LAS VEGAS — The Nets re-signed forward Kessler Edwards to a multi-year contract Wednesday afternoon.
Edwards will play for the Nets in Las Vegas Summer League, which they will open with a game against the Milwaukee Bucks at 7 p.m. Friday.
The Nets had made Edwards a restricted free agent by extending him a qualifying offer. They briefly pulled the offer, temporarily making him an unrestricted free agent, but never stopped working to find a deal.
Now the 6-foot-8 wing is coming back to Brooklyn on a two-year contract, with HoopsHype reporting that they hold a team option for 2023-24.
Edwards was taken with the 44th overall pick last year and outperformed his draft spot as a rookie. He made 48 appearances, including 23 starts, and showed promise as a 3-and-D wing down the road.
The Pepperdine product averaged 5.9 points and 3.6 rebounds in 20.6 minutes, with 41/35/84 shooting splits.
When Edwards appeared on Chris Carrino’s “Voice of the Nets” podcast, he praised Kyle Korver with helping him hone his 3-point shot. He also said Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving talked to him a lot before games and boosted his confidence, adding it’s a feeling he’ll “probably never get again.”
It was unclear if he meant he’ll never replicate that rookie wonderment, or if he expects the disgruntled stars to be traded.
After being a second-round draft pick, Edwards eventually earned a two-way contract, on which he played most of the season. But with that sort of deal leaving him ineligible for the playoffs, the Nets parted ways with James Johnson to convert Edwards’ two-way into a standard contract just before the postseason started.
The Nets named Igor Kokoskov, Adam Caporn and Trevor Hendry as assistant coaches to round out Steve Nash’s staff. They’ll join holdovers Jacque Vaughn, Brian Keefe, Tiago Splitter, Royal Ivey and Ryan Forehan-Kelly.
Caporn was the Long Island Nets head coach, and is coaching the Nets in the summer league. Kokoskov was the former Phoenix Suns head coach.