While battling a COVID-19 outbreak, the Brooklyn Nets have signed guard Langston Galloway to a 10-day contract via the hardship exception, as first reported by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
The signing comes out of necessity as the Nets currently have seven players in the NBA’s health and safety protocols: James Harden, Bruce Brown, Paul Millsap, LaMarcus Aldridge, DeAndre Bembry, Jevon Carter, and James Johnson.
Despite missing over half their team, the Nets were still able to pull out a 131-129 victory over the Toronto Raptors to improve to 20-8 on the season, which is good for first place in the Eastern Conference. Kevin Durant — the only member of the team’s ‘Big 3’ available with Harden sidelined and Irving away from the team after refusing to receive the vaccine — dropped 34 points in 48 minutes despite being questionable with an ankle injury.
Due to the sheer number of players in league protocols, the Nets are eligible to sign multiple players under the hardship exception clause; a temporary roster spot that must be granted by the league that allows a team to exceed its 15-man maximum roster.
Galloway has yet to appear in an NBA game this season. After appearing in 40 games with the Phoenix Suns last season, the 30-year-old was signed by the Golden State Warriors in September but was waived a few weeks later. On Monday, he signed a deal to join the Atlanta Hawks’ G-League affiliate before the Nets came calling.
The Saint Joseph’s product got his start in the NBA thanks to the Knicks, who signed him as an undrafted free agent.
He averaged 9.1 points and 2.8 assists per game over a two-year stretch with New York, including a 2015-16 season in which he appeared in all 82 games.
Galloway bounced around between four teams over the ensuing five years, most notably a three-year stint with the Detroit Pistons in which he performed as a consistent combo guard off the bench.
