Offseason Approach

Starting the first full cycle of the rebuild with a high lottery pick

Actual Cap Space

-$30.8 million

Practical Cap Space

$55.9 million

Projected Luxury Tax Space

$113.2 million

Under Contract (6)

Nic Claxton
Noah Clowney
Tosan Evbuomwan (two-way)
Cameron Johnson
Maxwell Lewis ($100,000 guaranteed)
Dariq Whitehead

View Roster

Potential Free Agents (12)

Reece Beekman (restricted – two-way)
Tyson Etienne (restricted – two-way)
Keon Johnson (unrestricted – team option)
Tyrese Martin (restricted – team option)
De’Anthony Melton (unrestricted)
D’Angelo Russell (unrestricted)
Day’Ron Sharpe (restricted)
Cam Thomas (restricted)
Drew Timme (restricted – team option)
Trendon Watford (unrestricted)
Ziaire Williams (restricted)
Jalen Wilson (restricted – team option)

View Free Agents

Dead Cap (0)

None

Projected Signing Exceptions

Room Exception ($8.8 million)

Notable Trade Exceptions

None (projected to be renounced for cap space)

First Round Draft Picks (pre-lottery)

#8
#18
#26
#27

Notable Extension Candidates

Cameron Johnson (veteran extension)
Maxwell Lewis (veteran extension)

Analysis

The Brooklyn Nets are hitting the one-year mark of entering the full rebuild cycle. They started the process last summer by trading away Mikal Bridges. Several other moves later, general manager Sean Marks can now start the serious process of rebuilding his team.

Brooklyn will likely hit the offseason with 10-to-12 free agents and in the range of $55 million in cap space. Not only is that the most projected cap space in the league this summer, but the Nets are projected to be the only team with cap space in the NBA this offseason.

That puts Marks in position to really get this rebuild moving. The Nets could be active in restricted free agency, something Marks has done in the past. Or Brooklyn could rent out cap space by taking on deals in trades, likely as a facilitator in multi-team trades where apron teams are involved.

Of the Nets league-high 12 potential free agents, some seem likely to be back in Brooklyn. Keon Johnson, Tyrese Martin, Jalen Wilson and Drew Timme all have team options for just above the minimum. Bet on at least two players from that group, and possibly all four, returning next season. All showed good development as potential rotation players this season, with Johnson becoming a regular starter.

From there, the big decisions will be with restricted free agents Cam Thomas and Day’Ron Sharpe. Given no other team is likely to have cap space this offseason, Brooklyn should be able to retain both players on relatively team-friendly contracts.

When we examined the 2025 restricted free agents, we pegged Thomas to get a three-year, $45 million deal and Sharpe to land a three-year, $30 million contract.

Those figures might seem light, but unless a team is floating their full Non-Taxpayer MLE in front of either player, Thomas and Sharpe might be stuck. That’s why the shorter-term nature of the contract could be a good compromise between the players and team.

Thomas’ profile suggests he could command more, but he’s coming off a relatively lost season. Some of that might have been due to the Nets tanking, but given it was a contract year for Thomas, the games missed were likely mostly valid. Sharpe has flashed a lot of potential, but the demand for centers, especially in restricted free agency, is never really all that high.

Don’t rule out a sign-and-trade for Thomas or Sharpe. If a team is willing to make them an offer that the Nets don’t want to match, it would behoove Marks to consider moving them and returning some assets. If all else fails, Thomas and/or Sharpe could sign their qualifying offer and then hit unrestricted free agency in the summer of 2026.

Beyond the two young restricted free agents, the Nets have several pending veteran free agents. D’Angelo Russell is chief among them. Russell is a good, if limited, scoring guard. He’s not someone you can build a team around, but Russell can still be productive starter or reserve on a good team. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see Brooklyn re-sign Russell to a short-term contract that leaves him a tradable player down the line.

De’Anthony Melton was acquired in a contract swap. He’s probably headed elsewhere this summer. Ziaire Williams had moments, but he’s not likely to get tendered a qualifying offer. If Brooklyn wants to maximize cap space, Williams is likely to have his free agent rights renounced. He could return, but it won’t be on any kind of sizable deal for Brooklyn.

Trendon Watford is in a weird spot. He’s been productive when given minutes. He’s also only turning 25 years old near the start of next season. But he’s kind of a tweener forward and hasn’t been a rotation regular yet in the NBA. He could be another short-term re-signing for the Nets, but it won’t be for much more than a minimum deal.

That turns us to the draft and to trades. This is where Marks will have to, no pun intended, make his mark.

At the draft, the Nets will have four first-round picks. They should be in best player available mode with each pick. In addition, Brooklyn should look to trade one of their later picks in a kick-the-can-down-the-road type of deal. Rostering four rookies on what already projects to be a young team is a lot. It can also cause problems down the line when players become extension eligible. Moving a pick in this year’s draft for a future pick should bring some better balance for the future roster.

No matter what, coming away with at least one high-end starter and a couple of future rotation players is the goal at the draft for Marks. Barring some lottery luck, Brooklyn should be in position to select that high-end starter with their first pick. Given the team has needs everywhere on the roster, position shouldn’t be given much, if any, consideration.

As far as trades go, Marks will explore the market for Cameron Johnson and Nic Claxton. Both are good players and are on good contracts. If anything, the fact that both players have multiple years remaining on their deals should increase their trade value. Anyone trading for Johnson or Claxton would be doing so knowing that they’ll have them for a while.

At the deadline, it was reported that Marks wanted multiple first-round picks for Johnson. That’s probably a bit rich, but the Nets could get there if they’re willing to take on some salary in a trade. Think of it as one first-round pick for Johnson and one first-round pick for eating a deal.

Claxton’s value is slightly less, because he’s a traditional center. While a good defender, Claxton is never going to be an All-Defensive team candidate, and his shooting range is measured in inches vs feet. While that limits his value some, he’s still an improving player and a good fit for several teams that need a center.

Marks should be firm in talks for Johnson or Claxton. There’s no need to give either player away. If the right deal isn’t there this summer, take it into the season and see if one materializes by the trade deadline.

The Nets and Sean Marks have been here before. In many ways, this is when Marks did his best work. He’s shown a great eye for undervalued talent. Joe Harris and Spencer Dinwiddie were both part of the diamond-mining process the last time around. Marks is off to a good start with guys like Keon Johnson, Jalen Wilson, Tyrese Martin and Drew Timme. None might hit quite the level that Harris or Dinwiddie did, but that’s what this is all about. Keep churning the bottom of the roster and eventually a gem or two will pop up.

The last time Brooklyn had copious cap space, they went big. This time around, expect the Nets to be a lot more conservative. This process is just getting started, but Marks has proven he can build a winner. The Nets just need to give him time to do it again.

Updated Analysis Post-Draft Lottery:

The Nets analysis didn’t change all that much as a result of the lottery. Brooklyn dropped from the sixth pick to the eighth pick. That gives the Nets about $1.5 million in additional projected cap space. They’re still in range to draft the same players with the eighth pick as the sixth pick, as the group from the fifth pick to the 10 th pick are largely “eye of the beholder” types.