Brooklyn Nets will fill out their roster beyond picks tonight. Here’s one intriguing possibility
Photo by Kamil Krzaczynski/NBAE via Getty Images
Ajayi Browne knows international basketball, particularly those young players trying to get a shot in the NBA. Jacky Cui caught his eye. Draft night or should be say Draft nights isn’t just about the Draft. It’s about trades of course, but it’s about about filling out the roster for training camp, for two way spots and eventually the Long Island Nets roster too. All those hours of scouting and workouts will ultimately bear fruit.
Once the draft’s second round is over and sometimes even while the second round is still going on, front offices around the league will start making calls. For the Nets, that means immediately filling in four training camp slots and this year two two-way deals. (Jaylen Martin, signed to a two-way late last year has a two-year deal.)
So who may get the call after all the names have been called from the podium? There’s one player in particular who might make some news: the “Kawhi Leonard of China,” Yongxi “Jacky” Cui is someone we know has been in for a workout at HSS Training Center in recent weeks.
Cui has worked out for other NBA teams as well including the New York Knicks last week and the Indiana Pacers before that. At 6’7” with a 6’9” wingspan, Cui is the best Chinese prospect in the world. The youngest member of the Chinese national team at 20, Cui could have played in the NCAA — he had offers. Instead, he chose the Chinese Basketball Association where he put up 15.7 points, 5.8 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.5 steals shooting 46.1% overall and 36.5 % from deep. He played for Guangzhou, one of the leading teams in the CBA last season, primarily as a shooting guard.
Cui is expected to go undrafted in this year’s NBA Draft, but the Chinese prospect is optimistic about making the transition from the CBA to the NBA. According to HoopsHype, Cui hopes he can play professionally in the U.S. moving forward.
“If I can, I will stay and play to show what I can do,” Cui told Hoopshype, adding that his CBA was a big change for him in terms of respect. “Playing against grown men feels different and weird because as a regular player, you face less ball pressure. It’s like nothing depends on you. But if you’re like them, when they’re growing, even just a year later, they’ll watch your videos and see that a lot depends on and for you.”
As a graduate of the NBA Global Academy which is run out of Australia, Cui has more experience than some projected first-round and second-round picks in the 2024 NBA Draft.
Chris Ebersole, who is the Head of International Basketball Development at the NBA, worked directly with Cui at the NBA Global Academy and had some great things to say about the prospect.
“He’s got really good feet and plays super hard,” Ebersole said about Cui’s best skill, defense, talking to Hoopshype. “Those ingredients, for both on-ball defense and off-ball positioning, serve him well.”
But what got him attention at the G League Elite camp, which runs at the same time at the NBA Combine was his elite shooting skills as this TikTok video shows. In one drill, he hit 23 of 25 3-pointers.
@nbagleague HE CAN’T MISS! Chinese prospect Yongxi “Jacky” Cui sank 23 of 25 three-pointers during today’s shooting drills at the G League Elite Camp. ♬ MILLION DOLLAR BABY (VHS) - Tommy Richman
After this week’s events, the Nets are all about the future and will be taking risks. Giving a 20-year-old from China a shot isn’t going to the biggest one.
Expect to start hearing about the camp invites etc., near the end of the second round Thursday and don’t be surprised if Jacky Cui is one of them. He would already have a built-in rooting section.
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