Like the Brooklyn Nets, whose preseason tipped off on Tuesday, the Long Island Nets’ roster is filling up ahead of training camp later this month; and also like the big club, Long Island’s frontcourt includes something the organization values in its development: positional size
“I do think positional size is a factor we look at,” Nets general manager Sean Marks said at Media Day. “Sometimes size can make up for some other deficiencies.”
That “factor” has quietly become just as big on Long Island’s
roster as it is on Brooklyn’s. As the team finalized things over the last couple of weeks, there was an obvious premium placed on size across the board and not just height.
Two-way players Grant Nelson, Chaney Johnson, and Tyler Bilodeau are examples, along with new Exhibit 10 pieces, Dain Dainja and Ben Humrichous, as well as G League signee Nick Pringle. Long Island also recently traded for Jonathan Pierre, a 6’9” 23-year-old forward, although he plays more of a wing role.
Each check in as big for their position and big in general. Pierre, Bilodeau and Humrichous are 6’9” wings while Dainja and Pringle are also 6’9” who also bring physicality, particularly Dainja who checks in at 255 pounds with a 7’7” wingspan. Johnson can and has played small ball center at 6’7”.
While the Nets still feature the youngest roster in the NBA this season along with the most players on rookie deals, Long Island is becoming its own pipeline to Barclays Center as the Nets have proved in the past several years. They regularly shuttle young players along the 22 miles from Barclays to Nassau Coliseum and back, taking advantage of G League rules permitting the three two-ways to be active for up to 50 NBA games and up to two roster players to get minutes with no restrictions. It’s not uncommon for players to get call-ups. Last season, 11 Nets split time between with the two venues.
What’s interesting beyond their size is that all of those names add something unique. Among Long Island’s front court chips this season, Brooklyn fans are most familiar with Johnson and Nelson. They’re also the most likely to see time in Brooklyn, maybe at some point getting converted to a standard deal.
Chaney Johnson
Johnson has already shown encouraging production against NBA competition. In 17 appearances with Brooklyn last year, after signing a two-way contract on December 26, he averaged 8.2 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 2.1 assists while posting a 63.5% true shooting rate. He also collected 33 offensive rebounds, accounting for roughly 42% of his total boards last season. That’s an interesting, valuable role for a scrappy player. There is always room in an NBA rotation, especially the Nets’, for efficient offensive rebounding.
After he posted nine points vs. the 76ers Thursday to go along with four rebounds, two blocks and two steals, Egor Demin, predicted he’ll ultimately get a standard deal…
Jordi Fernandez agreed to a point.
“He worked really hard this summer, he had a very good summer league, and he’s also had a very good camp. You see his intensity and physicality, and it’s something that we need,“ said the head coach after Thursday’s game.
C.J. still has areas to clean up. He has room to grow as a shooter beyond the arc, as he shot just 30% from deep on 30 attempts last season while committing 51 fouls in around 348 total minutes. Johnson will always be an aggressive player, and that is one of his calling cards, but adding more discipline will make the transition Demin predicts more likely.
Grant Nelson
After going undrafted last year, in part because of a balky knee, Nelson wound up with an Exhibit 10 last year, averaging 11.1 points and 6.0 rebounds in 19.3 minutes across 23 G League games. He also shot 54.9% from the field and 80.9% from the free-throw line. Overall, the Alabama product played in a limited role as he dealt with a patella tendinitis that had plagued him throughout his college career. Across 15 starts in the G League, though, he averaged 24 points and 12 rebounds per 36 minutes, adding even more intrigue. That came after a seven-week rehab program with LI’s player performance team.
Nelson’s strong showings in the G League earned him a 10-day contract with Brooklyn. Across four games on the deal, Nelson played 35 minutes, putting up 17 points, six rebounds, six assists, and three blocks. Shortly after the Nets didn’t renew him for a second 10-day contract, as expected, it was revealed that he suffered patellar tendinitis, commonly known as “jumper’s knee,” which ended his season. At Media Day, Nelson said that with the help of the Nets performance team, he’s completely healthy and in Brooklyn’s two preseason games, he’s impressed off the bench.
In Brooklyn’s preseason opener Tuesday night, he scored five points in six minutes, along with a rebound and an assist, while shooting 2-of-4 from the field and 1-of-2 from beyond the arc. Then, Thursday, Jordi Fernandez doubled his minutes and he came away with eight points on 3-o-4 shooting, missing his only three, but getting to the line five times in eight minutes.
Ultimately, the 24-year-old is an interesting piece. The Nets were intrigued enough to give him a summer rehab plan and bring him back on a two-way deal.
Tyler Bilodeau
The new face on a two-way deal with Brooklyn this year is their second-round pick from June, Bilodeau. In the second round, teams often look for players who excel in a select area, and Bilodeau is just that when it comes to 3-point shooting. In his final year at UCLA, the 22-year-old averaged 17.6 points and 5.6 rebounds while shooting 51.8% and a Big Ten-leading 46.4% from three.
His biggest concern, though, is on the defensive end of the floor which is likely to be his development priority. However, his shooting ability is fascinating, and he has the potential to develop into a serviceable defender at 6’9” and 228 pounds and a wide frame. Developing in the G League instead of sitting on Brooklyn’s bench should be valuable and help him grow
While his missed his two attempts beyond the arc vs. Philly, the UCLA product grabbed five boards in 12 minutes, matching his point output.
Dain Dainja
Some of Brooklyn’s Exhibit 10 signees also have unique aspects to their game. Atop that list is Dainja. At 6’9” and 255 pounds with a crazy 7’7” wingspan, he’s physically imposing. Dainja spent the 2025-26 season with the Miami Heat’s G League affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce. In Sioux Falls, he put up 13.1 points on 62.3% shooting, 5.9 rebounds, and one block across 36 appearances. His scoring efficiency really sticks out, aside from his wingspan, and if he can develop into an offensive hub for Long Island while complementing the scoring with screening and defense, he could certainly make some noise this season.
Nick Pringle
Pringle is another physical option. The 24-year-old stands at 6’10” and 230 pounds after signing with the organization on an Exhibit 10, although unlike Dainja and Humrichous, his deal does not feature a training camp invite.
Across his six-year college career, including stops at Wofford College, Alabama, South Carolina, and Arkansas, he shot 64.9% from the field in 152 games while tallying 654 rebounds and 125 combined steals and blocks. He was also part of Alabama’s 2024 Final Four team, averaging 6.2 rebounds during the NCAA Tournament that year. Pringle also overlapped with Nelson in Tuscaloosa when the Crimson Tide got to the Final Four in 2024.
Ben Humrichous
Humrichous is a very different player, and like Bilodeau, he was a heavy 3-point shooter in college. At Illinois last season, he made 57 of 158 attempts from beyond the arc, for a 36.1% clip. Around 86% of his overall field goal attempts came from deep, which is ridiculously high. The biggest question with Humrichous, who is 6’9” and 224 pounds, is where he can contribute when his shot isn’t falling, or when opposing defenses eliminate him from 3.
Jonathan Pierre
Lastly and perhaps the most interesting front court adds, there’s Jonathan Pierre. The organization liked his potential enough to trade for his rights earlier this month. He is another player who fits the mold of “positional size,” at 6’9” and 210 pounds. Pierre took a very interesting journey to the G League. He began high school as a 5’10” guard before hitting a growth spurt up to 6’7” and entering college as a forward at Nova Southeastern, where he helped the program go undefeated and win a Division II National Championship.
After an excellent first season in DII, he transferred to Memphis before breaking out at Belmont during the 2024-25 season. At Belmont, he averaged 13.8 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 3.5 assists. Belmont also listed him at his current height, 6’9”, after he was dubbed 6’7” earlier in his college career, suggesting Pierre grew further in college.
He ultimately went undrafted, although Jam Hines of No Ceilings NBA viewed him as a “definite” top-60 prospect for the 2025 draft class. Hines noted that Pierre ranked in the 87th percentile in scoring efficiency as a pick-and-roll ball handler while making 37.8% of his catch-and-shoot threes on 156 attempts. He was also 46.2% on three-point attempts as a screener, though on a 13-attempt sample.
Pierre’s first year in the G League was nothing extraordinary, as he averaged 5.8 points and 2.9 rebounds in 14.9 minutes across 34 total games. Still, his upside is certainly enticing. The Belmont product is also still just 23, making him Long Island’s second-youngest player behind only Bilodeau, who is a second-round rookie.
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All of front court adds have something to prove, and different goals to reach this season. It will take a while to figure things out. That process starts the end of the month when the team gathers for training camp, then Opening Night on November 6 in Greensboro, N.C., vs. the Swarm, the Hornets affiliate.
