G League Watch: Long Island Nets Start Season 1-2, Checking In on Dariq Whitehead

Brooklyn's G League affiliate dropped two consecutive home games to New York's developmental squad.

Oct 14, 2024; Brooklyn, New York, USA; Brooklyn Nets forward Dariq Whitehead (0) warms up prior to the game against the Washington Wizards at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images / Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images

The Long Island Nets, the Brooklyn Nets’ G League affiliate, tipped off their season last Friday with a win and then back-to-back losses.

Long Island’s campaign started at home against the Maine Celtics, last season’s G League runner-up. It was a strong debut from Killian Hayes, the former No. 7 overall pick, who has started his season with the Nets’ developmental squad as he works his way back from a hip issue that kept him out of preseason. The Frenchman paced Long Island to a win with 19 points, six rebounds and four assists in 30 minutes.

At this point, Hayes should really be Long Island’s best player. He has experience in the NBA — years of it — as well as in Europe and in FIBA. But, as he recovers from his ailment, that won’t always be the case. See the Nets’ second G League game, a 118-99 loss to the rival Westchester Knicks.

Hayes struggled versus the Knicks, scoring eight points in 26 minutes. On that night, it was AJ Lawson who scored 18 points to go with six rebounds and was the Nets’ best performer. Lawson has 57 NBA games under his belt, including a career-high 42 appearances with the Dallas Mavericks last season. Now, he is not even on a two-way contract, which speaks to how cutthroat and talent-heavy the NBA is.                                                                                                                            

Lawson was similarly solid with 17 points and nine rebounds in Long Island's rematch against Westchester, which was a closer 127-117 loss at the Nassau Coliseum. Two-way wing Jaylen Martin played 29 minutes for the Nets' G League team on that night, stuffing the stat sheet with 17 points, five boards, three assists, two steals and two blocks. It was a better outing from Martin than his G League debut in the prior game, in which he scored four points in 16 minutes.

Dariq Whitehead's lift wasn't there at all in the Long Island Nets' last G League game pic.twitter.com/oMXp56mKzh

— Wilko (@wilkomcv) November 14, 2024

Head coach Mfon Udofia's squad has some other interesting players like former second-round pick Kendall Brown or Long Island-born Egyptian international center Patrick Gardner, but admittedly, a lot of the attention will be on Dariq Whitehead. The No. 22 pick in the 2023 NBA Draft isn’t officially on the Nets’ G League roster but will play plenty for Long Island. 

Whitehead has started all three of the Nets’ G League games, and there have been more tough moments than bright ones until now. The former five-star high school recruit tipped off the season with 16 points, six rebounds and four assists against Maine but followed that up with consecutive seven-point nights against Westchester. 

Whitehead is struggling for efficiency — he’s shooting 32.4% from the field on 11-of-34 shooting — but his process is more concerning than the paltry numbers. The Nets wing is coming off two pre-NBA surgeries and then a season-ending shin procedure last season. Through three games, and it’s still early enough for that caveat to be needed, Whitehead’s lift and run/jump athleticism unfortunately looks more like his Summer League tape than his Montverde Academy mixtapes.

Up next on Saturday, Long Island travels to Washington, DC to play the Capital City Go-Go. The team’s following game isn't until Friday, Nov. 22, against the Raptors 905 in Canada.

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