Timing is a big part of free agency. Teams that are trying to preserve cap space so they have maximum flexibility often make what may look at first like surprising and perhaps head-scratching moves, then when all the smoke clears things get rectified…
That is basically what Keith Smith wrote for Spotrac Tuesday He reported that the Nets are unlikely to exercise team options on four free agents. Smith predicted that Sean Marks & co. will decline team options on Day’Ron Sharpe, Ziaire Williams, Josh
Minott, and Malachi Smith, saving the franchise a little more than $15 million in cap space … then likely re-sign them when the smoke clears.
Here’s what Smith reported this on Sharpe, Williams Minott and Smith.
- Day’Ron Sharpe – $6.5 million team option: Just like a year ago, the Nets would like to keep Sharpe. However, in order to maximize cap space first, they’ll decline Sharpe’s option. But don’t rule out a plan to re-sign him after Brooklyn’s other offseason work is completed.
- Ziaire Williams – $6.5 million team option: Everything we wrote about Day’Ron Sharpe applies to Williams as well.
- Josh Minott – $2.6 million team option, contract then becomes non-guaranteed: Minott still has rotation potential. For the Nets, who are likely to have a lot of cap space, it doesn’t make sense to keep Minott on this deal. This option will be declined, but Brooklyn could re-sign Minott later.
- Malachi Smith – $2.1 million team option, contract then becomes non-guaranteed: Smith showed some stuff after a late-season callup. But, once again, the Nets want to maximize their cap space. Smith will have his option declined, but he could be back on a new deal later in the summer.
How much cap space could Brooklyn have in making those moves? Last week, Yossi Gozlan reported the number could approach $50 million. He also suggested how the Nets could move once they finish dealing with whatever bigger free agency or trade opportunities come along.
[T]he Nets could get up to a maximum of $47.9 million in cap space by declining team options and waiving non-guaranteed players. That would include the $6.25 million team options for Day’Ron Sharpe and Ziaire Williams. They could decline both players and re-sign them to new deals. They could also decline both to maximize cap space, then re-sign one of them with the $9.4 million room mid-level exception afterward.
Gozlan also wrote about how the Nets could use the Room MLE, particularly on Sharpe.
Third Apron projects Sharpe’s true annual value to be at least double his current salary, but the Nets may still aim to minimize a potential early raise. As mentioned earlier, they could decline his team option and renounce his cap hold to maximize cap space. They could then bring him back with the $9.4 million room mid-level exception after exhausting cap space, re-signing him for up to three years and $29.5 million. That would still feel like a favorable deal for Brooklyn, so perhaps Sharpe would prefer another two-year deal for a quicker chance to earn more money.
As for his take on Minott and Smith, Gozlan wrote this:
The Nets could also decline the team options of Josh Minott and Malachi Smith if they need extra room. It would make sense to decline Smith since he would be restricted, and they could re-sign him to a new multi-year deal or bring him back on a two-way contract. Minott, on the other hand, would be unrestricted, but they should still be able to bring him back at a minimum salary if they’d like.
Beyond the team options, based on history, he said he doesn’t expect Brooklyn to extend Noah Clowney this off-season, preferring instead to have him enter next summer as a restricted free agent.
If there is an extension to be done, it would probably land slightly above the mid-level exception range, with a starting salary no larger than his $16.2 million restricted cap hold in 2027. That is so they could maximize their 2027 cap space in case they don’t add any significant long-term salaries this season.
History suggests there won’t be an extension between Clowney and the Nets. They haven’t signed a player to a rookie-scale extension since Taurean Prince in 2019.
No matter what, the 22-year-old Clowney will be paid $5.4 million this season, the last on his four-year rookie deal. Unless things change, he will be one of seven Nets players on rookie deals in 2026-27. Clowney, the Flatbush 5 and whoever they take at No. 6 will make a total of $35.1 million. That’s 21.3% of the $165.0 salary cap next season for basically half the 15-man roster, yet another indication of how much flexibility Brooklyn has going into free agency.
