Big Moves

Moe Wagner is signing a two-year, $19 million deal with the Brooklyn Nets, per HoopsHype's Michael Scotto. The contract is fully guaranteed and includes a second-year mutual option — nearly double his salary from last season after six years with the Orlando Magic.

The signing directly addresses Brooklyn's biggest post-draft need: a backup center after Nic Claxton was dealt to Chicago in the Randle trade, leaving Day'Ron Sharpe thin up front. Wagner brings energy, floor-spacing at the five, and playoff experience to a young frontcourt.

It's the Nets' second outside free-agent addition in as many days, following guard Keon Ellis (2yr/$18M) — Brooklyn spending its cap room on movable veteran contracts while keeping bigger swings on the table.

Free-agent guard Keon Ellis has agreed to a two-year, $18 million guaranteed deal with the Brooklyn Nets, ESPN's Shams Charania reported. It's the Nets' first outside free-agent addition of the 2026 offseason.

Ellis, an efficient 3-and-D guard, knows Nets head coach Jordi Fernández from their shared time in the Sacramento organization (2022-24). He shot a strong clip from three on low usage last season and gives Brooklyn a cheap, plug-in rotation piece — exactly the kind of value the front office targeted after opting to use its cap space aggressively.

The deal fits the Nets' plan of spending room on movable contracts while keeping bigger swings (a Jaylen Brown trade, Mitchell Robinson) on the table.

Nets forward Chaney Johnson is signing his two-way qualifying offer and will return next season, per HoopsHype's Michael Scotto. Johnson averaged 8.2 points on 54.3% shooting with 4.6 rebounds in 20.5 minutes across his games for Brooklyn last season, and put up 13.9 / 5.8 across 40 G League appearances.

It's a low-cost depth move that keeps a developing young forward in the organization on a two-way deal.

The Nets are keeping their young frontcourt depth, re-signing center Day'Ron Sharpe and forward Josh Minott. Both held team options for 2026-27 that Brooklyn moved off of as part of the well-reported plan to decline cheap options, open maximum cap room, then bring the players back on new deals.

Per NetsDaily and HoopsHype's Michael Scotto, Sharpe re-signed for two years, $20 million and Minott for two years, $9 million — modest, movable contracts that keep Brooklyn's flexibility intact.

It's the same playbook that saw Brooklyn decline Ziaire Williams' $6.25M option on June 28 (making him a free agent it could also re-sign). Sharpe, 23, gives the Nets rim-running and rebounding depth up front; Minott, a versatile 22-year-old forward acquired from Boston at the 2026 deadline, flashed late-season upside (10.8 ppg on 49/40/80 shooting across 16 games).

The Nets declined to tender qualifying offers to Ochai Agbaji and Jalen Wilson, making both unrestricted free agents, per HoopsHype's Michael Scotto. The move renounces Agbaji's roughly $19.15M cap hold, a real boost to Brooklyn's usable room ahead of free agency.

Agbaji averaged 6.7 points in 20 games after being acquired by Brooklyn; Wilson averaged 7.4 points over three seasons as a Net. The Nets could still bring either back at a lower number once their primary offseason business is done.

With the No. 43 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, the Brooklyn Nets selected UCLA forward Tyler Bilodeau — an elite movement shooter who led the Big Ten in three-point percentage.

Bilodeau, a 6'7" stretch four, averaged 17.6 points on 51.8/46.4/87.3 shooting splits and has raised his three-point percentage every college season. The shooting projects to translate; his defense is the swing skill.

With the sixth overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, the Brooklyn Nets selected Louisville freshman guard Mikel Brown Jr. — the consensus favorite after the Nets met with him at the combine, traveled to Orlando, and hosted a private workout.

Brown is a 20-year-old lead guard with rare shooting range (his average three-pointer came from beyond 25 feet) and high-level passing feel — the primary creator a roster built around Michael Porter Jr. and Julius Randle was missing. Scouts split on his defense and turnovers, but the offensive ceiling drew top-five consideration.

Read the full breakdown — measurables, strengths and weaknesses, player comparisons, fit, and film — on the scouting report page.

With the No. 28 pick — acquired from Minnesota in the Julius Randle trade — the Nets selected Iowa State forward Joshua Jefferson. He was drafted by the Timberwolves and sent to Brooklyn.

Jefferson is a 22-year-old, 6'8" forward who averaged 16.4 points, 7.4 rebounds and 4.8 assists at Iowa State, profiling as a well-rounded developmental piece after strides as a shooter, passer and defender.

On the eve of the 2026 NBA Draft, the Nets made their first big swing of the offseason: Brooklyn is acquiring three-time All-Star forward Julius Randle and the No. 28 pick from Minnesota in what was first reported as a three-team trade, with starting center Nic Claxton heading to the Chicago Bulls and the Timberwolves taking Brooklyn's No. 33 pick — per ESPN's Shams Charania.

For the Nets, it's a flexibility play that turns cap space into talent. Randle averaged 21.1 points, 6.7 rebounds and 5.0 assists on a strong 58.5% true shooting across 79 games for Minnesota in 2025-26 — a downhill, playmaking power forward who gives Brooklyn another shot-creator alongside Michael Porter Jr. on a young roster that badly needed offense.

It isn't free. Brooklyn parts with Nic Claxton — its best interior defender and longest-tenured rotation piece — leaving a real hole at the rim. The Nets do upgrade their second selection, moving from No. 33 up to No. 28, and now head into Tuesday's draft holding picks 6 and 28.

The cap math: Randle's 2026-27 hit is a confirmed $33.3M (3yr/$100M, with a $35.8M player option for 2027-28) against Claxton's $23.1M — a net +$10.2M that trims Brooklyn's projected room from about $31M to roughly $21M. Still real spending money. On the other sides, Minnesota sheds salary to retain free agents like Ayo Dosunmu and Bones Hyland, while Chicago adds a rim-protecting center in Claxton.

Update — July 10, 2026: the trade is now official — and it grew. What began as a three-team agreement was finalized as a FOUR-team deal once the Charlotte Hornets were folded in, merged with Minnesota's separate acquisition of LaMelo Ball from Charlotte (Nets, Timberwolves, Bulls and Hornets, per NBA.com). Brooklyn's side never changed: the Nets still receive Randle and the No. 28 pick and still send out Nic Claxton (to Chicago) and the No. 33 pick (to Minnesota). The hold-up was Mouhamadou Gueye, who couldn't be moved until July 9 under a 90-day CBA restriction; once that cleared, the deal could be completed. Finalizing it also made rookie forward Joshua Jefferson — the No. 28 pick — officially a Net, freeing him to join the Las Vegas Summer League roster after he sat out the California Classic.