Brooklyn Nets: Summer Leaguer Jordan McLaughlin coming to camp
By Phil Watson
The Brooklyn Nets have added a 19th player to their roster as they prepare for training camp, signing undrafted free agent Jordan McLaughlin from USC.
The Brooklyn Nets have added a third player from their entry in the Las Vegas Summer League to a non-guaranteed contract, signing point guard Jordan McLaughlin to a one-year rookie minimum deal with the Exhibit 10 attachment.
That attachment allows the Nets to convert the contract to a two-way deal. Brooklyn now has 19 players on its roster, 15 on guaranteed contract, so it will be an uphill climb for McLaughlin or the other players on non-guaranteed deals to crack the 15-man regular roster.
Instead, it appears that McLaughlin — along with wing Theo Pinson, big man Tyler Davis and Australian wing Mitch Creek — is competing for a two-way contract that would allow them to spend 45 days with the parent Nets in Brooklyn while spending the bulk of the season with the G League’s Long Island Nets.
Pinson and Davis were also in Las Vegas with the Nets.
McLaughlin announced the signing on social media.
https://twitter.com/itsmclaughlin11/status/1024788636242460672
McLaughlin joins the point guard mix for training camp behind D’Angelo Russell, Spencer Dinwiddie and free-agent acquisition Shabazz Napier.
McLaughlin was undrafted in June after a terrific four-year career as a starter at the point for USC, finishing his stint in Los Angeles wth 739 assists, second in school history to Brandon Granville’s 779 from 1998-2002.
His 281 dimes last season broke Granville’s single-season school record of 248 set in the 1999-2000 season.
At 6-foot-1, McLaughlin is a tad undersized and at Summer League had some problems with bigger guards while on defense. Offensively, he’s a solid ball-handler, but makes some dicey decisions at times when passing and, because of his size, can have difficulty finishing drives.
Last season, McLaughlin averaged 12.8 points, 7.8 assists, 3.7 rebounds and 2.0 steals on .449/.397/.746 shooting and his career at USC was marked by consistency — his career marks were 12.9 points, 5.8 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 1.7 steals on a slash line of .439/.379/.738.
As a senior, his 3.05-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio was good, but not elite, as McLaughlin committed a career-most 92 turnovers in 36 games last season.
That tendency to get loose with the ball bore itself out in Las Vegas, where McLaughlin had 21 assists and 15 turnovers in 98 minutes over his five games played.
He averaged 7.0 points and 4.2 assists in 19.6 minutes, while shooting .342/4-for-18/5-for-9.
The 22-year-old is from Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., where he starred at Etiwanda High School and was No. 41 on the ESPN100 recruiting rankings as a senior.