Nets sign veterans Beasley, Crawford as substitute players

FILE – Jamal Crawford during his Phoenix Suns stint on December 31, 2018. Christian Petersen/Getty Images/AFP

NEW YORK — The Brooklyn Nets plugged a couple holes in their roster Thursday with a pair of well-traveled veteran scorers.

The Nets signed three-time Sixth Man of the Year Jamal Crawford and Michael Beasley as substitute players for the remainder of the season.

The Nets will resume play without Spencer Dinwiddie and DeAndre Jordan after they tested positive for the coronavirus. Wilson Chandler also chose not to play, and Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving aren’t returning from their injuries.

On the day the Nets practiced for the first time on the Walt Disney World Resort campus, they added a pair of players who can put up points.

The 40-year-old Crawford hasn’t played in the NBA this season after scoring 51 points while playing for Phoenix in the finale of the 2018-19 season. That made him the first player in NBA history with 50-point games for four different teams.

He has averaged 14.6 points in 1,326 games, most among active players, over 19 seasons.

Beasley was the No. 2 pick in the 2008 draft and has averaged 12.4 points in 609 games over 11 seasons. He hasn’t played in the NBA since appearing for the Lakers in February 2019.

Beasley won’t be eligible to play until the sixth of Brooklyn’s eight seeding games because he has serve a suspension for violating the drug policy.

The Nets also got started without Tyler Johnson, who also was signed recently. General manager Sean Marks said he didn’t travel with the team for personal reasons but would join the Nets soon.