain and will be reevaluated in two-to-four weeks.

We have more on the New York teams:

Miles McBride and Achiuwa are the logical alternatives for the starting five if the Knicks choose to make Josh Hart a sixth man, according to Peter Botte of the New York Post. With Achiuwa injured, the Knicks could temporarily pivot to Jericho Sims if they want to utilize a bigger starting lineup. Hart expressed some uncertainty at the end of the preseason about his role in New York’s new-look lineup.
Cameron Johnson, who is entering the second year of a four-year, $94MM contract, is a logical trade candidate. Johnson has tried to put that possibility out of his mind as the season opener looms, the Nets forward told Zach Braziller of the New York Post. “I’ve been able to feel comfortable in what’s going on,” he said. “And even with the uncertainty, it’s not like an uncertainty where I don’t think that our staff here, our front office here, has a lack of trust in me. So I feel confident in this group. I feel confident going forward. And I’m going to compete for this team. And it’s not even on my mind, really.”
The Nets waived Killian Hayes on Saturday but he’ll stay with the organization, at least in the short term, Botte adds. Hayes, who didn’t appear in any preseason games due to a hip injury, will rehab with the team’s G League affiliate, the Long Island Nets. He is expected to play for them after he clears waivers.

Nets Notes: Claxton, Finney-Smith, Johnson, Milton, Fernandez

October 19th, 2024 at 9:45pm CST by Arthur Hill

Several Nets players sat out Friday’s preseason finale, but the team expects Nic Claxton and Dorian Finney-Smith to be ready when the season tips off Wednesday in Atlanta, writes Brian Lewis of The New York Post. Claxton has been dealing with hamstring soreness, and coach Jordi Fernandez has been careful not to overextend him throughout the preseason.

“Nic is close. We’re still aiming for the first game of the season,” Fernandez said. “He’s done a good job. He’s working hard. So we expect him to play the season opener.”

Finney-Smith was held out after landing on his back on a collision in Wednesday’s game, but his coach doesn’t believe it will affect his status for opening night.

“Hard fall. Nothing serious. Just precaution,” Fernandez said. “He’s one of the guys that he still would go and run through the wall, and you’ve got to tell him to rest because his body is sore.”

Day’Ron Sharpe remains sidelined with a strained left hamstring and Bojan Bogdanovic is still recovering from offseason surgeries on his left foot and wrist. They both missed the entire preseason, and Lewis says neither one is close to returning.

There’s more from Brooklyn:

Cameron Johnson displayed his versatility this week, handing out six assists while running the offense out of the high post in Wednesday’s game and then scoring 32 points in 32 minutes on Friday, Lewis adds in the same piece. “I expect to do it all season,” Johnson said. “I think interchangeability is what we’re looking for.”
The Nets need to find a reliable backup point guard for nights when Dennis Schröder and Ben Simmons aren’t both available, Lewis states in a separate story. One option is Shake Milton, who was acquired from New York in the Mikal Bridges trade and has been given a chance to run the offense during the preseason. “Not really an adjustment at all,” he said. “I feel like I’ve been doing that since I got in the league, being on the ball and off the ball, so being able to do whatever the team needs me to do is honestly more important. That’s just how you’re able to create opportunities, whether it’s on the ball and creating for myself or others or off the ball, getting aggressive, just whatever needs to be done.”
Fernandez is focused on building relationships in his first season as an NBA head coach. He explains his philosophy to Lewis in another piece for the New York Post.