Photo by Noah Clooten
By Mojo Hill
The Brooklyn Nets have signed Devils Lake native Grant Nelson, the team announced Wednesday.
Nelson is on an Exhibit 10 deal, as noted by Brian Lewis of the New York Post. An Exhibit 10 deal is a one-year, non-guaranteed contract for minimum salary. It includes a bonus if the player spends at least 60 days with a team’s G-League affiliate.
The exact terms of Nelson’s particular deal were not released, per team policy.
Nelson was signed by the Nets in June after going undrafted. He played for the Nets’ NBA Summer League team in Las Vegas, where he appeared in five games. He posted 6.0 points and 4.4 rebounds per game, while averaging 19.1 minutes of playing time.
Nelson didn’t appear on the Nets’ final training camp roster in late September. But, at the time, Emilee Smarr of Tuscaloosa News reported that Nelson’s agent expected another contract to be in the works.
About three weeks later, that contract has come to fruition.
The NBA preseason ends this Friday, Oct. 17. The season begins Oct. 21.
Multiple sources, including Brooklyn Nets on SI and Nets Daily, conjectured that Nelson will start with Brooklyn’s G League team, the Long Island Nets. Nelson is one of 17 Nets players with standard contracts — two over the maximum of 15. That means the Nets need to waive two players on standard deals. They only have a pair of two-way players, per Lewis, meaning they have room to add one more.
The Nets brought in Malachi Smith and waived Fanbo Zeng in corresponding moves with Nelson’s signing.
Jed Katz, writing for Brooklyn Nets on SI, noted that Nelson’s age (23) as a first-year pro might be a deterrent for scouts and analysts. But he’ll have a chance to play for an NBA role. The 6-foot-11 forward had two solid seasons for Alabama in the SEC, following three strong years at North Dakota State. He earned national attention as he powered Alabama to the Final Four in 2024.
Nelson, a 2020 graduate of Devils Lake High School, is one of two Mr. Basketball winners in school history. He’s the brother of Leif Nelson, a former Division I National Championships qualifier in javelin for the University of Southern California, and Joel Nelson, a former basketball state champion and current two-sport athlete at Valley City State University.
The Nets’ official press release mentioned that Nelson is a Devils Lake, N.D., native.
