After the Nets revealed that the backcourt duo of point guard Kyrie Irving and shooting guard Caris LeVert landed on Wednesday's injury report, Brooklyn announced a timely replacement.
The Nets signed free agent guard Iman Shumpert, as Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN first reported, filling the team's roster spot until small forward Wilson Chandler's 25-game suspension for performance-enhancing drugs ends in the middle of December.
Shumpert is set to join the Nets (4-6) for Thursday's 10:30 p.m. ET game against the Nuggets (7-3) at Pepsi Center in Denver, according to Shams Charania of Stadium.
"Shumpert's a championship guard on that 2016 Cavaliers team, he's a (former) teammate with Kyrie Irving -- they have close relationship -- and so he's going to be able to provide veteran leadership, veteran productiveness," Charania said. "He's been a productive player throughout his NBA career and they're going to be able to have some guard depth with Shumpert coming in, in the absence of Caris LeVert and suspended Wilson Chandler."
In the Nets' news release, they pointed to Shumpert's longevity as an eight-year veteran across multiple teams and 2016 champion with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Their guard depth gets a boost in the wake of injuries to Irving (right shoulder impingement) and LeVert (right thumb sprain), who are respectively questionable and out for the Nets at the Nuggets.
Shumpert started with the New York Knicks, who drafted the Georgia Tech (2008-11) product with the No. 17 overall pick in the first round of the 2011 NBA draft.
From the Knicks (2011-14), he was traded to the Cavaliers (2015-18) and then spent the 2018-19 season as a member of the Sacramento Kings and Houston Rockets.
Shumpert averaged 7.5 points, 3.0 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.0 steals in 23.9 minutes with the Kings (42 games) and Rockets (20 games). His career averages over eight seasons amount to 7.3 points, 3.4 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.1 steals in 25.2 minutes per game while shooting 39.3 percent from the field and 34.0 percent on three-pointers.