The Brooklyn Nets are trying to build their roster despite the looming elephant in the room. General manager Sean Marks added free-agent guards T.J. Warren on a one-year deal on Tuesday, according to ESPN’s Arian Wojnarowski, as well as Edmond Sumner.
The financial terms of the deal were not reported, but the Nets are hoping the addition of Warren can help fill several different positions, Wojnarowski reported. The one-year deal means Warren would be an unrestricted free agent after next season.
It is also unclear how long Sumner’s reported deal is in Brooklyn.
Both guards have dealt with injuries that have cost them time on the court the past two seasons, Warren was limited to just four games over the past two seasons in Indiana and Sumner missed the entire 2021-22 season with a torn left Achilles.
Warren has fully healed from the two stress fractures in his left foot and the Nets are hoping he can find the form he had that made him a standout during the 2020 bubble.
Warren averaged 19.8 points per game during the 2019-20 season and shot 53.6% from the field during his time with both the Indiana Pacers. He also shot over 40% from beyond the arc.
The 28-year-old was drafted by the Phoenix Suns in 2014 and played five seasons in the desert before being dealt by the Suns to Indiana in a three-team trade that involved Miami. His play during the 2019-20 season for the Pacers helped lead them to the playoffs.
Sumner has also fully recovered from his injury and had a very strong campaign the prior year before his injury. He averaged a career-high 7.5 points per game and shot a career-best 52.5% from the field.
The Pacers had traded Sumner to the Nets along with a 2025 second-round draft pick last October in exchange for the draft rights to guard Juan Pablo Vaulet. Brooklyn waived Sumner four days later.
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The signings comes amid a very tumultuous time for the Nets organization as it navigates how to proceed after Kevin Durant requested a trade out of Brooklyn. The move would likely mean the additional departure of Kyrie Irving and the end of the Big 3 era for the Nets.
News broke hours before NBA free agency was set to open that the Nets superstar had requested a trade out of Kings County following weeks of speculation surrounding Irving and mummers that Durant could be becoming discontent. Rumors around the NBA had suggested that teams had been quietly preparing for the generational talent to be moved.
