The Nets waived Edmond Sumner on Saturday, ending his tenure with the team after just one season and adding an unceremonious conclusion to a nine-day stretch that began with Brooklyn extending his contract’s guarantee date.
Sumner, who played in 53 games for the Nets in 2022-23, starting 12 and averaging 7.1 points per game, would’ve been due approximately $2.24 if the Nets had guaranteed his contract, according to Spotrac.
“When they counted me out Brooklyn gave me a shot to prove myself again. For that it’s always love,” Sumner wrote on Twitter following the team’s decision, adding a saluting emoji. “Had a ball hooping again! Story continues…”
After missing the entire 2021-22 campaign with a torn Achilles, Sumner, a second-round pick out of Xavier in 2017, latched on with the Nets and averaged 13.9 minutes per game off the bench.
He never carved out a regular starting role with the Pacers, either, but he still spent four-plus years in their organization until the October 2021 trade to the Nets.
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But at the start of Brooklyn’s NBA Summer League trip to Las Vegas, The Post’s Brian Lewis confirmed that the Nets and Sumner had agreed to move the guarantee deadline from July 6 to July 15.
And as the deadline neared, Sumner sent out a tweet Friday that said he’ll keep attempting to “control what I can control and know it’s always gone work out. It’s just never the way I expect it. I been in the grind my whole life so I’m a keep doing what I always do GRIND.”
The Nets also signed former Suns and Thunder forward Darius Bazley to a one-year contract, adding potential rebounding depth as their 2023-24 roster continues to take shape.
This offseason, Brooklyn has also re-signed Cameron Johnson to a four-year, $108 million deal, inked Lonnie Walker IV and Dennis Smith Jr. to contracts, drafted a trio of players in the NBA Draft and kept constructing its roster around Mikal Bridges — the Nets’ new focal point acquired at the trade deadline last year in the Kevin Durant deal.
