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The Brooklyn Nets have re-signed Malachi Smith to a second 10-day contract, the team announced Wednesday. Smith appeared in six games during his first 10-day contract after spending most of the season with Brooklyn’s G League affiliate, the Long Island Nets.

The former Gonzaga guard averaged 6.2 points, 2.2 rebounds and 2.7 assists in 19.5 minutes per game during the stretch. He shot 15 of 30 from the field and 5 of 10 from three.

Smith scored 18 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the field with four assists and 3-of-3 from three during Brooklyn’s 126-122 loss to the Sacramento Kings on Sunday.

Malachi Smith returns to Nets on second 10-day contract after breakout performance

Smith spent the last two seasons with the G League affiliates of the Milwaukee Bucks, Portland Trail Blazers and Memphis Grizzlies. He averaged 16.0 points, 5.1 rebounds and 7.0 assists on .510/.416/.772 shooting splits in 29 appearances with the Long Island Nets this year before an NBA call-up.

Smith’s new 10-day contract will last through the Nets’ next five games, at which point the rebuilding team will have five games remaining on its schedule. The 26-year-old should get ample opportunities to prove his worth during his new deal.

Michael Porter Jr., Egor Demin and Deron Sharp are out with injuries. Brooklyn has been offering Smith and its two-way players extended minutes in recent games as the team vie for the top draft selection.

The Nets will conclude a four-game road trip with games against the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday and the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday.

The Brooklyn Nets rookie is getting extended minutes during the final stretch of the season after the team was eliminated from postseason contention. Ben Saraf has seen the biggest increase in workload during recent games.

Saraf has struggled for most of the season. However, he has started to show his skills which led the Nets to select him with the No. 26 pick in the June draft. The 6-foot-6 point guard continued his encouraging performance during Sunday’s 126-122 loss to the Sacramento Kings, scoring a season-high 22 points on 10-of-20 shooting with five assists and two turnovers.

“I think I played pretty well. I got to the rim and made two [feet] “I felt like I was able to finish at the rim, just like the coaches wanted,” Saraf said. I mean, they didn’t have any crazy shot-blockers, so I was able to go all the way. [to the basket]”

Saraf was the only Nets player to score 20 points during the defeat. The 19-year-old has scored in double figures in five of his last six games.

Ben Saraf continues his encouraging performance with a career best performance

Saraf has averaged 12.3 points on 47.5 percent shooting with 4.5 assists and 3.0 turnovers per game during that span. Jordi Fernandez praised the rookie’s finishing and ability to limit turnovers as Brooklyn’s leading ball-handler in Sacramento.

Fernandez said of Saraf’s performance, “It was great.” Possibly one of his best games finishing at the rim. You can see it right there, I love how aggressive he was. Five assists to two turnovers. Our 30 assists resulted in only seven turnovers [as a team] Very impressive. So this is definitely a step forward for us.”

While Saraf was effective as a driver and facilitator on Sunday, he missed all five of his three-point attempts. The Israeli floor general is shooting 36 percent on just 3.6 three-point attempts per 20 minutes this season.

Sunday’s loss moved Brooklyn into a tie with Sacramento for third place in the draft lottery standings. The Nets now have two fewer wins than the Kings with 11 games remaining. They have one more win than the Washington Wizards in second and two more than the Indiana Pacers in first.

Brooklyn has matchups with Sacramento, Washington and Indiana on its remaining schedule.