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Woj: Nets may be able to sign two players as injury replacements for KD and Kyrie

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Brooklyn Nets v Los Angeles Lakers Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images

In an article written with former Nets assistant GM Bobby Marks, Adrian Wojnarowski suggests the Nets may be able to sign two players, but with restrictions.

Woj and Marks wrote...

“[T]he Brooklyn Nets are expected to have the option to sign players to fill the roster spots for the season-ending injuries to Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, sources said.”

But there will be restrictions ... and nothing is firm yet, the ESPN writers noted. The biggest restrictions include limiting the number of players who can travel to Disney World. The league would like to keep to its prohibition on two-way players in the post-season. Woj and Marks note that players, like Chris Chiozza, could be signed to a standard deal. And because there would be two roster openings, those created by KD and Kyrie’s absence, the Nets wouldn’t have to cut anyone on 15-man roster.

Teams would also be limited in who they could sign to two-ways, NBA or G League players and those who had participated in training camps. No international players and no players who hadn’t been on team rosters during the season could fill the roster spots.

Eligible replacement players will likely have had to be signed in the NBA or G-League or be on training camp contracts this season, sources said. Under these restrictions, for example, no team could sign veteran Jamal Crawford — who went unsigned all season — or an international player.

That would also eliminate signing players like Austin Daye, who was the Italian League MVP before the European leagues shut down. Daye, according to reports coming out of Europe, had returned to the U.S. in hopes of signing a contract with one of the “bubble” teams.

Moreover, if replaced, players like Durant and Irving would be prohibited from playing either in the “seeding series” aka the resumed regular season, or the playoffs. Both have said they will not play ... and it appears that they wouldn’t necessarily be welcome in the “bubble” either as the NBA tries to limit the number of people on hand in Florida.

Who might the Nets sign, other than Chiozza ... if the league approves the idea? The Nets have a second two-way player, 6’4” combo guard Jeremiah Martin (who has a two-year deal). Another possibility is Justin Anderson who had a 10-day contract with the Nets and finished the season with Long Island. He’s a 6’6” 3-and-D forward who was also Joe Harris’ college teammate.

Woj and Marks also reported that although the league is resisting bringing two-ways to Orlando, some GM’s are pressing that they be permitted.

To open camp with these players on the 22 team rosters would constitute an additional 44 people in the bubble environment --- and the NBA is searching for ways to keep those numbers down to limit possible virus carriers and positive tests.

Woj and Marks also suggest that teams will be permitted to make such moves starting June 22.

In other news related to the restart, ESPN’s Jonathan Givony wrote about implications for the Draft and Tim Bontemps disclosed that winning percentages will determine seeding in the resumed regular season.

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