Brooklyn Net rookies Tornike Shengelia and Tyshawn Taylor should expect to see more time on the court soon except it won’t be in Brooklyn. According to Tim Bontemps of the NY Post, the Nets are planning on sending the two players to their D-League affiliate the Springfield Armor.
The players won’t be sent down immediately though. The Nets are expected to wait until after their three game road trip in Boston and Florida ends. Even then they are expected to send Shengelia at first and Taylor afterward since head coach Avery Johnson said he likes having the third point guard around.
Shengelia has actually been dealing with a sprained thumb that he suffered while working out over the weekend. Even before that he wasn’t getting a lot of playing time though. He’s appeared in four of the Nets 13 games and only averaged five minutes per game in those four games. He is shooting a perfect 2-for-2 though.
Taylor has played in slightly more games, seven, but is averaging just 3.3 minutes in those seven games which means he’s only played in three more minutes than Shengelia. He was actually getting decent minutes the first three games, but since has really gotten buried.
It’s good to see both of these players will be sent down only because they need to be playing regularly. Sitting on a NBA bench gives a player invaluable experience, but that only goes so far. Eventually they have to play. I can’t help but wonder if Johnson’s hesitance to send Taylor down at first has at least a little to do with C.J. Watson‘s struggles. Although I can’t see him going from no time to 12-15 minutes a game, but perhaps he’ll get slightly more time before they send him down.
The Armor’s season started with a win against the Canton Charge on Saturday night. They’ve got a couple of games coming up this weekend. Shengelia could join them for their game on Dec. 2nd with Taylor joining them later in the week by Dec. 7th when they play the first of two games in two days.
A pair of Nets who were cut from the roster in the preseason, James Mays and Carleton Scott, are currently playing for the Armor as well as former Net Ben Uzoh.