Here’s the latest Nets news & notes from around the ‘net:
- The Italian men’s national basketball team, led in part by Brooklyn Nets center Andrea Bargnani picked up a key 89-82 victory over Germany yesterday in FIBA Eurobasket, improving to 3-1 in Group B. (Highlights here.) Though Danilo Gallinari stole the show and Bargnani fouled out, Bargnani did score 17 points and add five rebounds, plus one selfie tongue.
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— Amedeo Della Valle (@AmeDV8) September 9, 2015
- Also in Eurobasket: Even with a hot second quarter following a technical foul, Bojan Bogdanovic shot just 4-14 from the field in Croatia’s matchup against the Netherlands Wednesday, but Croatia won anyway, 78-72. (Highlights from the game above, courtesy of FIBA.) They play Georgia today at noon, but since they’re already guaranteed a spot in the knockout stage, they might rest Bogdanovic, who has been recovering from a concussion.
- Per NetsDaily, Joe Johnson has switched agents: from Wasserman Media Group to Jeff Schwartz’s Excel Sports. Super-agent Arn Tellem, who repped Johnson, recently left Wasserman to join the Detroit Pistons front office. Other notable Schwartz clients: Deron Williams, Jarrett Jack, Jason Kidd, Paul Pierce, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson.
- The Sporting News dives into Shane Larkin’s sneaker collection. Something tells me he and Joe Johnson will get along famously.
- Again:
— Seth Rosenthal (@seth_rosenthal) September 9, 2015
- An interview with Willie Reed, the other backup to Brook Lopez. Reed is a grunt-work kind of center, and he said he models his game after guys like “Dennis Rodman, Tyson Chandler and DeAndre Jordan.”
- Per RealGM’s Shams Charania, the Nets did not extend a non-guaranteed tender to Xavier Thames, last year’s second-round draft-and-stash.
Brooklyn has declined to extend non-guarantee tender to 2014 pick Xavier Thames, losing his rights and making him UFA, sources tell Yahoo.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) September 10, 2015
It’s a bit surprising, since all you need to do is send the tender over to retain his rights, even if Thames elects to stay overseas. It may have been at Thames’s request (or his agent’s), to give him an opportunity to play elsewhere; the Nets don’t have the roster space to guarantee Thames a spot.
- A roster update, if you need clarification: The Nets can take up to 20 players into training camp, with a cut down to 15 required before the start of the year. They currently have 18 guys, including six on non-guaranteed contracts — Ryan Boatright, Markel Brown, Dahntay Jones, Quincy Miller, Willie Reed, and Donald Sloan. The majority of Reed’s contract is guaranteed, and with the team’s depth short at center, he’ll probably make the team. Beyond that is anyone’s guess — Brown is a favorite to take one of the other two spots, having already secured a minor guarantee ($200,000), but it’s hardly a guarantee.
- The Indiana Pacers recently purchased the rights to the D-League’s Fort Wayne Mad Ants, which serves as a reminder: the Nets still don’t have a D-League affiliate after parting ways with the Springfield Armor in 2014. They’re among roughly a dozen teams that don’t have a one-to-one affiliate. Logically, it, but building that infrastructure doesn’t happen overnight.
