INSIDER: Brooklyn Nets MAX OUT Training Camp Roster With 2 Free Agent Signings | More moves coming?

INSIDER: Brooklyn Nets MAX OUT Training Camp Roster With 2 Free Agent Signings | More moves coming?

Coming up, the Nets max out their training camp roster with two free agent signings. I’ll tell you why more moves are on the horizon after this. You are Locked on Nets, your daily Brooklyn Nets podcast, part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. Welcome in to the Locked On Nets podcast right here on the Locked On Podcast Network. It’s your team, the Brooklyn Nets, every single day. I’m Eric Slater, Brooklyn Nets beat reporter for clutchpoints.com. Thank you for making me your first listen of the day. This show was 100% free on all those great platforms. This episode is brought to you by Monarch Money. Take control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code lockdown NBA at monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year. And on today’s show, I’m going to be breaking down the Nets roster situation after two free agent signings. I’ll dive into the team’s newest additions, whether they could stick longterm, and what moves could be in store for Brooklyn. But before we get to all that, quick programming note with the calendar flipping to August. I am going to be scaling back the volume just slightly of the Locked on Nets episodes. I’m still probably going to be on here four times a week, but just letting you guys know moving forward, if you see an episode maybe not missing on a Monday or a Friday, I am going to be probably on four days a week moving forward through August and the rest of the off season leading up to training camp. But getting into this episode and what we got for you guys today, I said the Nets made two free agent signings, their first non-incumbent free agent signings of the offseason. So, first time signing new players from other teams. Uh, hoops hypes Michael Scott, friend of the pod, reported that the Nets signed Ricky Council, former Philadelphia 76ers guard, and they also signed Fanbo Zang, a Chinese star in free agency. Council is reportedly a partially guaranteed deal, while Zang appears to be an exhibit 10 contract. And I’m going to get into both of these guys. They what they could potentially bring to the table, whether I think they’ll stick long term with the team. But before that, want to talk about just the roster situation and where the Nets are at after making these two signings because the Nets were at 18 players under contract before making these two signings. They’re now at 20. If you include Cam Thomas, who remains unsigned and restricted free agency, but by all accounts, everybody expects him to be back with the Nets. Cam would put them at 21 contracts, and that is the maximum amount that you were allowed to carry at training camp. There’s also Grant Nelson reportedly signed with the team uh out of the draft as a UDFA. He played with them at summer league. It’s not clear whether he has an exhibit 10 and whether he’s going to be at training camp with the team, but if he was at training camp, if the Nets do bring him, including Cam Thomas, that brings them up to 22. You’re only allowed to carry 21 players at training camp. So, if Nelson were to come, somebody else would have to be out the door. So, bottom line is the Nets have maxed out their training camp roster with these signings. Does that mean that it’s set in stone? No. They can shovel things around because they can still make trades obviously. And there are several players who are on partially guaranteed deals or non-g guaranteed deals. As I reported last week, they have Keon Johnson and Jaylen Wilson on partially guaranteed deals. Ricky Councel now joins them there. They also have Tyrese Martin and Drew Timmy on non-g guaranteed deals. So, those guys can be waved at any point to create more cap space for the team. The Nets have 22 million or above 20 million right now. The exact number varies depending on whether or not they wave some of these guys. So, they could be waved through cap space. They could be waved to open roster spots for whatever the moves the Nets have in store. They could also be waved just to open training camp spots. As I said, with all the reported signings, the Nets could be up to 22 spots with only 21 allowed. And I would expect the Nets and from everything I’ve been hearing, the Nets are still perusing around for more opportunities and ways to use their cap space. They have, as I said, upwards of 20 million. There are still teams that are going to look to be getting involved in the salary dump equation. You look at the Boston Celtics, a team that still has more work to do if they hope to avoid the second apron and duck below that, which by all accounts are going to try to. Could they be a trade partner with the Nets? There’s other teams would also be looking to get off salary. There’s teams who could be interested in some of the veteran guys that the Nets still have on their roster, whether you’re talking about Nick Claxton or whoever along those lines. So, there’s still work to be done for the Nets and there’s still, you know, this roster could still be shuffled. But with this and with these signings, the Nets are at that roster, that roster cap of 21 guys that you’re allowed to have going into training camp. So, it is notable because while there is still more work to be done, the Nets have brought in these guys and a collection of guys that, you know, there’s a lot of youth and there’s a lot of competition to be had for these back-end roster spots with the Nets bringing in five first round picks in this year’s draft. Those bottom roster spots are really at a premium and they’re really few and far between. So, they bring in two more guys and Ricky Council and Fanbo Zang. How could those guys factor into the equation? Where could they land long term in the Net situation? I’ll dive into that after a quick break. But before that, want to tell you about our friends over at 5Hour Energy. Guys, it’s the summer and that means golf season. Time to fuel up and turn it up with 5H hour energy transfusion. It brings the bold grape, ginger, and lime flavor of your favorite golf drink minus the alcohol into a quick energizing shot. Whether you’re sinking birdies or just making memories with friends, this one’s a hole-in-one for your energy game. Let’s be honest, some days on the course or off it, you just need that extra boost to stay sharp and energized. I was just out on the course with some friends a few weeks ago. We had an early tea time. Got out there. We’re feeling a little sluggish. We tried some 5hour energy transfusions and before you know it, it was a long drive contest. Had a really great time out there. Guys, golf is all about good times with good people and good flavors. 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He is the more notable of the two, the one with NBA experience. and an interesting move for the Nets to bring in on council what has been reported by Nets Daily reported and I’ve since confirmed that it is a partially guaranteed contract. So, as I said, council joins that bucket of Jaylen Wilson and Keon Johnson, also guys who are on partially guaranteed deals. And Council’s an interesting player, you know, he spent two college seasons at Witchah State. He then transferred to Arkansas and he had success there, but went undrafted in 2023 and then he got picked up by the 76ers. He played a little bit with their G-League affiliate during his rookie season and he really performed well, averaged, you know, well, I think it was a well above 23 points per game there in the G-League and then got converted to a two-year two-way deal. And last season with the 76ers just ravaged by injuries, he really got to play a featured role for them off the bench. He made 73 appearances, averaged seven points, three rebounds, 1.3 assists, 3826 80 shooting splits in 17 minutes per game. So, I do think there are some traits with Ricky Council that make him an intriguing flyer for the Nets. If you look at just some of the measurables, first thing that I’d want to talk about there, he’s 6’6 with a 6’10 wingspan. He is a superb athlete. If you guys have watched him play, he is a great leaper, has great speed, straight line. So, there are some traits that make sense there. If you look at him as a shooting guard, you look at him on the wing, he has great size in both those spots, he has great athleticism. And you are looking for those traits. I talked about this on my last or one of my last episodes about the traits you’re looking for in these bottom of the roster guys. You’re looking for guys who have those traits that could allow them to potentially pop if some other things come into round out in their skill sets. And Council has that just from the athleticism, the size, the measurables. He looks the part of an NBA player physically when he’s on the court. But what hasn’t been there up to this point for Council is the three-point shooting. He hasn’t been a good three-point shooter at any point in his development really. He struggled in college. I think he was at like 30% on three attempts per game there. And then last year he was playing, you know, a more heavy role offensively, but was mostly an offball guy obviously. And he shot, you look at his catch and shoot numbers, he shot 30.5% on two catch andoot threes per game last year. So the three-point shooting hasn’t been there. That’s something that held him back, I think, offensively from a process standpoint. There’s, you know, not a ton to love about what you saw with him last season. Like, he has some talent. He has some secondary shot creation ability in transition. Also, in the half court, working to the mid-range and stuff along those lines, but he’s not a guy who gets to the rim a ton. There isn’t a ton of, you know, ball handling ability, a ton of moves there when he gets downhill to be able to finish. And then the three-point shooting just hasn’t been there up to this point. So from that perspective, it is a little bit of an interesting signing because he’s not a great shooter. The Nets have obviously been adamant that they want to shoot a ton of threes. They want to shoot 40 plus threes per game. So three-point shooting is something that they’re going to be looking for and prioritizing in players. But I would say that this does fit into, you know, a similar bucket of some other moves that we’ve seen like the Nets took Keon Johnson out of uh Portland and they, you know, took him onto their summer league roster. They signed him to a two-way deal and then they signed him to a guaranteed contract or a partially guaranteed standard contract. And you look at Keon Johnson, he’s a guy who has great measurables, has superb athleticism. The three-point shot hasn’t come around, but the Nets obviously are hoping that that could round out into form. And then with that, they’ve really pushed him to take advantage of his athletic gifts and his traits on the defensive end of the floor. So with Keon Johnson, it’s a player where, you know, he had a little bit more pass pedigree than a guy like Council because he was a first round pick. I think he was the 21st pick in the draft, but he’s a guy who is extremely athletic, has great measurables at, you know, the back court at the two guard or on the wing or whatever you want to say. And they’re betting on those traits and looking for upside there and hoping that the three-point shot can come around, he can improve in some of those areas. Now, Johnson didn’t do that last season, but he was willing and there was clearly a directive from the Nets for him to fire from three. You know, I think he was at eight or nine attempts per 100 possessions and was really letting it fly. So, they’re trying to see what they have in the shooting stroke there. See if they can get him in with their shock doctors and he can fix that in addition to him, you know, putting in greater effort and really taking advantage of his measurables and his athletic gifts on the defensive end of the floor. It seems like it could be a similar thing with Ricky Council here. you know, he’s a guy who, as I said, doesn’t have the pass pedigree of Johnson, but he has the measurables at 66 with a 610 wingspan. He has the athleticism. They might think that there could be some defensive potential there if he’s able to lean in those athletic gifts and they can get some stuff from him there. And then the three-point shot, if that can come around, you know, he’s a guy who could potentially be something for them on the back end of the roster. So, I think that the Nets are looking for three-point shooting obviously with players, but particularly in these backend roster spots. And then obviously just overall athleticism, speed, the transition game. We know that’s somewhere that they want to play. So all of those things, those traits come in handy on the defensive end of the floor. They come in handy in transition. And if you can improve as a three-point shooter and round out some of those skills, you could potentially be something that sticks. And really with the backend roster spots and guys like this, you’re really throwing darts on a dart board. I would say I think it’s interesting that the Nets gave him a partially guaranteed deal and that it’s not a non-g guaranteed deal because you know there are guys on the on the team like I said Keon Johnson I think of these partially or non-G guaranteed guys he’s the most likely to stick because of the past pedigree because of the youth and some of those things. Ricky Councel now gets a partially guaranteed deal and is also a really young guy you know relative to some of the other guys that the Nets have. is only 24 years old. Like he’s not 26 like Tyrese Martin. He’s closer to that Drew Timmy Jaylen Wilson bucket. So he gets a partially guaranteed deal. Maybe the Nets see something in him there. Maybe they feel that he could be a guy who could pop and have a little bit more upside than a guy like Jaylen Wilson who’s really a grounded athlete and limited in some of those respects and also hasn’t been a great three-point shooter. Drew Timmy, I think he has more potential than, you know, a guy like Ricky Council or a guy like Jaylen Wilson. I outlined that on one my one of my previous episodes. But also another grounded athlete, a guy who hasn’t shot well from three throughout his career really at any level. So maybe they are betting on more youth. They think more athleticism and things along those lines. They want to go that direction. And that would make sense. Like there’s a thought process and a logic that you could follow there with, you know, if you’re looking at these guys on the back end of the roster spots. You need guys who looked apart physically and from the measurable perspective and can fit in as NBA players there. and then if you can develop the skills, maybe you have something that can work. Whereas with some of these other guys, if they don’t have the athleticism and some of those things, it’s just maybe going to be more difficult for them to stick long term. Do I think that’s necessarily the case? No. You know, like I would prefer them to go with a guy like Timmy over a guy like Ricky Council for one of these backend roster spots. But, you know, I understand the thought process there. I would say, you know, last season he got an expanded opportunity and he didn’t really do much with it with the 76ers. they obviously decided to wave him and move on from him. So, you know, they’re trying to compete a little bit more. So, there’s some, you know, that obviously factors into that equation where the Nets are just a rebuilding team, but I wouldn’t say that, you know, he looked great in his expanded opportunity last season. But, I think physically he does look the part and I think the Nets are hoping obviously that they can get some more out of him from the shot perspective. So, we’ll see with Ricky Council. I think it’s an interesting flyer for them and I do think it follows a certain pattern of some things we’ve seen with other guys like Keon Johnson and what they’re looking for in these backend roster spots. But there is another free agent signing in Fanbo Zang from China and another guy who follows a trend of some previous signings we’ve seen from this Nets regime. So I’ll dive into him and what he could bring to the table when I close out Lockdown Nets after a quick break. 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He played uh two seasons of high school ball in Florida and then his junior year was right after the CO 19 pandemic started. So, he went back to China and didn’t play his last two high school seasons, but he flashed a lot during those seasons. He was a four-star recruit. He actually committed to Gonzaga um you know, after the end of his high school career and then decommitted from them and went to play for the G-League Ignite. He signed an exhibit 10 contract with the Pacers, I think, after he was with the Ignite. Um played for them at summer league, but didn’t end up sticking with them. and then he went back to China and he’s played the last three seasons with the Beijing Ducks in the CBA and has been impressive there. You know, he’s done some good things there. He averaged last season over 42 games with Beijing. He was at 15 points, six rebounds, two assists, 1.6 blocks, shot uh 57 41 80 shooting splits. So, good efficiency there. Last year, you know, he struggled as a three-point shooter with Ignite. And then over these last three seasons with uh Beijing, he’s really developed into a high level spot up guy. He’s at 38% on five attempts per game, and he’s doing all of that as a 6’11 forward. So, has really good size, has developed into a very efficient three-point shooter on decently high volume, but um you know, is a guy that obviously is playing in the CBA, which if you guys don’t know that much about the CBA, it’s not like a bad league by any stretch of the imagination, but is it at the level of, you know, the Euro League? Is it at the level of some of the other leagues that we see, whether like the Bundesliga where Ben Saraf played or, you know, whatever other leagues you want to talk about in Europe? I wouldn’t say so. Like, you know, I’ve read some stuff about the CBA and they have a cap on the number of imports that you could bring in. I think it’s only two imports. So, two non-Chinese player that can be on each team. So, that obviously is going to limit the number, you know, the amount of talent that can be in there relative to just a global states or some of these other leagues are playing on. So, Zang’s a guy that has really great size at 6’11, a little bit of a slighter frame. I think he’s around like 200 lb for reference. Like Nick Claxton’s like 6’11, 215, 220. So Zang has a little bit of a slighter frame, but really great height at power forward and has shot really well. And I think that that’s intriguing. Obviously has also offered some rim protection, but I think the level of competition probably isn’t where you’re seeing a lot of these other guys played and that might be a reason why he hasn’t been picked up by an NBA team before that. But the Nets take a flyer on him. And if you watch some of the highlights, like this guy does have some pretty intriguing highlights in terms of transition dunks, in terms of blocks, obviously a high level floor spacer for what I said with uh shooting 38.4% on five attempts over his last three seasons. If you watch, you know, the highlights, there isn’t a ton of stuff that he’s doing outside of just being a floor spacer or um just attacking closeouts off the dribble and really just being a straight line guy. Like there doesn’t seem like there’s a ton of ball handling ability. It doesn’t seem like there’s a ton of side to side shift which along with you know the the lack of side to side shift along with a slight frame defensively. I would think that might hamper him there. He’s not playing against a lot of NBA level scorers obviously over there in Beijing. So those could be some reasons that he hasn’t come over yet. Also he might just want to be a star in China and play over there. So you know all of those factors contribute to it. But a guy who’s 6′ 11, a guy who has above average athleticism, and a guy who shot over 38% from three on high volume over the last three seasons, it’s it’s nothing to like scoff at. You know, it does sound like it could be an interesting flyer for the Nets. It also follows a pattern. Obviously, we know Josai has his connections to China and we know that last year brought in Jackie Sway and then they gave him a, you know, he played in training camp and then they gave him a two-year 2-way deal and they waved him in uh December when he tore his ACL, but now they bring in another Chinese star in Fambo Zang. There has not been a ton of Chinese guys that have played in the NBA historically. I think uh Nets Daily put it out. I think the number is around 10 or 11 guys who have played a few of those now have been with the Nets with Yian Leon back in the day. uh Jackie Schway as I said and then now Nets bring in for the second straight training camp another Chinese star and the Nets have an open two-way spot and you know they have uh Tyson Etien and Tosana Wulman on two-way contracts and some of these guys were partially or non-G guaranteed could be candidates for that two-way spot like Ricky Council is a guy if he’s waved from his partially guaranteed deal could sign a two-way spot but Fambo Zang you know a guy who is eligible also to sign a two-way contract contract. Obviously, the Nets have one open spot there last season that went to Jackie Sway, another Chinese star who Brooklyn brought in and this year, could Zang be in that equation? It’s definitely a possibility. And would it be a bad signing? You know, based on things I’ve seen, obviously, I’ll have to dig into the tape a little bit more, but a 6’11 forward who is an above average athlete, as I said, and has shot well from three on high volume, that does sound like it’s worth, you know, a two-way flyer. And Fambo Zang does have some youth, you know, relative to these other guys. He’s only 22 years old. So if we’re talking about these other, you know, backend roster options that the Nets have, whether Ricky Councel or Jaylen Wilson or Tyrese Martin, Drew Timmy, he’s a couple years younger than those guys. He has the size, he has the measurables, he has the shooting. Some things that some of those guys don’t necessarily have, especially the shooting regards. So could be an intriguing flyer for the Nets. We’ll see. But they make these two free agent signings and they are maxed out from the roster cap situation for training camp. Could they potentially make some moves and shuffle things around? Yes. But for now, the Nets have reached that limit and it could be a sign of more moves to come because they may need to open some space for some of these guys, especially as I said if Grant Nelson is involved. So we’ll have more coverage of all that here on Locked on Nets. But that does it for today’s episode. I hope you guys enjoyed the talk. If you guys do not already, make sure to subscribe to Lockdown Nets on YouTube or wherever you get your podcast, whether Apple Podcast or Spotify. If you enjoy the content, be sure to smash that like button. Leave a comment. Let me know what you think about these signings. Let me know what you think about the Nets roster situation as a whole, who should stay, who should go, which backend roster guys are you encouraged could be pieces long term. But I’ll have more coverage of everything Nets when I’m back tomorrow talking more Brooklyn Nets basketball.

Erik Slater reacts to the Brooklyn Nets’ latest free agent signings. He breaks down the team’s roster situation following the additions, analyzing what the new signings can bring to the table and what moves could be in store.

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