On Saturday, the Brooklyn Nets got themselves a solid backup veteran guard in Shabazz Napier. What can he bring to Brooklyn and what will his role be?
According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, the Brooklyn Nets and guard Shabazz Napier have agreed on a two-year deal. The second year of his deal will be a team option.
The signing was not a complete surprise for Nets fans but it was not expected. This is the second Portland Trail Blazers free agent Brooklyn has signed this offseason.
Brooklyn signed Ed Davis shortly after free agency was under way. Interestingly, former Nets guard Nik Stauskus signed with Portland this offseason. Well for Nets fans, losing Stauskas and adding Davis and Napier is great.
Free agent guard Shabazz Napier has agreed to a two-year deal with the Brooklyn Nets, league sources tell ESPN. Napier, 27, had his best pro season with the Blazers last year.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 14, 2018
The news came a day after it became official that Brooklyn traded Jeremy Lin to the Atlanta Hawks in exchange for a future second-round picks and the rights to French wing Isaia Cordinier.
Before trading Lin away, Brooklyn had a surplus on guards on their roster; Lin, D’Angelo Russell, Spencer Dinwiddie, Isaiah Whitehead and Milton Doyle.
Well, shortly after the Lin trade, Brooklyn traded Whitehead to the Denver Nuggets in exchange for Kenneth Faried, Darrell Arthur, a top-12 protected 2019 first-round pick and a 2020 second-rounder.
Before the Napier signing, Brooklyn cut its list of guards from five to three this past week. Now that Napier is a Brooklyn Net, the point guard rotation will likely be Russell, Dinwiddie then Napier. Let’s first talk about where Napier will likely be on the Nets guard rotation.