National Basketball Association

Did Rick Carlisle Drop Subtle Hint on Nicolas Brussino's Roster Status?

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

foxsports

With seven players fighting for two of the final spots on the roster, did Rick Carlisle drop a hint on Nicolas Brussino‘s roster status at practice?

This past offseason, Dallas reached a partial guaranteed deal with a 23-year-old kid from Argentina named Nicolas Brussino that hardly anyone had heard of before. After sitting on the bench for most of the Olympics in Rio, Brussino found himself flying to Dallas for training camp over the last couple of weeks.

Brussino came into camp and instantly made some first impressions on the coaching staff and myself.

From the first time he walked down the stairs at practice, you knew the kid would have to put on some weight in order to succeed in the NBA. His long, scrawny frame would be useful in shooting over opponents, but defending bigger small forwards or stretch power forwards would be troublesome.

Once he hit the practice court, he made it known very quick that he would be one of the better shooters on the court. With somewhat of a slower shot, Brussino could knock down the open shot from nearly anywhere on the court.

Now the kid has two preseason games under his belt and he finds himself as one of the seven players fighting for two spots on the final roster.

After logging heavy minutes on Monday night against Charlotte, Head Coach Rick Carlisle talked about Brussino at practice on Tuesday.

“We like his whole game. He’s got to get stronger, obvious. He’s a competitor, not afraid of the moment. He’s made great improvement in the 2 1/2 weeks he’s been here.”

This makes a couple of practices where Carlisle has taken a question on his thoughts about Brussino. The fact that Carlisle points out that he has made improvement over the past couple of weeks is a good sign for Brussino.

It was after this, that Eddie Sefko asked Carlisle about Brussino’s struggle with the English language that Carlisle maybe drops a hint on Brussino’s chance of making the roster.

“He’s going to have to get better with English. He starts English classes today. He’s on a schedule of classes during the week. Having Kaleb & Barea here who are fluent in Spanish are extremely helpful.”

Brussino had to cut his practice a little short on Tuesday as he had to start his English lessons. So the question I ask as I read between the lines, would the Mavs put him through English lessons if he wasn’t in line to make the team?

Brussino, along with Dorian Finney-Smith, was the only partial guaranteed player to log heavy minutes for the majority of the game on Monday. With Brussino taking advantage of his opportunity, the youngster looks to be on track to getting one of those last two spots.

If Brussino does make the final roster, I would expect the young forward to spend some time with the Texas Legends during the season in a project type of role.