Just a day after the Brooklyn Nets sent rookie Markel Brown to the Maine Red Claws of the D-League on assignment, the Oklahoma State product took a hard fall in a game against the Westchester Knicks (affilitate of the Manhattan Knicks) today. Cory Jefferson, Brooklyn’s 60th overall pick in June’s draft out of Baylor, made it through the game unscathed.
According to the Nets’ official Twitter account, Brown suffered a “bruised right knee” and will be re-evaluated by team medical staff tomorrow. He is day-to-day. Before getting hurt, Brown had scored seven points in just eight minutes while Jefferson posted a 10-point, 11-rebound double-double in Maine’s 99-98 win.
On first look, it appeared as if Brown was seriously injured, as he had to be carried off the court. That his knee is only bruised is a real positive for both him and the Nets, who sent the pair down to the D-League so they can continue playing in some sort of competitive basketball instead of rotting away on Brooklyn’s bench.
For the past few years, the Nets have had their own D-League affiliate to send players to, the Springfield Armor. As part of their hybrid relationship, Brooklyn was able to control the basketball side of things with Springfield to synergize their efforts with that of the Armor.
However, that relationship ended this summer as the Armor were sold and moved to Michigan to be renamed the Grands Rapids Drive and be the affiliate of the Detroit Pistons. Brooklyn’s new de facto affiliate is the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, which also serves in the same capacity for a ridiculous 12 other NBA teams. Since the Mad Ants’ roster was full, the Nets were able to send their rookies to Maine, which is the affiliate of the Celtics.
Both players only saw limited time with the Nets so far this season, with Jefferson actually serving a bigger role than Brown, who scored just 13 points in 38 scattered minutes throughout seven games. Jefferson, who is already most infamously known for this shot, averaged 3.7 points in 9.9 minutes in the 15 games (with one start) he spent on the big league roster.
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