They’re still going to work at HSS Training Center, still working out prospects, interviewing them too. They’re talking to agents, too, about their clients. Whatever happens on the other side of the East River isn’t going to stop the process. Carry on.
Obviously, the NBA Draft, now 12 days and a great deal of fan anxiety away, tops the list of priorities. We try to keep track of who’s been in — or in the case of Mikel Brown Jr., who’s been visited — at this point, various reports have identified a total of 26. Here’s the latest, courtesy of USA Today’s Rookie Wire and Hoophype workout trackers.
- Tre White, Kansas 6’7” sharpshooting wing who had splits of 45/40/87 and proved himself a workhorse of the Jayhawks, playing 31.5 minutes per in 35 games.
- Michael Ajayi, a 6’7”, 235 pound power forward at Butler, he averaged a double-double: 16.4 points and 11.1 boards while playing solid defense for the Bulldogs.
- Seth Trimble, North Carolina, another 6’7” senior like White and Ajayi, he’s more of a combo guard.
- Milos Uzan, a 6’4” 23-year-old point guard for the Houston Cougars with remarkable durability, having played 77 games over the past two years while averaging 11.1 points and 4.0 assists.
- Lamar Wilkerson, Indiana’s 6’6” shooting guard who’s been one of the NCAA’s top scorers the last two years, averaging better than 20 points a game both years while shooting better than 40% from deep.
Of that group, only White is on anyone’s Top 100 Big Board, at No. 65.
Also scheduled is Kingston Flemings, the Houston lead guard who of course has long been tagged as a possible pick between Nos. 5 and 8. Brett Siegel is reporting both the Clippers picking at No. 5 and Nets are brining him in this week. No word on when he’ll be in.
Flemings is the most diminutive of the four guards seen as possible Nets picks at No. 6, measuring 6’2.5” at the NBA Combine, a half inch taller than Danius Acuff but with a wingspan almost three inches shorter. Where Flemings exceled at the Combine was in the athletic measures. He was first around the four in shuttle run, standing vertical and max vertical — an impressive 40.5^ — and second, by one one-hundredth of a second, to Acuff in the 3/4-court sprint. That as well as his defense is what sets him apart. His shooting isn’t bad either. He was first in the 3-point star drill (19/25) and second in shooting off the dribble. Can he convince the Nets brass to look beyond his size?
Of course, as many have suggested, Jalen Brunson’s exploits in New York have many re-thinking small guards in general. Acuff has been quoted repeatedly that he has has been studying Brunson and a league decision maker told ND after their second year of bad lottery luck their best option might be “take one of the guards and for the best. Maybe Acuff if you think he can be like Brunson for you.”
No word (yet) on how the two bigs — Nate Ament and Karim Lopez — fared in their faceoff Tuesday, but the very fact that the Nets set up such a 1-on-1 is a pretty good indicator there’s interest either at No. 6 or if the team succeeds in adding a second pick close enough to the top of the Draft to snag them. Going back as far as last fall, a Nets insider expressed interest in getting another pick in the loaded 2026 Draft while that same league decision-maker quoted above told ND that there is only one reason a GM accumulates as many picks. “The only reason you bank so many firsts like that is to be able to strike opportunistically,” he said.
As for moving down, that seems less likely with multiple sources saying it appears that the Nets will stay at No. 6. The most recent such report came Thursday with Jake Fischer of The Steinline writing that the Nets are “indicating at this juncture” that they intend to stay where the Lottery put them.
Will other chess pieces move between now and 7:30 p.m. ET on June 23? Fischer devotes a lot of his latest report to that question (after suggesting that the Celtics may join the Heat in pursuit of Giannis Antetokounmpo.)
Most teams picking behind the Clippers are currently operating under the assumption that LA will stand pat and keep their No. 5 overall selection … with Wagler as a strong candidate to be taken with the pick that the Clippers only acquired when the May 10 lottery dropped Indiana’s pick out of the top four. The Pacers were then compelled to send it to Clipperland as part of their February trade to acquire Ivica Zubac.
If the Nets decide that they prefer to keep the No. 6 overall selection — as they are indicating at this juncture — that could mean that Dallas at No. 9 proves to be the highest-slotted team willing to move down.
Sacramento, which holds the No. 7 selection, has been widely connected to Acuff due largely to the fact Kings general manager Scott Perry once coached Acuff’s father at Eastern Kentucky in the 1990s. That connection has also sparked considerable chatter about Sacramento wanting to move up to ensure that it can land Acuff, but sources tell The Stein Line that the Kings are comfortable staying where they are.
As for the oft-rumored possibility that the Thunder might be willing to move either the 12th or 17th picks, Fischer wrote this:
The Thunder, as we’ve covered on numerous occasions recently, simply don’t have roster room to make (and keep) all of their current draft selections: Nos. 12, 17 and 37. They already have 15 players under contract for next season.
What a lot of fans don’t realize is that the next Nets move may not wait until June 23 and the Draft. It could come in days. As Bobby Marks reminded people in a tweet Thursday, teams can start negotiating with their own free agents the day after the NBA crowns its 2025-26 champion. That could be as early as this weekend if the Knicks beat the Spurs in San Antonio Saturday night.
The big name for the Nets, of course, is Michael Porter Jr., seen four days ago enjoying the ruins at Machu Picchu in Peru.
Mike Scotto of Hoopshype wrote Wednesday about his status, suggesting that while the Nets seem willing to extend him, that could change.
Porter Jr., who turns 28 on June 29th, drew trade interest from teams, including the Golden State Warriors, as the deadline neared. The Warriors considered parting with a first-round pick for Porter Jr. hours before the deadline, league sources told HoopsHype. In addition, Terance Mann was brought up in expanded discussions involving Porter Jr., but there were complications regarding his involvement, which would’ve necessitated a potential third team, HoopsHype has learned. Brooklyn also values Mann, who was a starter last season and is considered a strong veteran presence in their young locker room.
With Porter Jr. entering the prime of his career and the Nets in the midst of a rebuild, executives across the league have always questioned if their timelines would fit beyond his current contract. If the Nets don’t agree to an extension with Porter Jr., teams around the league are expected to poke around on his trade availability.
Historically, when the Nets want to keep one of their veteran players, they have a tendency to move quickly. Over the last several years, they’ve signed Kevin Durant, Joe Harris, Nic Claxton and Cam Johnson to big deals without much fuss. (Interesting side note Scotto had on Mann who will be eligible for his own extension on October 1.)
Also, Thursday, Yossi Gozlan of Third Apron provided an example of how an MPJ contract could work within the Nets salary cap.
Third Apron has gone back and forth on Porter Jr.’s value on his current contract, but something in the mid-$30 million range, like Bridges’ recent deal, makes sense. The Nets could use roughly $9 million of their cap space to raise his $40.8 million salary to his $49.5 million maximum salary. They could then add up to four additional seasons with his 2027-28 salary reduced by 40 percent.
Here’s an example of a framework that could make sense:
2026-27: $40,806,150 $49,500,000 (30 percent of the salary cap)
2027-28: $29,700,000 (18 percent)
2028-29: $32,076,000 (18.5 percent)
2029-30: $34,452,000 (18.9 percent)
2030-31: $36,828,000 (19.3 percent)
Such a framework could pay Porter Jr. a lucrative deal over multiple years while keeping his annual salary lower in the later seasons. That could increase his trade value in the future if he continues playing well on a team-friendly contract.
There will be other free agency decisions for Sean Marks & co. in the near future, Gozlan wrote, the most prominent and most likely being Day-Ron Sharpe.
Day’Ron Sharpe has a $6.25 million team option that he’s outplayed. The Nets could decline it and make him an unrestricted free agent while retaining Bird rights, and they could begin negotiating a new contract with him once the Finals end. Both sides could agree to a deal that gives him a higher annual salary while locking in multiple years.
There’s a lot of digest there, as there is after Wednesday’s Knicks-Spurs game that has to be considered one of the best basketball games ever played anywhere. As we noted in a tweet, good for those fans who followed the Knicks through their deepest, darkest days. Hoping we can do the same … some day.
COVERS INTEL:
