Emotional Cui Yongxi’s NBA dream ends in heartbreak, after trade, season-ending injury
Cui Yongxi waived as result of Dennis Schroder trade between Brooklyn Nets and Golden State Warriors
Cui Yongxi’s NBA dream ended in heartbreak and an emotional goodbye on Sunday, after the rising Chinese star was waived by the Brooklyn Nets.
A trade between the Nets and the Golden State Warriors sent Dennis Schroder and a 2025 second-round pick to the Bay Area in exchange for De’Anthony Melton and two-way guard Reece Beekman, along with three unprotected second round draft picks.
NBA teams can carry up to three players on two-way contracts. To make room for Beekman, Brooklyn were forced to waive fan-favourite Cui, who suffered a season-ending ACL injury while playing for G League affiliate Long Island last week.
In a lengthy social media post, Cui said while he would need to “step away from the court”, he vowed that once recovered he would “continue striving for the NBA, pushing myself until I’ve burned up every last ounce of energy”.
The Nets signed the 21-year-old, to a two-way deal in September. He was immediately embraced by the fan base and received quite the ovation when he made his NBA debut in the final minutes of Brooklyn’s 115-102 defeat of the Milwaukee Bucks on October 27.
That night, he became the seventh Chinese player to appear in an official NBA game.
