What could the Nets do with their 2025 NBA restricted free-agents?

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The Brooklyn Nets have are approaching the end of their 2024-25 season as a matchup against the Toronto Raptors looms on Wednesday. The contest between the Nets and the Raptors could have huge implications for the 2025 NBA Draft, but Brooklyn also has to think about the impending free-agency of some of their important rotation players.

After this season, the Nets will have three players that could be restricted free-agents: Cam Thomas, Ziaire Williams, and Day'Ron Sharpe. As of now, there hasn't been much reporting over what each player is expected to command in free-agency, but Spotrac's Keith Smith gave his projections for each player.

Before moving forward, it needs to be noted that for a player to become a restricted free-agent, their team has to extend them a qualifying offer to make their restricted status official. Qualifying offers are determined by the player's original draft slot and the qualifying offers for the trio is as follows, per Smith: Ziaire Williams ($7.9 million, 10th overall pick), Cam Thomas ($5.9 million, 27th overall pick), and Day'Ron Sharpe ($5.9 million, 29th overall pick).

Cam Thomas​

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For Thomas, Smith projects him to get a 3-year, $45 million contract with the expectation of Brooklyn bringing him on a solid deal if another team doesn't blow those figures out of the water. Thomas is coming off a 2024-25 season in which he played just 25 games, but also averaged career-high numbers across the board.

Thomas, who is expected to miss the rest of the season with a left hamstring strain, is averaging 24.0 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 3.8 assists per game while shooting 43.8% from the field and 34.9% from three-point land. HoopsHype's Michael Scotto recently said that those around the league aren't sure what Thomas will command in free-agency, saying that his market is "all over the place."

Ziaire Williams​

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Williams is projected to sign for the veterans minimum, which would be about $2.6 million for the 2025-26 season for a player with 4 years of service time. Part of Smith's reasoning is that Williams won't be extended a qualifying offer from the Nets due to how much the offer would cost, assuming that his market would be around the minimum if he were an unrestricted free-agent.

It sounds like Smith is expecting Williams' market to be lower than his Qualifying Offer, which would make sense for the Nets to essentially bet on that despite the fact that Williams has played well for Brooklyn this season. However, Williams is currently averaging 10.2 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 1.4 assists per contest while shooting 41.5% from the field and 34.8% from deep. It will be interesting to see where his market looks like.

Day'Ron Sharpe​

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Sharpe is projected to get a 3-year, $30 million contract after proving himself to be a solid backup center to starter Nic Claxton over the past two seasons. If another team imagines that Sharpe could be a starter for them, Sharpe may be too expensive to keep for the Nets if salary cap flexibility continues to be important for them heading into next offseason and behind.

There are reports from ClutchPoints' Erik Slater about teams being interesting in trading for Sharpe heading into this season's trade deadline, but Sharpe ended up remaining in Brooklyn. Sharpe is averaging 7.9 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 1.8 assists per game while shooting 52.1% from the field and 75.7% from the free-throw line so this offseason could be one that sees teams going after Sharpe's services in free-agency.

This article originally appeared on Nets Wire: What could the Nets do with their 2025 NBA restricted free-agents?

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