Brooklyn Nets guard Donald Sloan will sit out Saturday night’s game against the Cleveland Cavaliers with an undisclosed illness, moving center Willie Reed to the active list for the first time this season. Sloan has not played since the second game of the season.
The Nets signed Reed, a 25-year-old D-League lifer, to a partially guaranteed deal this offseason, presuming that Reed would battle Andrea Bargnani for backup minutes. But Reed tore a ligament in his thumb during preseason, and has yet to leave the inactive list following surgery.
Reed has yet to play in an NBA game, and throughout his D-League career implored his fans to help his case on social media with the hashtag #CallWillieUp. Now that he’s guaranteed to stay on the team through at least January — and likely the whole season — the hashtags are now #NoExcuses and #ShowAndProve.
Reed made his return to practice this week, but only doing non-contact work, which makes it unlikely he’ll play. But if there wasn’t any chance, there’s no reason to move him off the inactive list.
