Lost with the Nets' Dennis Schroder trade and high-level impact on tanking and drafting, young guards are leaving and coming back.
The Nets secured a spot by recalling two-way guard Reece Beekman from Golden State and waiving Joncy Cui, who is out for the season with a torn ACL.
“Going back to college, when we’ve been able to get young players that we’ve been studying for a while, the group here has been focused on: [Beekman] And we're going to bring him in and take a hard look at him,” GM Sean Marks said.
“So from a defensive standpoint, we're going to miss some things with Dennis leaving and hopefully once Reese gets here, he'll be able to pick up the slack. He'll have every opportunity to play, get minutes and be a part of this rotation just like any other player.”
I'll have to do that soon.
Schroder will be replaced by Ben Simmons, but the Nets don't have another proven point guard.
Shake Milton and Keon Johnson are backup off-guards, and Killian Hayes hasn't made an impression playing in the G League on Long Island.
The 6-foot-3 Beekman is an undrafted rookie who has outperformed Hayes in the G League.
He is averaging 18.7 points, shooting 51.5 percent, 7.3 assists (9th in the G League), 5.2 rebounds and 2.8 steals (3rd in the league) for Santa Cruz.
“Yeah, we're excited to have him,” coach Jordi Fernandez said. “He's a defensive-minded player. I think he led the conference in steals. He's a point guard who helps pressure the ball, work on defense, play-make and run the team. So we're excited to have him. He will be arriving soon and I will be working with him soon.
Beekman is the third player in history to win back-to-back ACC Defensive Player of the Year awards, and he brought it to the G League.
With the rebuilding Nets, he will get a legitimate chance in the NBA.
Hayes is the bigger player and has more name recognition, but he shot just 30 percent from deep and 60 percent from the charity stripe at Long Island.
Cui was waived to make room for Beekman.
Milton is primarily an off-guard, but he has played 40 percent of his minutes at point guard this season.
That amount is likely to rise in the near future.
“Just keep doing what we're doing. Go out there, play fast, play with pace, pace, space. Get in the lane. Create for yourself, create for others too. Let's do it,” Milton said. “[Schroder’s] There's definitely a point, but you're going to miss it. But he also [had] Approximately 7 assists per game. And he was also a leader when it came to full-court appearances. So those are important things that you have to understand as well. ”
Monday marks Cleveland's Kenny Atkinson's first return as head coach since being fired by the Nets.
