Nets swingman Ziaire Williams waived his right to veto a trade as part of his new two-year contract agreement with the Nets, per Keith Smith of Spotrac (Twitter link).
A player who re-signs with his previous team on a one-year deal or a two-year deal that includes a second-year option is typically given an implicit no-trade clause, but a team can ask the player to give up that no-trade clause upon signing. Because Williams – whose contract features a second-year team option – agreed to do so, he would lose his Bird rights if he’s traded ahead of February’s deadline.
Brooklyn has been looking to maintain trade flexibility while re-signing its free agents to short-term deals — the team has gotten Williams and Day’Ron Sharpe to waive their trade veto rights and sought to get Cam Thomas to do the same. However, Thomas opted to accept his qualifying offer, taking a lesser 2025/26 salary in order to maintain full control over a potential trade.
Here’s more from around the Atlantic:
- Following up on reports indicating that Ben Simmons rebuffed interest from the Knicks and is no longer being represented by agent Bernie Lee, Stefan Bondy of The New York Post directly connects the two developments — a source tells Bondy that Lee dropped Simmons as a client after the former No. 1 overall pick “sent signals that he wasn’t interested in whatever came from his agent’s conversations with the Knicks.”
- A panel of NBC Sports Boston staffers, including NBA insider Chris Forsberg, consider which of the Celtics‘ two-way players is most likely to help the team this season. The consensus is that big man Amari Williams, the 46th overall pick in June’s draft, has the clearest path to regular playing time, given the key frontcourt players Boston lost this offseason.
- Gina Mizell of The Philadelphia Inquirer (subscription required) explores some burning roster-related questions facing the Sixers ahead of the 2025/26 season. Outside of the obvious uncertainty related to Joel Embiid‘s and Paul George‘s availability, Mizell considers what the backcourt rotation will look like and how the team will replace Guerschon Yabusele‘s production following his departure in free agency.