Las Vegas – Nets’ Summer League Update
Last month, the Nets made a significant move by adding five first-round draft picks to their roster.
In Oklahoma City, during their opening game, which ended in a 90-81 loss, rookie Nolan Traoré stood out as a bright spot. He was the only player from the Nets to score in double digits, finishing with 13 points, along with three assists and three rebounds. Notably, he displayed quick moves driving into the lane.
Despite dealing with early ankle injuries, Traoré managed to shake off the nerves of his first game.
“I rolled my ankles pretty early, so it was tough… It took me a bit to get ready,” he mentioned. “I felt a little soreness, but I’m fine. I’ll be back on Sunday.”
Traoré had to leave the game temporarily due to his ankle injury, and at that point, the Nets were trailing 8-4. He was substituted in by Ben Saraf. By the time Traoré returned, the team was down 24-18 with just over eight minutes left in the half.
Interestingly, he ended the game with the only positive plus/minus rating among the Nets players.
“I think his speed translated well,” commented Steve Hetzel, the assistant coach for the Summer League team. “We definitely put him in situations to push the ball and attack the rim. He handled the physicality really well. This kind of growth is something we expect from all our rookies over time.”
Egor Demin marked the Nets’ first lottery pick since 2010 and played point guard at BYU, but it was Traoré who took on most of the lead guard responsibilities.
“It just depends on the game flow. Whoever has the ball is working to get to the basket,” Traoré explained. “It doesn’t matter if it’s me or anyone else; we’re playing off each other.”
“We don’t focus on who brings the ball up. Several players can handle it, and we just adapt.”
On a different note, Darik Whitehead has yet to participate in the Summer League. His agent stated this was due to discussions he had with General Manager Sean Marks about managing Whitehead’s recovery from injuries and gearing up for the regular season.
“I’ll definitely be playing,” Whitehead affirmed. “At the end of last season, I was ready for the Summer League, but given how things wrapped up, my agent and Sean agreed it made sense to focus on my recovery and prepare my body for training camp and next season.”
In other news, the Nets have waived the free agent rights of Day’ron Sharpe and Ziaire Williams, according to reports. They have options to re-sign players using cap space or through room exceptions.
The Nets currently have $22.3 million in cap space, with the potential to create even more by using room exceptions and parting ways with non-guaranteed players.
