Nets waive 23-year first-round pick and Summer League core Zeng Fanbo is still in the lineup

On October 14, the Brooklyn Nets announced the layoff of two players after the NBA China Game ended, namely outside wing Darrick Whitehead and inside man Drew Timmy. Currently, there are 19 players remaining on the Nets roster, 17 of which are standard contract players and 2 two-way contract players. Before the start of the regular season, NBA teams are allowed to have a maximum of 15 standard contract players and 3 two-way contract players.

Whitehead was the 22nd overall pick by the Nets in the first round of 2023. He was once the number one high school student in the United States before entering college. But then Whitehead suffered an injury blow. He underwent surgery on the fifth metatarsal of his right foot at Duke University. Due to poor healing after surgery, he needed a second bone grafting surgery. In his first year in college, Whitehead averaged only 8.2 points and 2.4 rebounds per game.

After landing in the NBA, Whitehead continued to suffer injuries. During his rookie season, he suffered a stress reaction in his left calf, and eventually underwent surgery again, which ended the season early. A series of injuries have severely damaged Whitehead's health and confidence. In the past two seasons, he has played a total of 22 games for the Nets, averaging 5.3 points and 1.5 rebounds per game, and shooting 42.9% from three-point range. For more time, Whitehead played for the Long Island Nets, a development league team affiliated with the Nets.

In this year's preseason, Whitehead was the Nets' player with the third fewest total playing time, only more than the three two-way contract players Zeng Fanbo, Etienne and Liddell. He played a total of 13.9 minutes and scored 2 points.

Timmy, another player waived by the Nets, was undrafted in 2023. He was once one of the best insiders in the college game. In his senior season at Gonzaga University, he averaged 21.2 points, 7.5 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game. Timmy signed with the Nets in the second half of last season and averaged 12.1 points and 7.2 rebounds in 9 games at the end of the season. This year's Summer League, Timmy became the core of the Nets, averaging 25.3 points, 8.0 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game.

Limited by his talent, Timmy failed to get a standard contract with the Nets. However, according to the New York Post, it is still uncertain whether he will get the Nets' remaining two-way contract spot.

As a result, the Nets' lineup has been further reduced. What does this mean for Chinese player Zeng Fanbo?

Currently, 14 of the 17 players with standard contracts in the Nets have fully guaranteed contracts. The players with non-fully guaranteed contracts are Wilson, Tyrese Martin and Zeng Fanbo. Not surprisingly, the Nets will give up 2 of these 3 people, but like Timmy, they still have the opportunity to compete for the last two-way contract spot. In other words, Zeng Fanbo faces the situation of competing with Wilson, Martin, and Timmy for two team seats.

Judging from his performance in the preseason, Zeng Fanbo has the least amount of roles and the weakest sense of presence among the four.

(Text/Chaifu)