Nets Add Malachi Smith On 10-Day Deal
March 14: Smith’s 10-day contract is official, per the Nets.
March 13: Malachi Smith has agreed to a 10-day contract with the Nets, league sources tell Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link).
The 26-year-old guard has been playing for Brooklyn’s G League affiliate in Long Island, where he’s averaging 14.4 points, 4.5 rebounds, 5.6 assists and 1.4 steals per game while shooting 52% from the field and 42% from three-point range.
Smith signed with the Nets in mid-October after the team acquired his G League rights in a trade and was waived a day later. He received a $42,650 partial guarantee in his contract, which helped Brooklyn reach the minimum salary floor.
Smith is a G League veteran who has also spent time with the Rip City Remix, Wisconsin Herd and Memphis Hustle since going undrafted out of Gonzaga in 2023. He signed an Exhibit 10 deal with Portland in 2023, but has yet to appear in an NBA game.
The Nets have an open roster spot after Grant Nelson‘s 10-day contract expired on Sunday. They decided not to re-sign the rookie forward even though coach Jordi Fernandez was complimentary of his effort.
With no NBA experience, Smith will earn $73,153 during the 10-day contract. If the deal becomes official on Saturday, he will be eligible to appear in six games before it expires.
New York Notes: Robinson, Alvarado, Minott, Porter Jr.
Mitchell Robinson played a season-high 31 minutes on Friday and he made the most of his increased role. The Knicks center grabbed a career-high 22 rebounds, nine offensive, in a nine-point victory over Indiana.
Robinson has been on a load management plan all season.
“It’s obviously shown that it’s paid off,” coach Mike Brown told the New York Post’s Jared Schwartz, “because of his ability to, knock on wood, stay on the floor and play in games and play the minutes he played tonight.”
It’s a good sign for a big man, who will be on the free agent market this summer if he doesn’t sign an extension before then.
Here’s more on the New York teams:
- Knicks guard Jose Alvarado is frustrated by his lack of three-point success since being traded to New York, according to Schwartz. “I just gotta continue to trust in my work. I’ve been a good shooter my whole career,” he said. “It’s a different road, a different situation here. You asked me how [my three-point shooting] is, it sucks, so I gotta get better at it.” Since knocking down eight three-pointers against the Sixers on Feb. 11, Alvarado, who holds a $4.5MM option on next season’s contract, has made just five of 34 attempts. He didn’t even take a shot in 13 minutes against the Pacers on Friday.
- Josh Minott had a career night against Atlanta on Thursday, notching 24 points, three rebounds, three steals and three blocks in 24 minutes. He was acquired by the Nets from Boston prior to last month’s trade deadline. “I’ve been waiting on it,” Minott told Brian Lewis of the New York Post. “But at the end of the day, I’m not going to call it pointless — but it’s one goal. So overall, I don’t want to say satisfied, but I’m pretty happy with my performance. But at the end of the day, it’s about getting numbers in the right column.” The Nets hold a $2.58MM option on Minott’s non-guaranteed contract for next season. If it’s exercised, his salary would become guaranteed on July 15.
- The Nets’ leading scorer, Michael Porter Jr., won’t play this afternoon against the Sixers due to an ankle sprain, Lewis tweets. This will be the 15th game Porter has missed this season.
Atlantic Notes: Nelson, Sharpe, Edgecombe, Embiid
Rookie forward Grant Nelson has returned to the Nets‘ G League affiliate in Long Island, reports Brian Lewis of The New York Post (via Twitter).
However, Nelson won’t play for the Long Island Nets again this season, according to Lewis, who says the 24-year-old has patellar tendinitis, colloquially known as jumper’s knee.
Nelson’s injury explains why Brooklyn decided not to re-sign him to a second 10-day contract earlier this week after he played pretty well during his first 10-day deal with the Nets, Lewis notes.
Here’s more from around the Atlantic Division:
- Nets center Day’Ron Sharpe was diagnosed with a torn ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) in his left thumb on Thursday and requires season-ending surgery. Head coach Jordi Fernandez was pleased with the strides Sharpe made during his fifth NBA season, as Lewis tweets. “I’m very happy with what I’ve seen from Day’Ron, the hard work he put in and how much better he’s gotten,” Fernandez said. “Obviously we wouldn’t want to see that (injury); but we know it’s fixable. And we’ll go and do surgery, then we’ll have a timetable.” Sharpe could be a free agent this summer if the Nets decline his $6.25MM team option.
- Philadelphia was missing six players (Joel Embiid, Paul George, Tyrese Maxey, Kelly Oubre Jr., Andre Drummond and Adem Bona) who account for approximately $160MM in payroll on Thursday. The team predictably lost to the top-seeded Pistons in Detroit. As Tony Jones of The Athletic writes, VJ Edgecombe has flashed star-level upside as a rookie, but the Sixers need last year’s No. 3 overall pick to become a primary offensive option in the next few weeks if they hope to make the playoffs. A week ago, the 76ers were the No. 6 seed in the East, but they’ve fallen to No. 9 with the Magic (six straight wins), Heat (seven straight) and Hawks (eight straight) surging past them in the standings. “I just want to win, and I just want to do the things that allow my team to win,” Edgecombe told The Athletic. “If that means my team needs me to take more shots, I’m ready for that. But, mainly, I just need to do the things that my team needs me to do.”
- Embiid (oblique strain), who has missed seven consecutive games, is set to be reevaluated on Friday. While the Sixers haven’t issued a formal update yet, the former league MVP has already been ruled out of Saturday’s game vs. Brooklyn, per Jones (Twitter link).
Wizards, Nets Eliminated From Postseason Contention
The Wizards and Nets were both eliminated from postseason contention on Thursday night when each team lost, per Keith Smith of Spotrac (Twitter link).
Washington dropped to 16-49 after falling in overtime at Orlando on Thursday. The Wizards only have 17 games left and are 18 wins behind the No. 10 Hornets (34-33), so they have no way to make up the deficit.
The circumstances are very similar with Brooklyn, which dropped to 17-49 following Thursday’s loss at Atlanta. The Nets have 16 games left and are 17 wins (16.5 games) behind Charlotte.
The Wizards and Nets are the third and fourth teams who have been formally ruled out of postseason contention, joining the Pacers and Kings.
Washington’s 2026 first-round pick is top-eight protected and will convey to New York if it lands outside the top eight. If the season ended today, that selection would have zero chance of conveying, since the Wizards have the third-worst record in the NBA and could finish no worse than seventh in the draft lottery. In that scenario, the Wizards would convey two-second round picks (in 2026 and 2027) to the Knicks.
The Nets don’t have to worry about their 2026 first-rounder, which they control. They do not have control over their own 2027 first-round pick — the Rockets have the right to swap their selection with Brooklyn’s. The Nets would still control two 2027 first-rounders if they have a worse record than the Rockets next year — Houston’s and New York’s.
Note: A previous version of this post incorrectly stated that Washington was eliminated from postseason contention prior to Thursday’s game vs. Orlando. The Wizards technically weren’t eliminated until after they lost to the Magic.
Nets’ Day’Ron Sharpe To Undergo Season-Ending Thumb Surgery
Nets center Day’Ron Sharpe has been diagnosed with a torn ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) in his left thumb and will undergo season-ending surgery, the team announced in a press release (Twitter link).
A North Carolina native who played one year of college basketball at UNC prior to being selected 29th overall in the 2021 draft, Sharpe had a productive fifth season for the Nets. The 6’10” big man averaged career highs in several categories in 2025/26, including points (8.7), rebounds (6.7) assists (2.3), steals (1.1), and minutes (18.7) per game.
Sharpe appeared in a career-best 62 games this season, shooting a career-high 60.1% from the field and 67.8% from the free throw line. He primarily came off the bench behind Nic Claxton, though he made seven starts when Claxton was injured.
This is the third straight season in which the Nets have been better when Sharpe is on the court than when he’s not playing. During Sharpe’s minutes, Brooklyn held a net rating of -4.3, which is the top mark on the team among rotation regulars. When the 24-year-old wasn’t playing, the team’s net rating plummeted to -11.4.
The Nets hold a $6.25MM team option on Sharpe for next season. If they exercise it, he will be an unrestricted free agent in 2027.
If Brooklyn declines the option to try to work out a long-term contract, the Nets would have an exclusive negotiating window with Sharpe before other teams would be able to talk to him on June 30. That window would open the day after the NBA Finals end — it could start anywhere from June 10-20, depending on how long the series lasts.
Atlantic Notes: Demin, Sixers, Ingram, Shead
The Nets’ top rookie, Egor Demin, is out for the season due to a left foot injury. Demin didn’t want his first season cut short, according to Brian Lewis of the New York Post, but the pain he was experiencing in his foot grew progressively worse.
“He’s been a kid that wants to play, wants to be out there, wants to develop — and nothing better than playing real games to get better at this level,” coach Jordi Fernández said. “Obviously when you have discomfort and it doesn’t allow you to play at that level, we had to find solutions. We were trying to find the best way. And at the end of the day, the good thing is it’s [a] non-surgical procedure, which is good.”
The expectation is that Demin will be able to avoid surgery as a result of being shut down now.
“Obviously the summer and getting him to work and get better throughout the process and having a summer is important,” Fernandez said. “So, the fact he’s not going to be able to play these 20-some games, it’s not the best, because he wants to and we value real reps. But his health is the number one priority. And we’re very, very optimistic and positive about it.”
Dr. Andrew Brief of the Ridgewood Orthopedic Group said the Nets made the right move.
“He might just have a high pain tolerance. But it seems like an opportune moment for the Brooklyn Nets to shut him down now, given the fact that he’s having symptoms, and he’s had recurrence,” Dr. Brief told Lewis. “It’s probably affecting his play, and the team is not in the situation right now where they’re playing for a playoff spot.”
Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:
- The Sixers are already without Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and Kelly Oubre Jr. due to injuries for tonight’s game at Detroit. Adem Bona (back) and Johni Broome (knee) are also listed as out and Andre Drummond (back) is listed as questionable, which means the team will be severely depleted up front, Derek Bodner of PHLY Sports tweets.
- Raptors forward Brandon Ingram‘s shortcomings become more apparent when he’s not on the floor with star forward Scottie Barnes, Eric Koreen of The Athletic writes. Ingram’s weaknesses as a top option have surfaced during the team’s recent nose dive. Ingram is a willing passer but not a quick decision-maker, according to Koreen, and he’s been in a shooting slump.
- Raptors guard Jamal Shead showed some signs of breaking out of his offensive slump. He had nine points, three assists and no turnovers in 20 minutes against New Orleans on Wednesday. Prior to that, he was shooting just 20 percent from the floor in the month of March, Michael Grange of Sportsnet notes. Overall, Shead is shooting 36.8 percent from the field and he needs to be more of a scoring threat to be an effective NBA player, Grange contends.
Checking In On Open Roster Spots
As our tracker shows, the following teams currently have one spot available on their 15-man standard rosters:
- Brooklyn Nets
- Golden State Warriors
- Houston Rockets
- Orlando Magic
- Toronto Raptors
The Nets have an opening after they decided not to re-sign rookie forward Grant Nelson, whose 10-day contract expired on Sunday night. They’re still operating below the salary cap, so there isn’t anything preventing them from signing another player.
The Warriors and Rockets are operating in luxury tax territory, and while they have plenty of room below their hard caps to add a 15th man, they’re probably not all that eager to increase their projected tax bills by bringing in someone who won’t play at all.
The Magic and Raptors are both operating less than $1MM away from the tax line, but each team has enough room to bring in a minimum-salary veteran on a rest-of-season contract without becoming a taxpayer, so if there’s someone out there they like, they don’t necessarily have to wait.
Toronto is expected to hold off at least a few more days though, in order to avoid a scenario in which the team wins a couple playoff series and Immanuel Quickley’s $500K bonus for making the Eastern Conference Finals pushes the Raptors’ salary over the tax line.
The Kings and Jazz are worth mentioning too. Sacramento’s 15th spot is currently held by Killian Hayes, whose second 10-day contract will expire on Saturday night. Utah, meanwhile, has two players — Mo Bamba and Andersson Garcia — signed to 10-day deals through next week.
Finally, there’s one notable team not mentioned in the list above because they technically have three open 15-man roster spots, not just one. That’s the Celtics. Boston is in the midst of executing an intricately timed plan to meet the NBA’s rules related to roster minimums for the rest of the season while narrowly staying out of the tax.
It’s a safe bet that Boston will stick with just 12 players for the maximum allowable 14 days before making a couple roster additions in mid-March. Current two-way player Max Shulga will likely get a promotion at that time for financial reasons (his rookie minimum salary wouldn’t be subject to “tax variance“). If all goes according to plan, the Celtics will be able to sign a 15th man on the last day of the regular season without surpassing the tax threshold.
Huge Decision On Michael Porter Jr. Awaits This Summer
- The Nets face a major decision this summer on Michael Porter Jr., Brian Lewis of The New York Post notes in a subscriber-only piece. Porter, who has cooled down after a sensational first half of the season, will be eligible for an extension, and general manager Sean Marks will have to determine whether he’s worth a major investment or if it’s wiser for Brooklyn to get whatever it can in a trade. Sources have told Lewis that Porter has discussed his future with Marks and would like to remain with the Nets. Porter, who sat out Monday’s game, talked about his focus for the remainder of the season. “The motivation to make the playoffs might not be there,” he said, “but the motivation individually — as a player, as a person, to go out there and work on my skills, my leadership skills, and my individual things within the team — that’s still there. So, you can’t just throw away a season because you’re not making the playoffs.”
- Both teams were shorthanded as the Nets defeated Memphis on Monday. The victory dropped Brooklyn to fourth in the lottery race, but players said they’re focused on trying to be successful rather than tanking, Lewis adds in a separate story. “We’re trying to win every game,” Day’Ron Sharpe said. “Nobody likes losing. So just always trying to win and always bring good energy.”
Nets Decide Not To Re-Sign Grant Nelson
The Nets decided not to give Grant Nelson a second 10-day contract after his first expired on Sunday night, league sources tell Brian Lewis of The New York Post.
In 35 combined minutes across four games with the Nets, Nelson compiled 17 points, six rebounds, five assists, five blocks and one steal while shooting 5-of-9 from the field (55.6%) and 7-of-10 from the foul line (70.0%). He also had six personal fouls and four turnovers.
The former North Dakota State and Alabama forward’s best game came against Cleveland on March 1, when he had 11 points, four rebounds, three blocks and a steal in 20 minutes.
Lewis is surprised Brooklyn declined to re-sign Nelson, as the 23-year-old showcased impressive “mobility and defensive energy.” Head coach Jordi Fernandez praised Nelson prior to Saturday’s game, though he acknowledged his future was up in the air.
“[He’s] a very good basketball player. Everything he does, he does it well,” Fernandez said. “He doesn’t over-dribble or try to do too much. Everything is efficient. His size is great. He’s a multi-positional defender, very good play-maker, fast. All of those things have been very good. It translates to this level. Obviously right now we have one more game and then after that we’ll have to discuss and see what the next move going forward is.”
Nelson spent most of his rookie season in the G League with the Nets’ affiliate team in Long Island, which still controls his NBAGL rights. But he’s now an NBA free agent.
The Nets now have an opening on their standard roster, and Lewis suggests Chaney Johnson could be a name to watch. Johnson, who is on a two-way contract, has yet to appear in a game for Brooklyn, but has played well with Long Island, Lewis notes.
If they choose to go that route, the Nets would have until the final day of the regular season (April 12) to convert Johnson to a standard contract, though they’d be unable to back-fill his two-way spot — the deadline to sign a player to a two-way contract was March 4.
Nets’ Egor Dëmin Done For Season Due To Foot Injury
Nets guard Egor Dëmin will miss the remainder of the 2025/26 season due to increased plantar fasciitis in his left foot, the team announced in a press release (Twitter link via Brian Lewis of The New York Post).
The Russian rookie is expected to resume basketball activities early in the offseason and be a full participant in the team’s summer development program, per the Nets.
Dëmin played one college season at BYU prior to being selected No. 8 overall in last year’s draft. The 6’8″ guard was viewed as a long-term developmental prospect after averaging 10.6 points, 5.5 assists, 3.9 rebounds and 1.2 steals on .412/.272/.695 shooting in 33 appearances (27.5 minutes per game) with the Cougars last season.
In 52 games with Brooklyn in 2025/26, Dëmin averaged 10.3 PPG, 3.3 APG and 3.2 RPG in 25.2 MPG. The 20-year-old drastically improved from three-point range (38.5%) and the free throw line (81.3%) compared to his freshman year, though he didn’t draw many fouls (1.3 FTA) and struggled to convert inside the arc (43.3% on 2.4 attempts per game).
Dëmin missed most of training camp and the preseason while rehabilitating from a plantar fascia tear in his left foot. He had missed Brooklyn’s last four games after feeling more pain in his foot.
“He’s struggled with plantar fasciitis, and the soreness has increased lately,” head coach Jordi Fernandez said last week. “So we’re being cautious and trying to figure out what’s the best way for him moving forward.”
Fellow rookie guards Nolan Traore and Ben Saraf are candidates for more playing time with Dëmin sidelined.