The Nets have brought in three more players ahead of the start of training camp next week.
Swingmen Gary Forbes and Chris Johnson and combo guard Jorge Gutierrez received training-camp invites, giving the Nets 18 players — two shy of the 20-man maximum for training camp rosters. Training camp begins Tuesday in Durham, N.C., on the campus of Duke University.
Because the Nets already have 15 fully guaranteed contracts — filling all of their available roster spots for the regular season — it’s highly unlikely any of these three will make the Nets out of camp. Nevertheless, Forbes’ D-League rights would be controlled by the Nets’ affiliate, the Springfield Armor, if he’s cut during camp.
Forbes, who went to high school at Benjamin Banneker Academy in Brooklyn, has bounced around since graduating from Massachusetts in 2008, playing in the Philippines, Venezuela, Italy, Israel and China in the intervening years, as well as multiple stops in the D-League and single seasons with the Nuggets in 2010-11 and the Raptors in 2011-12. He played for the Zheijang Lions in China last season.
Johnson, a very good 3-point shooter, played for the Grizzlies last season and scored a career-high 10 points against the Nets on Jan. 25 in Memphis. Johnson played before and after his brief stint with Memphis with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers in the D-League, where he averaged 10.6 points per game and hit 38 percent of his 3-pointers.
Gutierrez, the 2012 Pac-12 Player of the Year at Cal, was a D-League All-Rookie First Team and All-Defensive First Team selection with the Canton Charge last season, averaging 10.5 points, 4.9 rebounds and 4.7 assists in 50 games (43 starts). Gutierrez then went on to help Mexico to the gold medal in the FIBA Americas tournament this summer, ensuring a bid in next year’s World Cup of Basketball in Spain.