:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/63391691/usa_today_12100353.0.jpg)
With the college basketball season officially over, all eyes are on the NBA Playoffs. Last night was the last night of the regular season, and the playoffs will kick off April 13th. There are a number of UNC alumni that have made their way into the postseason, but yesterday afternoon the Brooklyn Nets made sure that Tar Heels fans had one more player to cheer for.
Adrian Wojnarowski tweeted that two-way player Theo Pinson signed a rookie contract with the Brooklyn Nets hours before their last regular season game against the Miami Heat:
Nets signed rookie Theo Pinson for the rest of season, league source tells ESPN. He was on a two-way contract.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) April 10, 2019
Pinson is coming off of a strong season with the Long Island Nets, which is the G-League Affiliate for Brooklyn. He finished the season averaging 20.7 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 6.1 assists. Going into his professional career, the biggest question mark surrounding Pinson’s game was his jump shot, and maybe more importantly his perimeter shooting. He has been able to not only work on his shot, but he has been able to excel expectations in that department, knocking down 38.5% of his three-point attempts. He wasn’t able to shoot at a similar clip whenever he got called up by Brooklyn, as he shot 28.6% from deep. However, that doesn’t mean that he didn’t have his share of success in the Barclays Center.
The most notable performance of Theo Pinson’s time with the Brooklyn Nets was the game against the New York Knicks on January 25th. Pinson played 26 minutes that night and finished the game with 19 points, 8 rebounds, and 2 assists. He shot at a 45% clip from the field and 60% from deep, draining three of his five attempts. Following his big performance, he managed to score double-digits for Brooklyn two more times. His efficiency shooting-wise seemed to be on average pretty good when he got to play extended minutes, but there were a couple of outliers where he had some subpar shooting nights. Overall, he has made great strides since graduating UNC and making it into the NBA/G-League, and getting to be available for the NBA Playoffs will be a huge opportunity for him.
What will be really interesting for Pinson is what next season will hold for him. As one of Long Island’s best players, it seems like the Brooklyn Nets organization holds him in high regard for the energy that he brings to the table. With the biggest question about his game answered, the future looks bright for the Greensboro-native.