{"id":758,"date":"2025-10-14T05:39:14","date_gmt":"2025-10-14T05:39:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/758\/"},"modified":"2025-10-14T05:39:14","modified_gmt":"2025-10-14T05:39:14","slug":"nets-cut-drew-timme-and-dariq-whitehead-though-they-still-could-return","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/758\/","title":{"rendered":"Nets cut Drew Timme and Dariq Whitehead — though they still could return"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Nets waived power forward Drew Timme and guard Dariq Whitehead on Monday, easing their roster crunch and getting close to their mandated limit.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The move ended the gamble the Nets had taken on local Newark native Whitehead, an injury-plagued prospect who\u2019d been arguably the best schoolboy talent in the country just three years ago.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It remains to be seen whether it ended Timme\u2019s time as a Net, still eligible for their final open two-way spot.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Whitehead was on a guaranteed $3.3 million deal \u2014 which the Nets must pay \u2014 though Timme\u2019s deal wasn\u2019t guaranteed. <\/p>\n

It leaves the Nets $161,000 above the minimum salary floor according to ESPN Insider Bobby Marks, though they now have 19 players and still have to get down to 18 by Tuesday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Timme had inked a multiyear contract with the Nets near the end of last season, averaging a surprising 12.1 points and 7.2 rebounds in nine games, then backing that up with an impressive performance in Las Vegas summer league. <\/p>\n

\"DrewDrew Timme could still return to the Nets on a two-way deal. NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n

But the deal was not guaranteed, and he was made redundant when Danny Wolf fell to the Nets at the end of the first-round in June\u2019s draft<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While Wolf doesn\u2019t have Timme\u2019s array of post moves, he\u2019s light years better as a passer and is four years younger.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Still, the 25-year-old Timme could still be back, with a source calling it \u201cundetermined\u201d whether the Texan lands the Nets\u2019 final two-way spot.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"DariqDariq Whitehead was on a guaranteed $3.3 million deal \u2014 which the Nets must pay. Getty Images<\/p>\n

Despite being just 21, Whitehead\u2019s prospects seem dimmer.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Originally seen as a viable gamble with the 22nd overall pick in 2023, Whitehead never could fully overcome a string of injuries and trio of surgeries: August 2022, June \u201923 and January \u201924. <\/p>\n

He was on borrowed time that finally ran out on Monday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFollow all the basketball buzz in Brooklyn\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSign up for Inside the Nets by Brian Lewis, exclusively on Sports+.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\tThank you\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

A fractured foot led to surgery on Whitehead\u2019s right fifth metatarsal at Duke, and after it didn\u2019t heal properly, he needed a second procedure with bone grafting. <\/p>\n

Finally, a stress reaction in his left shin forced surgery to end his rookie campaign.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Whitehead skipped summer league to work on his body, but never quite managed to fully recapture the explosion that made him the top-ranked high school recruit out of Montverde Academy (Fla.) by Rivals. <\/p>\n

After the Nets spent three first-round picks on point guards and a fourth first-rounder on wing Drake Powell \u2014 a direct positional competitor \u2014 Whitehead ends his Nets career having averaged 5.3 points in 22 games over two seasons.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Nets still have to cut down to 18 players \u2014 15 standard deals and three two-ways \u2014 and right now they have 17 standard deals and two two-ways. <\/p>\n

Jalen Wilson is partially guaranteed for $88,000, while Tyrese Martin is non-guaranteed. <\/p>\n

They are the logical choice for the last standard deal, with Fanbo Zeng on Exhibit 10.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Nets waived power forward Drew Timme and guard Dariq Whitehead on Monday, easing their roster crunch and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":759,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[98,100,355,99,21,9,24,63,319],"class_list":{"0":"post-758","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-brooklyn","8":"tag-brooklyn","9":"tag-brooklyn-headlines","10":"tag-brooklyn-nets","11":"tag-brooklyn-news","12":"tag-nba","13":"tag-new-york","14":"tag-new-york-city","15":"tag-nyc","16":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/758","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=758"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/758\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/759"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=758"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=758"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=758"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}