Brooklyn Nets guard Shane Larkin will opt out of his contract with the team, league sources tell Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders:
Shane Larkin is opting out of his contract with the Nets, per sources. He’ll be an unrestricted free agent. He had a $1.5 mil player option.
— Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) June 2, 2016
Shane Larkin, 23, joins Austin Rivers and Wesley Johnson as the most recent players set to become free agents come July 1st.
After briefly appearing for the Dallas Mavericks and New York Knicks in past years, Larkin found a home this season in Brooklyn. In 78 appearances with the team this year, he averaged a career-best 7.3 points and 4.4 assists per game.
Shane Larkin also put up career-highs in field goal % (44%), along with three-point field goal percentage (36%).
Larkin, seeking stability and a long-term home this July, remains open to re-signing with the Nets on a new deal.
“I’m not a guy who wants to play a 10-year career with eight different teams; I want to find a home and really lock in with a team where I know what the coach wants, what my teammates want and we can just all grow together,” Shane Larkin told Alex Kennedy earlier this year.
“I feel like that’s how you get the best out of your players. It’s not like, ‘Alright, let’s get this guy here for a year, he can fill in this void for us and then [move on].’ I just turned 23, so I’m still young. Being able to get with a team on a two-year deal or three-year deal saying, ‘This is what we want you to be. We want you to spark our offense, push the tempo, be this guy and this is what we feel you can do for the team,’ then that’s perfect. Whether I’m a starter or whatever, it’s cool either way. I just want to find a situation where a team wants to see me grow with them and not just [have me as] a fill-in.
“That’s the kind of situation I’d be looking for”.
Shane Larkin was selected #18 overall in the 2013 NBA Draft. Many expect Larkin to eventually become a proven, valuable commodity on a winning team in the future. Larkin, seeking a permanent home this July, set career-bests in several categories this season. Teams have taken notice of Larkin, and it’s possible that he’ll have multiple clubs eyeing his services come July 1st.
Expect the former University of Miami guard Shane Larkin to continue improving and once again return to an NBA franchise next season.
