The Brooklyn Nets already made history.
Now they’re going to make a roster move.
The Nets signed Jason Collins to a 10-day contract, making him the first openly gay athlete to play in a major North American team sport. That contract expires Tuesday, so Brooklyn will reportedly give him another deal.
Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports:
The Nets have gone 3-1 with Collins, so they’re probably not looking for reasons to dump him. When teams win, they often want to keep everything – even the unhelpful elements – in tact.
In 34 total minutes, Collins has three points, four rebounds, three steals, four turnovers and 10 fouls – hardly great box-score production. But box-score stats have never reflected Collins’ true value. More troubling, Brooklyn’s defensive rating is 118.2 with him on the court.
Small-sample caveats apply, but the Nets will have an interesting decision when this second 10-day contract expires. At that point, the Nets can sign Collins for the rest of the season or not at all. Sometimes, teams defer that choice and sign other players to 10-day contracts before choosing one for the rest of the season. That could happen with Brooklyn and Collins.
I think the Nets, as previously reported, plan to keep Collins through the end of the season. But this second 10-day contract will give them a little longer to determine whether they want to stick to that plan.
