The Brooklyn Nets have officially signed rookies Cory Jefferson and Markel Brown to rookie-minimum contracts, the team announced today.
Jefferson posted the signing to his Instagram account yesterday:
Brown also retweeted this last night, indicating that he’d signed a contract:
@iMarkelBrown22 congrats on getting that contract big bro . Keep leading the way for the people who look up to you my G !
— MoneyGang Pistol (@Mike_J_Pistol) July 23, 2014
The Nets didn’t own a draft pick in this year’s draft, but bought three to select Brown, Xavier Thames, and Jefferson. Jefferson was this season’s “Mr. Irrelevant,” after being picked last in the draft. Here’s how some of the best Mr. Irrelevants have fared.
With the Nets officially inking Bojan Bogdanovic yesterday, today’s signings bring the number of guaranteed Nets contracts to 15, filling their roster. With all fifteen roster spots taken, the Nets sit at about $94 million in salary, which adds up to just under $130 million with the luxury tax. That still leads the league by a wide margin, but it’s more than a $60 million cut from the year before, no small feat.
One way to look at it: the Nets have cut more money off their luxury tax bill from last season than ten teams paid for their entire team last year.
