Keith Smith, writing for Spotrac Thursday, reports that once again the Brooklyn Nets will be among the NBA leaders in cap space and spending power in 2026-27. They won’t have the $60 million they did this season, the most in the league, but Smith projects they’ll still be top three with around $46.9 million. That’s behind only the Chicago Bulls ($63.5 million) and the Los Angeles Lakers ($48.4 million.)
Smith puts the Bulls, Lakers and Nets in the top tier of his projections,
Big markets with enough
cap space to chase a max player or to go after several players to fill out their roster. Of course, the Lakers are readymade contenders, while the Bulls and Nets are a lot further away.
Smith waited until the trade deadline passed to make the projections since with the exceptions of a few minor roster openings, including one held by the Nets, the financial pictures of all 30 teams are fairly well set.
The trade deadline saw a ton of massive movement, as several teams elected to go the pre-agency route. Those moves saw a lot of potential 2026 spending power evaporate around the NBA.
We’ll likely see a handful of veteran extensions that will get done before the end of the season. But, with most of the roster movement behind us for the time being, it’s time to look forward!
Specifically, Smith has this to say about Brooklyn:
The Nets are very likely to have significant cap space for a second straight summer. Some of this could go toward retaining their own free agents again (Day’Ron Sharpe and Ziaire Williams both have pending team options), but Brooklyn will have lots of room to again act as a clearing house for unwanted salaries for tax and apron teams. Just send some draft picks or young talent with those undesirable deals. The Nets also don’t have control over their own pick for the 2027 draft.. That could signal a team that is ready to spend to move the roster forward. Look for a measured approach to spending, as opposed to an all-in one.
That of course is what most pundits both national and local expect the organization to do: move from a rebuild to what might be called a build, much like they did in 2018-19 under Sean Marks when a young Nets team won 42 games and finished with the sixth seed. That progress helped convince Kevin Durant and Kyrie to sign as free agents and James Harden to later seek a trade.
Last season, the Nets virtually exhausted their cap space, sending it out in a number of salary dumps. In doing so, they secured two first round picks, the Hawks unprotected 2025 pick (which became Drake Powell) and the Nuggets unprotected 2032 pick, a net of three second rounders, as well as Michael Porter Jr.; Terance Mann; Ochai Agbaji; Josh Minott, Heywood Highsmith; Kobe Bufkin and Hunter Tyson. The latter three were later released.
In addition to $6.3 million team options on Sharpe and Williams, the Nets also hold a $2.5 million team option on Minott. Ochai Agbaji and Jalen Wilson are restricted free agents. Beyond that, Brooklyn presumably will have seven players — roughly half the roster — on rookie deals: Noah Clowney, the Flatbush Five plus whoever they take with their lottery pick.
There’s no rumors as to who the Nets might want to pursue although because of his relationship to Michael Porter Jr. and Denver’s cap crunch, there’s speculation that 6’8” forward Peyton Watson is a player Brooklyn might like.
