Nets Aggressively Pursued Ed Davis as a Mentor for Young Players

Portland Trail Blazers fans,and players, were crushed whenEd Davissigned hisone-year, $4.4 million contractthis summer with the Brooklyn Nets. Davis was beloved in Portland not only for his incredible effort and elite rebounding, but for his locker room presence and leadership. The Brooklyn Nets wanted him for those same reasons, having finally added a few good young pieces, like big manJarrett Allen, but needing mentors.Michael Scotto of The Athletic(subscription required) got Davis’ thoughts on his role with the Nets:

“Me being a veteran, I’m not that young of a player, but I know what I signed up for, and all I’ve been hearing from the front office and the coaching staff is we’re trying to win.”

Brooklyn appeared to chase the veteran hard, he said on a conference call:

“The main thing is they definitely came out aggressive when July 1 hit, so I definitely wanted to go to where I was wanted, so that had a lot to do with it,”

Davis believes that Brooklyn has a good shot at making the playoffs and compared this season to his first with Portland:

“I feel like every year there are always a couple of teams that just surprise the NBA. They’re picked to finish at the bottom and somehow some way they get a fourth or fifth seed. You saw that last year with the Pacers, and my first year, I think that was the 2015-16 season with Portland.”

While most don’t have the Nets in the playoff picture, a young roster and weak Eastern Conference gives Brooklyn a chance. Whether they make it into the East’s elite eight this season or not, adding Ed Davis is a step in the right direction.