In their first roster move of the season, the Nets brought in Drew Smith on Friday to fill the open two-way spot created a day earlier.
The 6-foot-6 point guard was a two-way street with the Heat earlier this season. He earns the open spot when rookie point guard Alontes Williams waived Thursday.
Brooklyn’s roster is full. The Nets have the 15 standard deals and sophomore guard David Duke Jr. is the other two-way.
When Brooklyn parted ways with Williams — an undrafted rookie who surprisingly had a two-way streak and then struggled in the G-League — there were several players on Long Island who could have been converted, such as 21-year-old former rookie Donovan ‘Stretch’ Williams or veteran point guard Chris Chiozza, who won an NBA championship with Golden State.
But the Nets chose to go outside the organization.
Smith, 25, is a defensive point guard. He played five games for Miami this season, including one start in December. 8 win over the Clippers. He averaged 18.4 points, 7.4 assists, six rebounds and 2.1 steals for the Heat’s G-League affiliate, Sioux Falls.
While Smith isn’t much of a shooter — just 31.3 percent from behind the arc — he’s always had great defense. At Missouri, he led the SEC in steals per game as both a junior and senior en route to making first team All-SEC.
The Nets host Oklahoma City on Sunday and will be off on Monday.
The G-League’s Long Island affiliate plays on MLK Day and will wear special uniforms with a design that highlights the core values that Dr. Martin Luther King: Equality, Liberty, Justice and Love.
Former Nets player development coach Kyle Korver is finalizing a deal to become the Hawks’ assistant general manager, according to ESPN.
Korver, who played in the NBA for 17 seasons, had spent the last few months as Atlanta’s director of player affairs and development. One of the great 3-point shooters in NBA history – and originally drafted by the Nets – Korver had spent last season with the Nets working on player development.
