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The Nets have signed Ed Davis, the 6’10” journeyman power forward, to a one-year $4.4 million deal. Adrian Wojnarowski broke the news...
Free agent forward Ed Davis has agreed to a one-year, $4.4M deal with the Brooklyn Nets, league sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 1, 2018
Davis, 29, played for Portland last season, averaging 5.3 points and 7.4 rebounds in 19 minutes over 78 games, all off the bench. The Nets will be Davis’ fifth team in nine years. He’s been a teammate of Allen Crabbe and Jeremy Lin in previous stops. A solid defender, Davis is likely to play both the 4 and 5, but his primary job will be backing up Jarrett Allen.
Davis averaged 14 rebounds per 36 minutes this season, the best mark of his career, making him one of the top bench bigs in the NBA. He is not an outside shooter, taking only two 3-pointers in his eight-year career and is a poor free throw shooter, hitting less than 55 percent of his attempts.
The move drew praise from NBA pundits.
Oh, man, Sean Marks strikes again. Davis was HIGH on my bargain list. He was SO good in Portland last year.
— Hardwood Paroxysm (@HPbasketball) July 1, 2018
Ed Davis for 4.4 is INSANE. Great deal, Brooklyn.
— Oliver Maroney (@OMaroneyNBA) July 1, 2018
#Nets got bullied and outsized too often last season. Davis is long, savvy, and can board. #Blazers cap situation made him tough to keep, and Nets gladly scooped him up to help young Jarrett Allen.
— Brian Lewis (@NYPost_Lewis) July 1, 2018
Davis is being signed with the so-called room exception. That means the Nets are operating over the cap while waiting for Dwight Howard to agree to a buyout. The Nets would like him to agree to give back $8 million.
Like the Joe Harris signing, Brooklyn can exhaust available cap space first before signing Ed Davis to the $4.4M room midlevel exception. https://t.co/eZDZoaigX5
— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) July 1, 2018
Jason Quick, a veteran beat writer for the Blazers, reported early Sunday that Davis had texted him, “I said I wanted to come back ...”
And at least one of his teammates was heartbroken with the news...
— Damian Lillard (@Dame_Lillard) July 1, 2018
The signing of Davis throws into doubt whether the Nets intend to bring back both Quincy Acy and Dante Cunningham, their own front court free agents.
And early Sunday, Portland “retaliated” with the signing of Nets shooting guard Nik Stauskas.