NBA’s Brooklyn Nets sign former KU forward Jalen Wilson to multiyear contract
Former University of Kansas forward Jalen Wilson has signed a multiyear contract with the Brooklyn Nets, the NBA team announced Friday.
Per team policy, terms of the deal were not released. Wilson said in a social media video his new contract is for three seasons.
Wilson, 6-foot-6, 230 pounds out of Denton, Texas, signed a two-way contract with the Nets on July 5, 2023, after being chosen by the Nets with the 51st overall pick in the second round of the 2023 NBA Draft.
He now will have a spot on the Nets’ standard 15-player roster instead of playing in both the G League and NBA, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic.
According to Michael Scotto of Hoopshype.com, his brand new deal “is guaranteed the rest of this season, partially guaranteed for the 2024-25 season and includes a team option for the 2025-26 season.”
“I’m getting converted (from the two-way deal),” the 23-year-old Wilson said in a FaceTime chat with his parents, posted on the social media site X. “I wanted to let you know it’s happening. We’ve got the whole team here.”
Wilson — he played at KU from 2019-23 and was a starter on the 2022 national title team — in 21 appearances (one start) with Brooklyn has averaged 5.0 points on 46.8% shooting. He’s made 43.3% of his 3s and 90.5% of his free throws. He’s also averaged 2.4 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 14.0 minutes per game.
Wilson has also started 11 regular season games for Brooklyn’s NBA G League team — the Long Island Nets. He’s averaged 19.0 points, 7.5 rebounds and 3.6 assists in 35.0 minutes per contest. In 11 Showcase Cup starts with Long Island, he averaged 19.5 points, 7.8 rebounds and 2.7 assists in 31.1 minutes per game. For Long Island, he has had two 30-point games. He scored a season-high 33 points on Nov. 10.
“Wilson’s strong play with Long Island has helped earn him a spot in Brooklyn’s rotation in recent weeks. Since February 6, he has played in all 10 of the Nets’ games, averaging 5.5 points per game, 2.6 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 18.9 minutes a game,” according to hoopsrumors.com’s Luke Adams.
Wilson was Big 12 Player of the Year and a consensus first-team All-American following the 2022-23 season at KU. He’s the 10th player in KU history to record at least 1,400 career points and 800 career rebounds. He finished his KU career 27th in scoring (1,475) and 14th in rebounding (802).
“(You) earned it all, proud of you brother,” former KU teammate Christian Braun of the Denver Nuggets wrote to Wilson on X.
According to netsdaily.com, “this marks the third consecutive season in which the Nets have converted a two-way into a standard NBA contract, as Wilson follows in the footsteps of Kessler Edwards and David Duke Jr.”
