Young excited about return to Brooklyn
ORLANDO, Fla. — The Nets wanted Thaddeus Young back, and hewanted to be back in Brooklyn.
So it came as little surprise to either side that shortly after free agency began on July 1, the Nets and Young agreed on a fouryear, $ 50 million contract, including a player option after the third season.
“It was a mutual feeling,” Young said in an interview with ESPN Radio in Memphis, his first public comments since agreeing to resign with the Nets. “They wanted to get it done, I wanted to get it done, and I feel like I came out with a good deal.
“With the salary cap rising, it gives me a chance to get back to the table after three [ years], so I think it’s a good deal for me. I’m very excited to be going back, and the sky’s the limit for this team.”
The Nets acquired Young from the Timberwolves for Kevin Garnett at the trade deadline in February, a move that helped turned Brooklyn’s season around.
Young averaged 13.8 points and shot 49.5 percent as a Net, and the Nets went 1713 down the stretch to sneak into the playoffs as the East’s eighth seed before losing to the Hawks in six games in the first round.
“When I came to [ Brooklyn] from Minnesota, itwas one of those situations where I was playing OK in Minnesota, but we weren’t winning games and we were young,” said Young, who credited Timberwolves coach Flip Saunders and general manager Milt Newton for finding a landing spot that worked for him. “We thought we were going to have a good team, but everybody started to get hurt and go down, and the franchise just went in another direction.”
While the Nets were happy to get Young back, they saw a key member of their roster the last two seasons go elsewhere Tuesday when swingman Alan Anderson agreed to a oneyear, $ 4 million contract with the Wizards. It’s a significant raise for Anderson, who made a little more than half of that amount over the past two seasons.
Anderson, 32, averaged 7.4 points in 23.6 minutes per game last season, shooting 34.8 percent from 3point range while giving the team capable defense on the wings. He also was an important lockerroom voice, particularly in the wake of Garnett’s departure.
The Nets have five wing players under contract: Joe Johnson, Bojan Bogdanovic, Markel Brown, Sergey Karasev and rookie Rondae Hollis Jefferson.
The Nets got a bit of a scare when Brown took a hard fall at the end of the first half of their 6455 loss to the Hornets in summer league action Tuesday.
Brown writhed around on the floor, clutching his left leg, before eventually walking to the bench. He returned to the court to start the second half.
“It was knee-to-knee [ contact],” Brown said. “I got kneed on the side. What scared me was that [ Nets trainer Tim Walsh] said he hit a nerve, and I really couldn’t feel my toes, ormy foot. It’s just a bruise.”
Cory Jefferson sat out with tendinitis in his left ankle. He’s listed as daytoday.