Willie Reed

D-League star Willie Reed has been trying to climb his way onto an NBA roster for years, toiling away in the D-League for the last three seasons before finally getting a guaranteed one-year deal from the Nets this offseason after playing well at Orlando Summer League with the Heat. After signing his deal, Reed played with the Nets at the Las Vegas Summer League, averaging 10.6 points, 7.8 rebounds, 1.0 assist, 0.2 steals, and 1.2 blocks in 24 minutes per game through nine combined games at both leagues. His contract is only $500,000 for this season, so if the Nets don't have room for him on their roster at some point, Reed could easily find himself waived. As long as he's on the team, though, Reed should serve as end-of-the-bench frontcourt depth behind Brook Lopez, Thaddeus Young, Andrea Bargnani, and Thomas Robinson. Lionel Hollins is an old-school coach, so he'll likely ride his veterans, but as a 25-year-old rookie, Reed should be able to find a few spot minutes in blowouts. If he gets enough minutes at some point this season, he can provide value in rebounds, blocks, and field goal percentage, but don't count on Reed to do much else.

Reed is a D-League refugee who signed on with the Grizzlies late last season, but didn't figure into Memphis' playoff run. He's still on the roster and will be training camp fodder mostly. We don't see him surviving.