Brooklyn Nets: 3 takeaways from oddly encouraging loss at Milwaukee

3. Pinson shows promise in a different sort of back-to-back

Undrafted free agent Theo Pinson had only appeared in four games for the Brooklyn Nets since signing a two-way contract with the club in October after agreeing to an Exhibit 10 camp deal in August.

Pinson had impressed during a Summer League stint for Brooklyn and has played extremely well for the Long Island Nets in the NBA G League, but had logged just 16 minutes for the parent Nets heading into Saturday.

The rookie had arrived in Wisconsin ahead of the Brooklyn club, as he played 43 minutes Friday night up the road in Oshkosh, recording his first career G League triple-double in Long Island’s 126-120 win over the Wisconsin Herd.

Pinson went for 27 points with 10 rebounds and 13 assists and in 17 games with Long Island has averaged 18.9 points, 5.5 rebounds and 6.8 assists in 35.1 minutes per game, shooting 44.1 percent overall and 36.9 percent from 3-point range.

A 6-foot-6, 220-pound athlete with a point guard’s skill set — he played the position at North Carolina, but went undrafted largely because of his poor 3-point shooting as a collegian, Pinson got his first meaningful NBA minutes Saturday in Milwaukee.

With the Nets for depth as Brooklyn was resting starting point guard D’Angelo Russell and was also without injured wings Allen Crabbe, Treveon Graham, Caris LeVert and Dzanan Musa, Pinson logged an NBA career-high 28 minutes on Saturday.

He scored six points on 3-of-8 shooting, missing all three of his 3-point attempts, and had seven rebounds and four assists.

There were hiccups — three times Pinson got tangled up with big man Kenneth Faried on defensive rebound opportunities, with the Nets losing the ball on all three miscues.

But Pinson played like he belonged out there and, with the injury issues Brooklyn has in the backcourt could have earned himself more opportunities moving ahead.

Since the G League season opened for Long Island on Nov. 3, Saturday marked Pinson’s sixth game dressed for Brooklyn, so he still has most of his maximum 45 days with the parent club available under the terms of the two-way contract.

He’s got good length defensively, is a patient and unselfish ball-handler and his shooting is much better than advertised.

Pinson is another solid find by the Nets’ scouting staff who is benefiting from the organization’s player development system.