The Nets finalized their 15-man regular-season roster Sunday with a surprise move, waiving third-year guard Kobe Bufkin, who they acquired last month from the Atlanta Hawks for cash considerations.
Bufkin, the 15th overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, appeared in two preseason games for Brooklyn, averaging 7.0 points and 2.5 rebounds in 10.9 minutes per contest. Finally healthy after two injury-plagued seasons in Atlanta, the 22-year-old now enters free agency looking for a fresh opportunity.
By waiving Bufkin, the Nets will enter the regular season $190K above the minimum salary floor and hold $15.3 million in available cap space, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks. If the Nets had failed to reach the minimum salary floor, which is 90 percent of the cap, they would have forfeited their share of the league’s projected $12.8 million luxury tax distribution per team.
The Nets waived former first-round pick Dariq Whitehead and big man Drew Timme last week. Their finalized group of standard contracts now includes Cam Thomas, Egor Demin, Ben Saraf, Nolan Traore, Michael Porter Jr., Terance Mann, Ziaire Williams, Haywood Highsmith, Drake Powell, Tyrese Martin, Jalen Wilson, Nic Claxton, Day’Ron Sharpe, Noah Clowney and Danny Wolf. They have one open two-way spot.
Some expected Brooklyn’s final roster spot to come down to a battle between Wilson and Martin, but both players will enter the regular season with their spots secure.
Brooklyn opted to keep Haywood Highsmith over Bufkin despite the veteran’s injury concerns. The team announced Sunday that Highsmith, acquired from the Miami Heat in August, experienced right knee swelling during his recovery from a meniscectomy. He’ll undergo a modified rehab program and be re-evaluated in eight weeks.
