The Long Island Nets are deep into another reset, and the latest move points to how the organization wants to keep feeding its development pipeline. French guard Tidjiane Dioumassi was taken with the 13th overall pick in the G League’s International Draft, a source told NetsDaily, giving Long Island another young prospect to work with.
Dioumassi went undrafted in June’s NBA Draft before entering the International Draft pool, and Long Island grabbed him at No. 13.
The club now holds his G League rights if he chooses to play in the league this season. According to a league source, he’ll be in training camp with Long Island and is expected to make the roster.
The pick also says something about where the decision came from. I’m told Long Island’s front office, not Brooklyn’s, made the call.
That group is led by GM Matt Macdonald, along with assistant GMs Kory Jones and Kyle Hines. All three are said to be well regarded around the NBA, and Macdonald in particular has been drawing attention.
His name has been linked to the Nets’ chief scout opening, a job that has been vacant since Acie Law IV left in May for Chicago. Based on what’s being heard, Macdonald looks like the favorite for that role.
There’s still plenty of roster work ahead before Long Island is set. The team could still add players through its local tryout next month, and that route has mattered before.
Terry Roberts has spent three years with the team after coming through that process, while Patrick Gardner, Jordan Minor and Craig Randall II also fit that pipeline. One source also said Long Island had practice players last season who trained at the “Yes We Can Center” in Westbury without making the roster, and James Montgomery was first found through the local tryout route last year.
That gives the organization another way to uncover talent, and it gives local players a shot at pro ball.
Dioumassi himself brings a lot of mileage for a 24-year-old. The 6-foot-5, 200-pound guard last played at Western Carolina in the 2025 NCAA season, putting up 8.9 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.7 assists while shooting 36.4% from three across 29 games.
Before that, he spent two seasons at Southern University after two years in junior college. In all, he logged five NCAA seasons, which makes him older than many draft-eligible prospects.
After training camp, Dioumassi and his independent representative, Stacey Leawood, will weigh whether staying in Long Island makes sense or whether overseas opportunities are the better path.
Beyond Dioumassi, the rest of the Long Island picture is starting to sharpen. Second-round rookie Tyler Bilodeau is expected to spend significant time with the club after signing a two-way contract.
The other two-way, Chaney Johnson, stood out in Summer League with averages of 13 points, 8 rebounds and 3.3 steals per game, which led the 2026 NBA Summer League in steals. Both Bilodeau and Johnson can be active for 50 NBA games before the Nets have to decide whether a standard Brooklyn deal is next.
One two-way slot remains open, and Grant Nelson looks like the leading candidate for it. He’s still working back from patellar tendinitis, or “jumper’s knee,” which kept him out of Summer League even though he traveled with the team and remained on the roster.
Another name worth watching is Dain Dainja. The 24-year-old big man was a Summer League invitee for Brooklyn and impressed in Sacramento and Vegas as the lone non-contract player in the rotation.
He averaged 6.9 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.3 stocks while showing off his size at 6-foot-9, 260 pounds, with a 7-foot-6 wingspan. He played last season with the Sioux Skyforce in the G League.
Long Island is also expected to fill out its camp roster with multiple Exhibit 10 players, something the franchise has done in recent years. Among the Summer League group, Dion Brown, Duke Brennan and Ben Humrichous all made cases.
Brown, a 6-foot-4 guard from St. Louis, brought defensive energy and finished Summer League with a triple-double.
Brennan, a 6-foot-10 big from Villanova, had his moments too. Humrichous, a 6-foot-9 forward and shooting specialist from Illinois, was the most productive scorer of the three.
Under the current CBA, teams can bring as many as six Exhibit 10 players to training camp. Those deals can include a bonus of up to $85,000 if a player is waived and then spends the required time with the team’s G League affiliate.
Sources told ND that the Nets are among the few organizations that fully guarantee every Exhibit 10 they sign, which makes Brooklyn a particularly appealing place for players who fit that setup. Some agents also see Exhibit 10s as more player-friendly than two-way contracts in certain cases, since two-way deals pay more but can also lock a player into a situation where he’s rarely promoted.
Exhibit 10 players, by contrast, stay NBA free agents and can sign with any team at any point during the season while continuing to develop in the G League.
That development system has become one of Long Island’s calling cards. Last season, Brooklyn moved four of its five first-round picks back and forth to Long Island to get them the minutes they needed, with Ben Saraf logging the most at 15 games. Now the question is whether any of the players besides Egor Demin will wind up back at Nassau Coliseum again, with Joshua Jefferson also part of that conversation.
The coaching staff has changed too. Mfon Udofia, the former Long Island head coach who played a major role in that development setup, is now an assistant with the Orlando Magic. The Nets promoted from within to replace him, naming Shawn Swords, who served as Udofia’s top assistant for the last three seasons, as the next head coach.
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