Nets Pick Up Ricky Council IV on 1-Year Deal After Sixers Waive Him

Brooklyn has signed guard/forward Ricky Council IV to a one-year contract after Philadelphia waived him; he appeared in a team-high 73 games for the Sixers last season.

Apr 11, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia 76ers guard Ricky Council IV (14) controls the ball against the Atlanta Hawks in the third quarter at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Ross-Imagn Images | Kyle Ross-Imagn Images

The Brooklyn Nets agreed to a one-year contract with Ricky Council IV on Friday, per ESPN's Shams Charania. The financial details of the deal were not disclosed in Charania's initial report. Council, 23, was waived by the Philadelphia 76ers on July 25 after appearing in a team-high 72 games while producing 7.3 points and 2.9 rebounds per game throughout the 2024-25 season.

Council signed with Philadelphia after going undrafted in the 2023 NBA Draft. He spent two years at Wichita State before transferring to Arkansas, where he was named second team All-Southeastern Conference (SEC) at the end of his junior season.

He'll join a backcourt group that the Nets were hellbent on improving this summer. Council will fight for minutes alongside 2025 draftees Egor Demin, Nolan Traore, Ben Saraf and Drake Powell, while competing with multiple guards the franchise retained from last season. Keon Johnson, Tyrese Martin and Dariq Whitehead are the veterans presently headlining the guard room. Cam Thomas also remains a restricted free agent.

Council becomes the latest young castaway to be given a second chance by Brooklyn. Last season's "low risk, high reward" summer experiment was Ziaire Williams, who turned out to be a seamless fit in head coach Jordi Fernandez's system. The Nets only gave up Mamadi Diakite and the draft rights to Nemanja Dangubić for Williams, earning a starting small forward for essentially nothing.

Now, Brooklyn takes a chance on Council, a 6-foot-6 explosive guard who is highly athletic, but needs some work on his jumpshot. His deep-range ability showed promise in his rookie season (.375), but drastically dropped last year with the 76ers (.258). His improvement in this area will certainly be an area of focus for both Council and the Nets coaching staff—especially if the long-term vision is for him to eventually contribute in Fernandez's rotation.

Amid ongoing contract drama with Thomas, Council becomes the third outside addition Brooklyn has made this offseason that didn't come via the draft. He'll join Terance Mann and Michael Porter Jr. as the Nets' experienced newcomers as the players and staff gear up for the second year of its total teardown.

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