G League Watch: Dariq Whitehead and Cui Yongxi Return to Long Island Nets

The Long Island Nets are now 2-9, standing in dead last in the G League’s East Division.

Long Island returned to the Nassau Coliseum following an end-of-November road trip, having played the Delaware Blue Coats twice on Dec. 4 and Dec. 6. The Nets dropped both contests to the Philadelphia 76ers’ affiliate team, although both were close at 132-129 and 116-108, respectively.

The second game of this home stretch saw Dariq Whitehead and Cui “Jacky” Yongxi return to the G League. Whitehead had already spent plenty of time on Long Island this year before his career-high 18 points against the Chicago Bulls. Cui, on the other hand, had only played in a pair of games in the G.

The Chinese prospect finished with six points on 1-of-7 shooting and 1-of-4 from three in a little over 17 minutes. Cui’s only bucket was a catch-and-shoot three on the left wing. The 21-year-old is on a two-year, two-way contract.

Whitehead had 21 points, five rebounds and three assists on 9-of-20 shooting. This was a season-high in field goal attempts for the former Duke Blue Devil, who should be empowered to try to take over games whenever he’s assigned to the G League. Notably, only three of Whitehead’s makes were 3-pointers. He needs to keep proving that he can do more than drill shots from downtown.

Small steps, but it's encouraging to see Dariq Whitehead more willing and comfortable on his attempts to get downhill. Some solid results in the Long Island Nets' last game, even if his process obviously still isn't seamless.

For now, I'm more focused on Dariq just *trying*… pic.twitter.com/n7NpfIuGeo
— Wilko (@wilkomcv) December 8, 2024

In Long Island’s second game against Delaware, Whitehead’s first basket was a drive to the basket after an upfake, for example. Later in the game, he had a couple of nice finishes in transition, which has been more of a struggle for the Nets swingman.

The rest of the Nets’ G League group remained fairly consistent. AJ Lawson, Kendall Brown and Amari Bailey are still the picks of the bunch. Lawson, in particular, scored 35 and then 27 points against Delaware. The former Mavs wing has 57 NBA games under his belt.

Up next, the Nets remain on Long Island to face the College Park Skyhawks on Sunday night and the Maine Celtics on Wednesday. Maine is one of the only two teams Long Island has a victory against this season.

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