LAS VEGAS — David Duke Jr. turned down the Nets’ provide of a two-way contract, coming to the Las Vegas Summer time League unsigned and betting on himself.
There’s no higher place to wager than Las Vegas, and few higher methods to make an impression than the trouble Duke put in Friday. He had 22 factors, three assists, three rebounds and a steal within the Nets’ opener, a 94-90 loss to the Bucks.
The Nets gave one in every of their pair of two-way contracts to undrafted rookie Alondes Williams, and so they supplied the opposite to Duke, who had impressed final season as an undrafted rookie. However Duke turned it down, and reiterated he needs one in every of their 15 normal contracts.
“Properly, you recognize, I’m at all times going to try for essentially the most that I can get, proper? So if there’s a roster spot to try for that, then no matter occurs from there, occurs,” Duke stated. “However like I stated, I’m simply out right here attempting to play the perfect that I can, present what I can convey to Brooklyn, to whoever. And that’s simply my mindset.
“I imply, I’m not likely focusing an excessive amount of on that. I put in work for the previous few weeks with the staff, and actually proper now it’s simply me attempting to know simply present my staff that I’m with proper now what I can do. They usually’ve seen the developments over the previous few weeks. So I feel they’ve given me some confidence. I’ve given them some confidence as effectively. I’m simply attempting to make the perfect out of it out right here.”
The aforementioned Williams, the highest-rated of the Nets’ 5 unsigned rookie free brokers, had an odd night time Friday. He shot 1-of-6, didn’t have a single help and made three turnovers. The ACC Participant of the Yr out of Wake Forest got here billed as a artistic passer and confirmed that at instances, however he was both overaggressive with some passes whereas teammates have been caught off guard by others.
“Tremendous thrilling expertise. Can actually see the ground and rating. Thought he was actually unfortunate a number of of these rim makes an attempt didn’t go in. His stat line doesn’t look spectacular, however I believed he actually helped us,” summer season league coach Adam Caporn stated. “It’s little issues for him to enhance that we are able to undoubtedly assist him enhance and thrilling expertise.
“First recreation, a number of guys excited to play, performed a bit fast and don’t have an excellent really feel for one another but, [they’re] getting there. And a few of it simply his layups, he’s an excellent finisher: I believed he was a giant unfortunate. Just a few of these rolled out. They have been very contested. However he’s good at that. Throughout the board we have been simply out of kinds offensively and that’s on the coaches as a lot as something. While you’re out of kinds and second guessing your self, that attributed to some guys not being in the fitting spots and people issues, these passes not coming off cleanly.”
Cam Thomas, who led the 2021 Las Vegas Summer time League in scoring (at 27.0 factors per recreation) and was named co-MVP, began the 2022 league proper the place he left off. The second-year guard had a game-high 31 factors Friday, although he missed a possible tying 3-pointer within the waning seconds.
“I performed with him since final summer season league, and virtually each shot that he’s placing up I’m considering that it has an excellent probability of entering into,” Duke stated. “So I undoubtedly thought it was entering into.”
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