The Nets have officially set their training camp roster by re-signing 2021 second-round pick RaiQuan Gray, the team announced in a press release late on Monday night.
The No. 59 overall pick in the 2021 draft out of Florida State, Gray signed a G League contract last fall and spent his first professional season with the Long Island Nets, Brooklyn’s affiliate. In 26 regular season NBAGL games (22.8 MPG), the 6’8″ forward averaged 6.3 PPG, 6.4 RPG, and 3.0 APG on .441/.240/.821 shooting.
Brooklyn initially signed and then waived Gray earlier this month. The team did the same thing with another 2021 second-rounder, Marcus Zegarowski, and has now brought back both players on training camp deals.
There has been no word from the Nets on what their plans for Gray and Zegarowski are, but our best guess is that the team reached a compromise with the duo — if they agreed to return to Long Island for a second year, the Nets would forfeit their exclusive NBA rights to the two players and re-sign them to Exhibit 10 contracts, ensuring they’ll receive bonuses worth up to $50K if they spend at least 60 days with Brooklyn’s G League affiliate.
Again, that’s just speculation, so we’ll see how things play out in the coming weeks, but it would be an uphill battle for Gray or Zegarowski to claim a spot on Brooklyn’s 15-man regular season roster. The team is carrying 12 players on fully guaranteed salaries, with Markieff Morris and Edmond Sumner looking like good bets to join those 12 on the regular season squad.
The Nets may leave their 15th spot open when the season begins to maximize their flexibility and avoid further increasing their tax bill. If they do carry a 15th man, Yuta Watanabe may be the favorite to claim that spot.
RaiQuan Gray = if Guerschon Yabusele was from Florida
So I’m assuming Nets did not sign Donovan Williams as previously reported and the spot went to Gray
Correct. That doesn’t necessarily mean that Williams WON’T sign at some point though. It may just end up being a sign-and-waive move aimed at getting his G League rights.
Can they do that with a full training camp roster of 20?
No, it would have to happen after they’ve made a cut.