Nets interviewing point guards at the NBA Draft Combine

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Jerian Grant (AP)
Jerian Grant (AP)
Jerian Grant (AP)

The Brooklyn Nets hold the rights to the 29th and 41st picks in the upcoming NBA Draft, and with the Draft Combine in full swing in Chicago, they’ve begun looking at prospects. From the early returns, it looks like they’re targeting point guards.

NetsDaily reported that the team has interviewed Utah’s Delon Wright and Notre Dame’s Jerian Grant, two big point guards. Grant is projected to go 14th by DraftExpress, while Wright is projected to go 30th.

Nets general manager Billy King said in his post-season press conference that he wants to take the “best player” with the picks they have. Both Wright and Grant are big point guards that measure around 6’4″ or 6’5″ in shoes. Both are college seniors, a group King has targeted in the past. All three of Brooklyn’s picks last year (Markel Brown, Xavier Thames, Cory Jefferson) were seniors, as well as Mason Plumlee the year before.

Wright, who is NBA player Dorrell Wright’s younger brother, averaged 14.7 points, 5.0 assists, and 5.0 rebounds per game in his senior season at Utah. Grant, who’s father Harvey and uncle Horace were both former NBA players, averaged 16.5 points, 6.6 assists, and 3.0 rebounds per game, leading Notre Dame on an Elite 8 run in the NCAA tournament.

There is one interesting wild card in the process. George Lucas de Paula, an 18-year-old Brazilian point guard, told Basketball Insiders that the Nets were one of the teams that interviewed him. De Paula has jaw-dropping physical tools — he stands 6’6″ in shoes with a seven-foot wingspan, the longest ever recorded for a point guard in DraftExpress’s database. But he’s only 18 and is still learning English and basketball.

Along with those three, NetsDaily reported that the Nets interviewed UNC’s J.P. Tokoto, a junior shooting guard projected as a second-rounder. The team will interview more prospects today.

There’s a good chance the Nets end up with more — or higher — picks. They have $2.3 million to spend to facilitate deals, and used money last year to buy three late second-rounders. They also could package their picks in an attempt to move up, which King has said he wants to do.