The Brooklyn Nets have acquired Kobe Bufkin, a 2023 first-round draft pick, from the Atlanta Hawks, surrendering only cash considerations in the process. ESPN’s Shams Charania was first with the news, and in reporting it, he summed up the logic for both sides…
Michael Scotto of HoopsHype reports that Brooklyn gave up $110,000 — the bare minimum required — for Bufkin’s services.
Bufkin, who will turn 22 years old on Saturday, spent his first two seasons with the Atlanta Hawks. Spending most of his time with their G League outfit, Bufkin’s NBA stats are essentially irrelevant: He appeared in just 27 games for Atlanta, averaging five points on a dismal 44.5% true shooting, but on a total of just 139 field-goal attempts over two years.
Though it hasn’t materialized at the NBA level, Bufkin, who is from Grand Rapids, earned a decent prospect pedigree over two years at the University of Michigan, where current Nets assistant Juwan Howard was the head coach. Bufkin averaged 14 points a night in his sophomore year, showcasing real craft on his drives, good hands defensively, and just enough outside shooting and playmaking ability for the Hawks to draft him at #15 the following summer.
Two yers later, Kobe Bufkin arrives in Brooklyn as a negative asset; he is owed $4.5 million this season with a team option for 2026-27. It is the third salary dump the Nets have facilitated without giving up a player this summer, following their acquisitions of Haywood Highsmith and Terance Mann, but it’s really the fourth salary dump in total, given the Michael Porter Jr. / Cam Johnson swap that netted Brooklyn a 2032 first-rounder.
Unlike those three players, Bufkin brings zero NBA pedigree to the Nets. He is now competing with of other young guards for playing time, including the three rookies Brooklyn drafted this year. As for the Nets, there are still decisions to be made:
- Including Fanbo Zeng and Ricky Council IV — they have agreed to but not officially signed deals with the Nets — Brooklyn is now up to 24 training camp invites. The limit is 21. Training camp opens on September 23.
- By opening night, NBA teams must roster no more than 15 standard contracts, plus three two-way contracts. The Nets are currently carrying 15 standard contracts and four partially guaranteed or non-guaranteed contracts. Thus they’ll need to trim the roster before opening night, but doing so would bring them back below the $139.2 million salary floor, which they cleared with Bufkin’s addition.
Look for more bits and pieces of Nets news before training camp opens next week. For a bit more on Kobe Bufkin’s addition, here’s my brief pre-draft interview with the soon-to-be 22-year-old guard.
