Nets guarantee Trendon Watford and Harry Giles' contracts

Being away from the NBA, starting a trucking company to help himself financially and not having a guaranteed contract with the Nets has given the big man that appreciation to be in the moment. “It’s different this time around,” Harry Giles told Andscape before the Nets’ 125-120 loss to the Dallas Mavericks. “I ain’t taking nothing for granted. I’m enjoying seeing the fans walk in. I’m enjoying the work before the game. I missed everything about it. The camaraderie. The politicking and talking to good guys. “There are some good guys in this league, on and off the court and in the front office. You will be amazed about what you see and the people you can meet just watching pregame warmups.” -via Andscape / December 14, 2023

The Winston-Salem, North Carolina, native was ranked the No. 1 high school player by ESPN in 2016 over the likes of future NBA All-Stars Tatum, Bam Adebayo and De’Aaron Fox. Giles was also mentored by Golden State Warriors guard Chris Paul and played for his AAU program. The former Oak Hill Academy (Virginia) star announced live on ESPN that he would be attending Duke University before his senior season in high school. “He was good. Very athletic. Excellent footwork in the post area. Could run the floor. Had bounce. Tremendous upside,” said former NBA executive Scott Perry, who now is an NBA analyst for ESPN. -via Andscape / December 14, 2023

Two minutes into Giles’ first game as a senior with Oak Hill, however, he suffered a torn ACL in his right knee. He previously tore the ACL, MCL and meniscus in his left knee while playing for USA Basketball in the 2013 FIBA Americas U16 Championship. “I was 16 years old. I didn’t have no money. It’s tough losing that [top] position knowing what it can lead up and build up to,” Giles reflected. “You know how the NBA game goes. It was just the card I was dealt.” -via Andscape / December 14, 2023

Jacque Vaughn’s group halted a five-game skid and grabbed just its third victory in 13 games with a 124-115 blowout-turned-nail-biter over the powerful Thunder at Barclays Center in front of a sellout crowd of 18,147 on Friday night.  “Everybody can just breathe now,” said Dennis Smith Jr., who flirted with a triple-double and whose putback was the biggest score of the game. “We got the monkey off our back.”  -via New York Post / January 6, 2024

For the first time since November, Simmons ramped up his participation in practice, progressing to a workout with coaches. There is still no sign of a return for Simmons, who missed his 29th straight game Friday with a nerve impingement in his left lower back, but there is the beginning of momentum. Previously, Simmons had been limited to individual workouts. “The ability to get on court with multiple bodies around him — that’s kind of where he’s at and just building from here,” head coach Jacque Vaughn said before the Nets beat the Thunder, 124-115, at Barclays Center. “So some good signs moving forward.” -via New York Post / January 6, 2024

Erik Slater: Jacque Vaughn told me on Dec. 22 that he wasn’t in love with and was still evaluating the Nets’ new defensive scheme. I asked him today if Brooklyn’s struggles since then could lead to changes on that end: “I’m more inclined to wrap my arms around analytics more than I ever have been. During the last 12 games, we’re 7th in expected points per possession defensively… but 26th actual. So that means we’ve had some bad luck and some teams have made some threes on us. So defensively we’ve actually taken a step in doing some really good things. Now the next step is finishing possessions. There’s probably five or six possessions vs. Houston where they end up hitting a shot at the end with three seconds left on the shotclock. So that’s the extreme scramble, that is an extra closeout with a little bit more ferocity to it, and that’s making sure we come up with the rebound. I think overall our group has wrapped their heads around how we wanna play defense. We have played defense better, it had just been hit in the head with us not shooting the ball defensively. Them taking it out vs. them running in transition, that’ll always help you because obviously the transition is the most lethal part of the game that has the highest reward… But over the stretch of those 12 games where we’ve struggled offensively, we’ve actually been pretty good defensively.” -via Twitter @erikslater_ / January 5, 2024