Ryan Boatright feeling good about making the Nets
Ryan Boatright had himself a strong summer league, scoring efficiently and often while running the summer Nets' offense. Now, he feels comfortable he will end up on the team's roster, though it's hardly a guarantee since the Nets are actually over the roster limit at the moment.
Boatright had some pretty confident quotes in Rod Boone's feature on him over at Newsday:
Boatright played four years at UConn and averaged 19.5 points as a senior while shooting 41 percent from long range. The Nets need shooters and they need another point guard. It makes sense that he would be a fit on the roster.
Just don't get too comfortable, Ryan. You haven't made it just yet.
(h/t Newsday.)
Brooklyn has a need at the position after Deron Williams agreed to a buyout two weeks ago so he could sign with the Mavericks, and the Nets shipped Steve Blake to the Pistons less than a month after acquiring him. Jarrett Jack and Shane Larkin head a depth chart that Boatright, who inked a two-year, $1.4 million minimum deal with $75,000 guaranteed if he's on the roster Aug. 1 -- is hopeful of joining.
"I haven't gotten a 'for sure,' but they have been making the moves to tell you that I am here," Boatright said in Las Vegas last week. "But I am going to continue to work, and continue forward and do what I've got to do until I get that guarantee."
In four games in Las Vegas, Boatright averaged 14.3 points and shot 45.5 percent from the field, making 47.8 percent of his attempts beyond the arc and 84.2 percent from the free-throw line before sitting out the final two games while nursing neck spasms. The 22-year-old's most memorable moment may have been his late-game bucket against the Bulls, when he made a nifty spin move to get to the basket and converted a three-point play to put the Nets ahead with 2.4 seconds remaining, lifting them to victory.