Evaluating the Brooklyn Nets’ Contract Situations

The Brooklyn Nets’ roster is replete with interesting and unresolved contractual matters that will likely extend into next summer.

Apr 10, 2024; Brooklyn, New York, USA; Brooklyn Nets guard Dennis Schroder (17) brings the ball up court against the Toronto Raptors during the first quarter at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images / Brad Penner-Imagn Images

The Brooklyn Nets are starting to figure out what next season, the first one in a total rebuild, might look like in terms of rotations, training camp signings and available players. 

Just as pressingly, Brooklyn will need to begin resolving who is going to stay with the organization. Only three Nets — Nic Claxton, Cam Johnson, and Shake Milton — are absolutely guaranteed to stay past next summer, meaning that players should be hungry to prove their value ahead of potential free agency. 

Trendon Watford, Dennis Schröder, Bojan Bogdanovic and Ben Simmons are all unrestricted free agents after this season. They will be free to negotiate with any NBA team at that point. 

Watford, a 6-foot-8 forward who played in 63 games last campaign, is the youngest of the four expiring contracts at 23 years old. He has a chance of keeping his role off the bench, although the Nets could find it more interesting to invest playing time in the bigs the team drafted in Noah Clowney and Day’Ron Sharpe.

On the other hand, the remaining players represent the Nets’ most veteran options on this current squad. Their experience might be valuable this season, but one would think that their goals do not align with Brooklyn’s rebuild. 

Schröder is a starter-level NBA point guard coming off yet another impressive summer with Germany, being named in the Olympics All-Star Five. Last season for Brooklyn, he averaged 14.6 points and six assists in 29 games. Schröder can continue putting up those numbers for the Nets, but it would make more sense for him to find a new, more competitive home on a legitimate playoff contender. 

At 35 years old, Bogdanovic is by some distance the oldest player on this Nets team. He played for the New York Knicks last season, averaging 10.4 points on a career-low 19.2 minutes in 29 games. The Croatian wing wasn’t at full health, however, dealing with left foot and wrist injuries that eventually ended his season.

Bogdanovic, like Schröder, can add veteran know-how to an ultra-young Nets squad. At the same time, his NBA career is likely dwindling. If Bogdanovic starts the season looking spry and like a plausible contributor for a playoff team, Brooklyn should look to move him on as soon as possible. 

Simmons’ case is more specific, given that he’s coming off two years of season-ending back injuries. New head coach Jordi Fernández will need to find where the Australian point guard fits on his idea of the Nets, and Simmons will need to prove to the Nets and to teams across the league that he can be relied on again. At his best, Simmons is probably the most skilled player on this team — but he hasn’t been able to show that since being traded to the outer borough.

Dorian Finney-Smith, the Nets’ remaining “vet,” technically hits unrestricted free agency in 2026; however, he has a player option in 2025 that would see him make about $15 million next season. The former Mavs forward should be expected to pick that up, but the Nets should be hoping to find him a new team before then. Keeping Finney-Smith would not necessarily be a bad move — he’s versatile enough to fit different needs for Brooklyn while allowing young players to develop — but championship contenders will likely be interested in him, despite said player option. 

cam thomas buckets but they progressively get harder pic.twitter.com/BovFdq7Jzt

— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) September 9, 2024

Brooklyn must also resolve the futures of its young players. Ziaire Williams, Jaylen Martin, Day’Ron Sharpe and Cam Thomas will hit restricted free agency next summer. Of course, the Nets would still be in control of their situations at that point but it is imperative for Brooklyn to start determining some of their long-term futures. 

Thomas is of particular interest. He’s a proven NBA scorer, perhaps even one of the best bucket-getters in the league, but with questions still to answer about how conducive his playstyle is to winning. The former LSU guard is almost certain to be a Net past next summer, but his upcoming new contract will be revealing of his perception around the organization and league.

Sharpe, like Thomas’ scoring, also has an outlier NBA skill in his rebounding. The 22-year-old big crushes the boards in the advanced numbers, but he likely needs to take a leap in what will be his fourth NBA season. Sharpe’s role has remained fairly similar throughout his rookie contract, and he now needs to prove that he can play more than 10 to 15 minutes a night while beating out his frontcourt competition in the rotation. 

The Nets have upcoming team options on the rest of their young players, namely Keon Johnson, Jalen Wilson, Dariq Whitehead and Noah Clowney. Johnson and Wilson only have team options at the end of this season — Johnson would be unrestricted in 2026, while Wilson would be restricted — but those should not be overly stressful for the Nets.

Whitehead and Clowney are much more intriguing. The Nets have team options on both for the next two years, as long as they are picked up by Oct. 31 of that respective season. 

Clowney will compete with Sharpe for frontcourt minutes, and the Alabama product has a real chance of cracking the rotation. Clowney spent most of last season with the Long Island Nets in the G League, but he was a constant in the Nets' final stretch of last year, averaging eight points and five rebounds in 21.8 minutes over a 13-game period.

Whitehead is still bouncing back from an injury-riddled last few years, but his return in the Summer League was a great step forward. The former five-star recruit looked rusty — to be expected — and will probably find himself on Long Island a lot this season. The Nets will keep a long-term outlook on Whitehead, whose goal should be to feature in Brooklyn’s end-of-the-season stretch like Clowney last year.

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