After last-minute trades on Sunday which landed two players with NBA experience, the Long Island Nets released their 16-man training camp roster on Monday. Long Island opens its camp on Friday morning, a day after Media Day at the Coliseum. Opening night of the season is Friday, November 7th, against the Capital City Go-Go at Nassau Coliseum.
The Brooklyn Nets and Long Island Nets also revealed that two of their five first round draft picks, 22nd pick Drake Powell, a 6’6” 3-and-D candidate taken at No.
22; and Danny Wolf, a near 7-footer taken five slots later, will be spending time at Nassau Coliseum. The two, both recovering from ankle sprains, have been assigned to Long Island for the foreseeable future. There’s no limit to the number of times any of the rookies can be assigned to the G League.
The L.I. roster includes two returning players, point guard Terry Roberts and forward Tre Scott as well as as two local tryout players, Seton Hall’s Chaunce Jenkins and Fordham’s Abdou Tsimbila. The roster must be cut down to 10 plus up to five players assigned by Brooklyn before Opening Night.
The camp roster includes a number of players acquired by Long Island GM Matt MacDonald in recent weeks, among them
Also, several players who worked out with Brooklyn but were waived are also listed, most notably Grant Nelson, the undrafted 6’11” Alabama big. Absent from the roster: China’s Fanbo Zeng who like Nelson is a 6’11” forward who played for Brooklyn in one of two NBA China Games earlier this month in Macao. Much of the roster was drawn from veteran G League players that Long Island GM Matt MacDonald and head coach Mfon Udofia acquired specifically to work with the Flatbush 5.
Probably the most important addition was Yuri Collins, a 24-year-old point guard who led the G League in assists last season with the Santa Cruz, the Warriors G League team.
“The guys that we acquired for this year are more veteran guys,” Udofia told ND last month. “Yuri is going into year three or four. Guys like (25-year-old shooting guard) Malachi Smith, who we got his rights, (24-year-old big) David Muoka, and we’re looking to bring back Terry Roberts and Tre Scott. Those guys add to the mix, who will be down on Long Island, and get them (the rookies) up to speed as much as possible.” Brooklyn also signed 24-year-old wing E.J. Liddell from the Windy City Bulls on a two-way.
Indeed in two trades on Sunday, the Long Island Nets continued to add returning player rights. sending out the G League rights to Drew Timme and Oshae Brissett and landing Nate Williams and Jay Scrubb in return. Williams was exchanged for Drew Timme, makes his way over from the South Bay Lakers, whereas Scrubb makes his way from the Maine Celtics.
Here’s the full camp roster…
However, the biggest story of the day was that Powell and Wolf were both assigned to the Long Island team from Brooklyn. Powell and Wolf are each coming off ankle injuries and were the first two names to be assigned to Brooklyn’s G League team.
Powell missed the past two games for Brooklyn with an ankle sprain, but he’s been cleared to practice for Long Island when training camp gets underway Thursday. Powell is likely to see more opportunities at the G League level as the season progresses.
Powell is a major outlier in Brooklyn’s draft class. He had one of the lowest usage rates in all of high-major NCAA basketball last year, but the five-star 2024 recruit posted decent shooting numbers and has athleticism-based defensive potential. In the interim, the assignment will give him some minutes.
Wolf was a McDonald’s All-American Game nominee and a three-star recruit. In 2023, he earned a silver medal playing for Israel during the U20 Euro Championship and was named to the All-Tournament Team behind 17.7 points, 12 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.6 steals and 1.3 blocks per game.
Wolf played his first two seasons at Yale, having a breakout sophomore campaign in which he was named to the All-Ivy First Team and was the Ivy League Tournament Most Outstanding Player. Wolf then transferred to Michigan, where he averaged 13.2 points, 9.7 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 1.4 blocks on 50/34/59 shooting splits as a junior. He was named to the All-Big Ten Second Team and Big Ten All-Tournament Team.
Wolf missed the last three games at the NBA level for Brooklyn, but he too has been cleared to begin practicing for Long Island once training camp underway.
Sean Marks told NetsDaily the day after the Draft that the picks will spend some time on Long Island.
“I assume some of these guys will definitely spend some time in Long Island,” he said. “We’ll have to see how the season sort of plays out and what minutes are there for everybody, but at the same time, as Jordi mentioned, it’s an environment of competitive nature out here. So that’s what we want to see. These guys go compete. There are no promises given to anybody, let alone the draft picks.”
Udofia was even more specific with his plans to build around the Flatbush 5 as they filter through Long Island. While Udofia said that they didn’t add any new resources, per se, to help develop the rookies, but noted that the Brooklyn and Long Island staffs work together.
“Our staff is an extension of the Brooklyn Nets staff,” said Udofia, now in his third year on Long Island. “So, we’re there all summer, all training camp. Since our season ended, their season ended, we’ve been there. It’s a culture that Jordi and the staff set, and we’re just here to mimic that in the G-League. We do a really good job at communicating between both staffs, so it should be a seamless process when those guys (the entire Flatbush 5) come down.”
Another veteran presence that Long Island will have on hand is Tyson Etienne, the Nets’ 26-year-old two-way. Etienne kept turning it up to end the season and got a two-way deal. Udofia believes Etienne can make a difference for the rookies.
“It doesn’t get any better (than Tyson Etienne), and that’s what this league is about,” says Udofia. “Last year, he started the year as a regular G League player and ended the season with a two-way contract. He’s been with Brooklyn all summer and had a really good summer league. I just love his progression. He just continues to grow. It’s the way he works. He’s a really good example to have in our gym, both on the Brooklyn Nets and the Long Island Nets.”
E.J. Liddell was signed to the second of three two-way deals earlier in the summer. The third two-way deal is up for grabs. With Drew Timme having been traded to South Bay, he could play for Brooklyn under a two-way but not Long Island.
Other possibilities for the two-way include Nelson and Zeng as well as players cut by other NBA teams in recent weeks. The Nets are one of two NBA clubs who haven’t filled all three of their two-way slots, the other being Cleveland.
