The Brooklyn Nets have finished with their preseason as they get ready for a 2025-26 NBA campaign that they hope will be better than what most are projecting for them. While the preseason is over with, Brooklyn still has to make some tough decisions as they have to trim the roster down and it seems clarity will come at a later point in time.
The Nets announced on Saturday that they have waived forward Grant Nelson and guard Hunter Cattoor as they continue to trim the roster down to the allowable 18 (15 standard, 3 Two-Way) on the roster prior to the beginning of the regular season. With Nelson and Cattoor waived, Spotrac shows Brooklyn as having 18 players on the roster, including guard Tyson Etienne and forward EJ Liddell as the Two-Ways.
What that means is that the Nets have 16 players on the roster that are signed to standard contracts, meaning that one of those players will have to be waived in order to be roster compliant. With Brooklyn still concerned about meeting the salary floor before opening night, it seems like the two players that are fighting for the 15th and last roster spot are Tyrese Martin and Jalen Wilson.
Both Martin and Wilson are on non-guaranteed contracts so that makes them the likely cut candidates, but general manager Sean Marks could go a number of ways with the final cut. It should be noted that in Brooklyn’s preseason finale loss at the Toronto Raptors on Friday, Wilson did not play while Martin played 11 minutes and put up seven points and six rebounds.
That doesn’t mean that Martin’s spot is secure, but it does make it more likely that head coach Jordi Fernandez sees Martin as more useful for the team as this point of the season. Either way, Brooklyn is close to trimming the roster down to the required limit, but there is still plenty to play out, including the futures of Nelson, Martin, and Wilson prior to the season-opener on Oct. 22.
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