Assessing the Brooklyn Nets Salary Cap Situation

Sean Marks has some maneuvering to do as the offseason comes to a close.

Feb 19, 2016; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Brooklyn Nets new general manager Sean Marks speaks to the media during a press conference before a game against the New York Knicks at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images / Brad Penner-Imagn Images

Just eight days out of training camp in Southern California, the Brooklyn Nets will soon be forced to cut down their current roster from 20 to 15 players. The franchise sits with a hard cap of $178.1 million and a luxury tax threshold of $170.8 million, slightly restricting their overall flexibility.

Luckily for general manager Sean Marks, seven of those 20 players are on either non-guaranteed or partially guaranteed deals. Yongxi Cui and Jaylen Martin are on Two-Way contracts and do not count against the cap. Amari Bailey, Killian Hayes and Tyrese Martin are all on Exhibit 10 deals, meaning they could be cut before the regular season with no financial penalty. Keon Johnson, who agreed to a two-year deal back in July, is only guaranteed $250,000 in 2024-25.

While it would come as a shock to see the NBA 2K25 Summer League MVP Jalen Wilson released, he too is only guaranteed $75,000 next season.

In theory, the Nets could move off of any one of the players mentioned in an attempt to cut down their roster, but the franchise will likely want to stash at minimum three of them. Specifically Cui, Hayes and Wilson, all of whom appear to possess the best chance to become future contributors.

Things get tighter if Brooklyn hopes to execute a preseason trade. They won't be able to take in more salary than they send out, eliminating the possibility of taking on bloated contracts alongside future draft capital.

The salary dump has become a hallmark of past successful rebuilds and is an avenue that Marks has utilized before. Remember, his acquisition of Timofey Mozgov's contract brought in D'Angelo Russell, who was eventually moved for Kevin Durant.

Rumors will persist until a definitive decision is made on the futures of Dorian Finney-Smith ($14,924,167) and Bojan Bogdanovic ($19,032,850), but moving either player could provide the crucial financial flexibility the Nets need.

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