​Joshua Jeffers on the verge of his first Nets minutes, he arrived ready to compete, only to find the start of his professional journey paused as Brooklyn’s front office works through its next move. Jeffers? The piece refers to Joshua Jefferson, the No. 28 pick in last month’s NBA Draft. He remains unable to make his Summer League debut because the multi-team trade that would bring Julius Randle to Brooklyn has not yet been finalized. The NBA moratorium lifted at noon ET on July 6, allowing agreed trades and signings to begin becoming official, but the Nets have continued to deliberate how best to deploy their remaining cap space before closing the deal.
Marc Stein reported that Brooklyn has been “internally assessing how to utilize their available spending power” prior to officially completing the trade with Minnesota, Charlotte and Chicago. That deal is expected to bring Randle to Barclays Center and move LaMelo Ball from the Hornets to the Timberwolves. Until the paperwork is signed, Jefferson remains in a holding pattern.
The 22-year-old forward has already been introduced to the Nets’ environment. He’s sat inside the Brooklyn Basketball Training Center, a short walk from Barclays Center, flanked by teammates Mikel Brown Jr. and Tyler Bilodeau as campers watched from nearby. He’s discussed the plan Brooklyn laid out for him, covering performance work, mental health, and on-court development. The only missing piece is the basketball itself.
Jefferson’s absence from Summer League games underscores the practical cost of Brooklyn’s financial flexibility. The Nets are preserving optionality before finalizing a major trade, leaving Jefferson caught between the agreement and the announcement. The irony is not lost, because the very trade that is delaying his Nets debut is expected to bring a veteran he’s already studied from afar.
Jefferson said after the draft that he watched plenty of Julius Randle film during his senior season at Iowa State. He studied Randle’s mid-post game, his pace, his rhythm, and how he blends power with finesse when faced with smaller defenders. “It’s going to be huge for me,” Jefferson said of the potential pairing with Randle and Michael Porter Jr. “So much knowledge between the two. I’m just going to be a sponge, asking them questions all the time and learning as much as I can.”
Jefferson arrived as one of the more physically mature players in Brooklyn’s draft class. He completed four college seasons between Saint Mary’s and Iowa State and appeared in 130 games with 96 starts. His best work came at Iowa State, where he became a consensus second-team All-American, earned first-team All-Big 12 honors, and was a Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year finalist. As a senior, he averaged 16.4 points, 7.4 rebounds, 4.8 assists, 1.6 steals, and 0.8 blocks per game in 35 appearances, while shooting 47.1 percent from the field, 34.5 percent from three, and 70.0 percent from the free-throw line. He also led Division I with two triple-doubles and became the first player in Big 12 history with multiple triple-doubles, a feat that underscored his versatility and potential to adapt to the NBA level.