Brooklyn Nets: How Mike James landed on the Nets via 10-day contract

During a time in which former league MVP James Harden has been sidelined for over a month due to a lingering hamstring injury, the Brooklyn Nets went out and signed a well-seasoned point guard in Mike James to his second 10-day contract with the team on Monday. For those of you wondering who James is and how the Nets stumbled across him, this is for you.

The Brooklyn Nets signed Matt James to his second 10-day contract on Monday.

James went undrafted in 2012 after spending two years at Lamar University. In 56 games with the Cardinals, he averaged 15.1 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 1.9 assists per game upon declaring for the NBA Draft. From there, James went overseas and signed with Zagreb of the Croatian League for the start of his professional career.

After his first year with Zagreb, James became a hot commodity and bounced around for the next eight seasons. He would go on and join the Israeli League in 2013, the Greek League in 2014, and then would go back-and-forth between teams in the Euro, Greek, and Italian Leagues from 2014-2019.

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James would go on to win three championships in three consecutive years throughout his European career. He won two Greek Cups with Panathinaikos in 2017 and 2018, as well as an Italian Supercup in 2019. James also earned the Greek League’s Most Spectacular Player Award in 2017 and the Alphonso Ford Trophy in 2019, which is awarded to the EuroLeague’s best scorer.

However, while James was in the middle of championship runs in the EuroLeague, he signed a two-way contract with the Phoenix Suns in 2017 and joined the team for Summer League. By doing so, he became the first player in NBA history to sign a two-way contract after spending multiple years playing in international leagues.

James led Phoenix with 20.5 points per game while shooting 53.8 percent from the field along with five assists that summer. Throughout the 2017 season, the Suns converted James’ two-way contract into a one-year deal, to which he was waived shortly after signing. He was then signed by the New Orleans Pelicans, who also waived him after only four games. At this point, James made his return to Greece and rejoined Panathinaikos in 2018.

So how did Mike James, an established international star, land on the radar of the Brooklyn Nets?

In 2019, James signed a contract with CSKA Moscow that would keep him there for the next four years. However, James and the team came to an agreement that allowed him to become a free agent until the end of this current 2020-21 season. Prior to leaving for the NBA, James averaged 19.3 points and 5.7 assists per game in the EuroLeague this season.

So the Brooklyn Nets essentially saw James as an available free agent. And while the Nets have been without Harden, Spencer Dinwiddie, and Bruce Brown due to injury, the Nets saw James as a skilled guard who could contribute and fill the void to their point guard position.

James fits in well with the Nets. Despite it being a short rental, head coach Steve Nash has liked what he’s seen so far from James and believes he has the tools to contribute moving forward.

"“He’s an athletic and skilled player. As long as he plays simple and makes good basketball plays — like he has with us those first few games — he can play a role for us. He has a burst of pace, he can get into paint, play draw-and-kick.” – Steve Nash, via Brian Lewis of the New York Post“He obviously showed he can score the ball, and we know that from his history. But if he can be that guard that ups the pace, that penetrates, draws the defense and makes the extra pass, that’s a huge value add for our team. So, really, really great performance from him. Those are some of the tools that he can bring to the table for us.” – Steve Nash, via Brian Lewis of the New York Post"

With a healthy team, the Brooklyn Nets are poised for a title run. If James becomes part of it with the Nets, he will take part in four championship-caliber teams in the last five years. For an undrafted player, James has had an astonishing professional career in basketball.