LAS VEGAS — For many outside the Nets organization, David Duke Jr.’s inclusion on the team’s NBA Summer League roster was a surprise.
But for Trevor Hendry, who is the head coach of the squad that began play Friday night against the Cavaliers, it would’ve been a shock for Duke not to have wanted to suit up and sweat it out.
“No, I think he just loves to play. And I think he’s always trying to get better and develop,” said Hendry, who also is a Nets assistant coach.
“And I think for him, it’s just another opportunity to showcase his skills to a broader audience. So I wasn’t too surprised. For a guy like that who loves to play, it’s something that I’d be more surprised if he didn’t want to play, to be honest.”
At 23 years old, Duke is nowhere near the oldest member of the Nets’ summer squad, but he surely has the most experience in the team’s uniform.
Fellow third-year players Cam Thomas and Day’Ron Sharpe both excelled in their prior two summer stints and have clearly outgrown Summer League.
Some thought the same applied to Duke as well.
Signed as an undrafted free agent out of Providence back in 2021, the backup point guard was on a two-way contract as a rookie and again last season before he finally was given a standard deal on April 7, as the 2022-23 regular season was winding down.
It was a reward for a job well done, but not done well enough to guarantee another one, apparently.
Duke was first-team All-G-League last season and third in MVP balloting after pouring in 23 points and 8.1 rebounds for Long Island.
After 45 NBA appearances and seven starts over his two seasons with the Nets, they could’ve simply made him a restricted free agent by tendering him a qualifying offer.
They decided not to.
The Nets have one open standard roster spot, and one open two-way (RaiQuan Gray and rookie Jalen Wilson are taking up the other two-ways).
Duke seemingly is fighting for the final one.
As a veteran player now, Duke would be well served to dominate in Summer League.
He averaged 3.7 points on solid 46.2 percent shooting in 9.9 minutes last season but hit just 8.3 percent from behind the arc.
He’ll have ample opportunity to impress in a free-wheeling Summer League setting that plays to his impressive athleticism and disruptive defense.
“Those [point guards have the opportunity to excel] for the most part, one because they have the ball in their hands the most so they have the opportunities to showcase that. But I mean, David Duke’s always impressive, just with his physical ability,” Hendry said.
“You know, just being around David Duke for as long as I have, he always in this setting stands out because he’s so athletically gifted. And his ability to defend; that’s one thing that he has done since I’ve known him, and he’s been here three years now. So that’s one thing that always sticks out to me.”
Hendry wanted his Nets squad, which is heavy in athletic playmakers (Duke, Kennedy Chandler) and shooters, to try to push the pace starting with the opener Friday at Cox Pavilion.
“Just got to play fast,” Hendry said. “I think we’ve got a bunch of guards that can push the pace and get up the floor quick. It’s something that we’ve got to do over the course of the game. The games are shorter; we have to find a way to get out in transition as much as possible.
“To be honest, hoping to see the stuff that we did this past week translated. Obviously, it’s not going to be perfect, but hopefully, we take stuff that we’ve done in practice and translate it to the idea of a rotation. [The opener is] more of a feeler, go back and look at it. … [We] don’t have a set rotation yet.”