Brooklyn Nets rumors: Tyler Davis, Theo Pinson joining camp roster
By Phil Watson
According to the newest Brooklyn Nets rumors, center Tyler Davis has signed a contract with the Brooklyn Nets, joining swingman Theo Pinson from Summer League.
The latest Brooklyn Nets rumors actually came from a writer in Boston who reported Wednesday that the Nets have agreed to a contract with center Tyler Davis, who played for Brooklyn’s Summer League squad in Las Vegas earlier this month.
Davis has agreed to what is known as an “Exhibit 10” deal. Exhibit 10 is an attachment to a standard minimum contract with no bonus clauses that can be converted to a two-way contract prior to the start of the regular season, per Chris Reichert of 2 Ways, 10 Days.
Clevis Murray of The Athletic Boston reported the agreement on Wednesday.
Source: The Brooklyn Nets and Tyler Davis have agreed to an Exhibit 10 contract.
— Clevis Murray (@ClevisMurray) July 18, 2018
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Davis, a 6-foot-10, 266-punder center who came out of Texas A&M this spring after his junior season, went undrafted before he played four games with the Nets of Summer in Vegas, starting two and sitting one out with a calf strain.
He averaged 11 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.3 blocks while shooting .559/2-for-3/4-for-6.
With his bulk, he showed an ability to carve out space to score inside and hit the offensive glass — 12 of his 18 rebounds in Las Vegas were at that end.
Defensively, he showed he could defend the rim adequately, but will need to improve markedly against the pick-and-roll — several times in Summer League, Davis was slow to react and slower to make a decision on whether to switch, hedge or stay with the roll man, often just standing still.
As a junior with the Aggies, Davis averaged 15.0 points, 8.9 rebounds and 1.4 blocks in 29.1 minutes per game, starting all 35 games for Texas A&M with a slash line of .585/.280/.623.
Davis scored 18 points with nine rebounds and three blocked shots as the Aggies upset defending national champion North Carolina in the second round of the NCAA Tournament and went for 24 points with eight boards in their loss to Michigan in the Sweet 16.
His career highs in college were 25 points (three times, twice as a sophomore and once last season), 18 rebounds against West Virginia as a sophomore and four blocks (twice, once as a sophomore and last season against Prairie View).
Davis would be the second Summer Leaguer to join the roster, as North Carolina swingman Theo Pinson had earlier agreed to a two-way deal, according to ESPN’s Jonathan Givony.
UNC's Theo Pinson will sign a two-way contract with the Brooklyn Nets, a source tells ESPN.
— Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) June 22, 2018
Pinson was very solid in Vegas, starting all five games and averaging 11.2 points, 4.0 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 1.0 steals and 1.0 blocks in 24.9 minutes a game, shooting .450/.423/9-for-9.
The 3-point shooting was a stunning surprise, as Pinson came into the NBA Draft considered a liability due to his long-range shooting after hitting just 25.7 percent from the shorter college line in his four-year career. Pinson, like Davis, was undrafted last month.
Pinson was only a full-time starter at North Carolina for one season, last year, playing as a reserve of part-time starter prior to that.
Last season, he put up 10.3 points, 6.5 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 1.1 steals in 29.7 minutes per game on a shooting line of .473/.226/.818.
Pinson played a solid floor game against Davis and Texas A&M in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in March, finishing with seven rebounds and matching his career-high with 11 assists, but scored just four points on 2-of-7 shooting.
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His career-high of 25 points came in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament in March against Miami. Pinson’s other high marks were 15 rebounds against NC State as a senior and four steals against the Wolfpack as a junior.
Pinson was solid, if inconsistent, in Summer League, scoring 16 points with five rebounds, two blocks, two steals and just one turnover against the Oklahoma City Thunder on July 7 and following that up with four points and five turnovers in their next game against the Minnesota Timberwolves on July 9.
The 3.0 turnovers per game in Vegas is only mildly concerning, as if there is one sure thing about Summer League basketball it is that turnovers will be plentiful with rosters full of young players trying to make an impression are thrown together without a lot of preparation time.
With the crowded backcourt and wing situation in Brooklyn, Pinson is most likely destined to spend much of the year with the Long Island Nets.
Under a two-way contract, a player can spend up to 45 days with the parent club, with time before G-League training camps open and after that league’s regular season is done not counting toward that 45-day service limit.
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Tyler Davis may have a better chance of securing early minutes up front, where Jarrett Allen and Ed Davis appear slated to do most of the heavy lifting at center, with Ed Davis, Kenneth Faried, Darrell Arthur and the smaller 4s such as Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and DeMarre Carroll all in the mix.