With green guards and precious little defense, the Nets needed to add a veteran in the backcourt and pressure at the point of attack.
They’re hoping Keon Ellis can bring both — and on a team-friendly deal.
Brooklyn and Ellis agreed to a two-year, $18 million contract Tuesday on the first night of free agency.
It was first reported by ESPN and confirmed by The Post.
The deal includes a full mutual option. It fully guarantees Ellis his $18 million, while still letting both sides negotiate a new deal next summer. Either can opt in.
Brooklyn would still have nearly $35 million in salary cap space left if they take Ellis and Josh Minott into cap space and Day’Ron Sharpe into the room midlevel exception.
The Nets spent first-round picks on guards Egor Demin, Nolan Traore and Ben Saraf last season, and Mikel Brown Jr. last week. None are expected to be defensive stalwarts, while wing Drake Powell has yet to grow into that role.
Point-of-attack defenders that can actually shoot — prototypical 3-and-D types — are pricey in the NBA. But Ellis may provide some of that archetype.
The 26-year-old Ellis played for Cleveland after being traded midseason from Sacramento. Nets head coach Jordi Fernández was a Kings assistant while Ellis was there, and now they’ll have a reunion in Brooklyn.
Ellis went undrafted and has never earned over than the veteran’s minimum. But he’s a career .407 percent shooter from 3-point range, and hit .355 last season for the Cavaliers en route to averaging 8.3 points.
But after averaging 24 minutes in the regular season and notching a plus-4.5 Net Rating, he struggled in the postseason.
He averaged just seven minutes and recorded a minus-15.9 net rating in a dozen appearances.
Still, playoff struggles are a luxury for rebuilding Brooklyn, a long way from those sorts of worries. Considering how young the backcourt is — and how defensively-challenged the Nets are — it’s hard not to see Ellis earning a significant rotation role.
Ellis was fifth in the league in steals per 100 possessions in 2024-25 and 15th this past season.