The Brooklyn Nets had until 5 PM ET on Monday to cut their roster down to 15 players on standard contracts while also meeting the salary floor by opening night. Brooklyn had patient with trimming the roster down as they head into a 2025-26 season that could be another tough campaign for the franchise, but the Nets made a somewhat-surprising cut.

The Nets announced on Sunday that they waived guard Kobe Bufkin, the player that Brooklyn acquired from the Atlanta Hawks on Sep. 16 via trade by sending cash considerations ($110,000) back to the Hawks. The trade for Bufkin signaled that Brooklyn was willing to take a chance on a player that was once the 15th overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, but had not been able to show much of his game while playing behind Trae Young.

Bufkin dealt with a variety of injuries over the course of his first two seasons in the league, including a shoulder injury that ended his 2024-25 season in December. Bufkin said during Nets training camp that he was healthy and ready to go and that he was looking to show more of what he’s capable of with more playing time for a rebuilding Brooklyn team that’s looking for contributions from as many players as possible.

With Bufkin waived, that means that the Nets ultimately did not make a decision between forwards Tyrese Martin and Jalen Wilson as they kept both players on the team. As Spotrac’s Keith Smith pointed out on X, Brooklyn had to find a way to cut one player while meeting the salary floor given that the regular season is set to tip off later this week and they found a way to accomplish both goals by waiving Bufkin.

As of this writing, the Nets have 15 players on standard contracts and two players on Two-Way deals (guard Tyson Etienne and forward EJ Liddell), meaning that they have one Two-Way spot available to fill. Brooklyn waived forward Grant Nelson on Saturday, but there is the possibility that the Nets bring him back to take the last Two-Way spot or potentially forward Drew Timme could be a candidate for that role, as Brian Lewis of the New York Post recently reported.

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