SUMMER: Six players with NBA experience and Nets draft picks highlight Summer League roster

Six players with NBA experience, including David Duke and RaiQuan Gray, and two of the Brooklyn Nets three draft picks will represent the Brooklyn Nets in the Las Vegas Summer League, the team announced Friday. The league opens next Friday night with Brooklyn facing the Cleveland Cavaliers at 8:30 p.m. at the Cox Pavilion. The game will be telecast on NBA TV.

The Nets are using the Summer League as a competition for the Nets two remaining two-way roster spots. Gray is already signed to a two-way deal this season. Under the new CBA, which goes into effect Saturday, teams can now sign three two-ways up from two in previous years.

Duke’s inclusion is a bit of a surprise. The team decided against extending him a qualifying offer on Thursday. It would appear he is again competing for a two-way. Duke, who went undrafted out of Providence in 2021, was a two-way in both 2021-22 and 2022-23, finally being converted to a standard deal on April 7 of last season. Duke made first team All-G League last season and finished third in MVP balloting. He averaged 23.0 points per game to go along with 8.1 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.9 steals for Long Island.

Gray was also elevated to the Nets at the end of last season, signed to a two-year, two-way contract on April 8 and starting in the Nets last regular season game where he scored 16 points, grabbed nine boards and handed out seven assists in his NBA debut.

The other players with NBA experience on the roster are:

• Armoni Brooks, a 6’3” shooting guard, has played 74 games, 16 of them starts in the NBA with the Rockets and Raptors. In 2020-21, the Houston product averaged 11.2 points in 20 games, including a 24-point showing. He has spent most of his professional career in the G League. He’s 25.
• Jordan Hall, a 6’8” wing from Cape May, N.J. and St. Joseph’s in Philadelphia, played nine games as a Spurs two-way last season, averaging 3.1 points. In the G League, Hall averaged 10.0 points, 5.9 rebounds and 4.8 assists in 29 games while shooting 34/35/78. The 21-year-old is viewed as a strong candidate.
• Jamorko Pickett, a 6’9” forward, played 12 games for the Pistons in 2021-22, averaging 3.8 points. Last season, he played in 25 games for the Cleveland Charge, the Cavs G League affiliate, averaging 18.4 points with shooting splits of 43/33/83. The Georgetown product also averaged 7.1 rebounds as well as better than a block and a steal per game. He’s 25.
• Kennedy Chandler, a 6’1” point guard out of Tennessee, played in 36 games for the Grizzlies last season, averaging 2.2 points and 1.9 assists in 7.8 minutes per game. Chandler shot 42/14/36 for Memphis. In seven games with the Memphis Hustle of the G League, he averaged 16.1 points and 5.7 assists. Chandler was a top high school recruit in Tennessee where he was Mr. Basketball two years running. Chandler was taken at No. 38 in the 2022 NBA Draft. He’s 20.

Both Noah Clowney, taken at No. 21 last week, and Jalen Wilson, taken 30 picks later will make their debut in black-and-white. Dariq Whitehead, taken at No. 22, is still recovering from ankle surgery on June 7. In addition, the Nets are bringing two Long Island Nets guards from last season, Kameron Hankerson, who’s 6’5”, and Trey McGowens, who’s 6’4”. Matt Lewis, a 6’5” wing who shot nearly 40% for the Iowa Wolves in the G League last season, is also on the roster as is 6’8” Nick Perkins who played center for Brindisi in the Italian League.

Trevor Hendry who is a Nets assistant coach will handle head coaching duties for the Summer League entry.

Neither Cam Thomas nor Day’Ron Sharpe, who dominated Summer League the last two years, will play this year.

• Brooklyn Nets Announce Summer League Roster - Brooklyn Nets