Nets waive guard Mercer

Mercer will be designated as the Nets’ amnesty player as part of the NBA’s new collective bargaining agreement. The move allows a team to release a player and remove his contract amount from the club’s salary cap for purposes of calculating the luxury tax.

New Jersey signed Mercer last summer, but the Kentucky product appeared in just 18 games. He missed 63 contests because of injuries and averaged 7.6 points and 2.2 rebounds per game.

Mercer underwent arthroscopic knee surgery in November 2004 and missed 43 games, then was sidelined the remaining 20 games with a lower back strain.

The 6-foot-7 Mercer has also spent time with the San Antonio Spurs, Boston Celtics, Denver Nuggets, Orlando Magic, Chicago Bulls and Indiana Pacers. He holds averages of 13.6 points, 3.1 rebounds and 2.1 assists over 432 career games.