Today won’t be as important as May 10, the date of the NBA Draft Lottery. Nor the draft, the date of which has not yet been set but somewhere in the last week of July at the Barclays Center. These two days have franchise-changing potential and the days leading up to today have been, at least for the Nets, predictable with just one trade reported at 10:30 a.m. ET: the Nets’ fifth pay cut since last summer.
The Nets acquired Ochai Agbaji, a 25-year-old 6’6″ shooting guard, a 2032 second-rounder (their fifth pick in this distant draft) and $3.5 million in cash, likely earmarked for basketball operations in exchange for the draft rights to a 29-year-old Serbian shooting guard, Vanja Marinkovic, essentially to help Toronto get its finances in order. To make Marinkovic even more obscure, he tore up his Achilles tendon. 10 days ago.
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Meanwhile, Brian Windhorst, aware of the flexibility of Sean Marks & co. have accumulated, predicted activity in the Brooklyn basketball sector. “Brooklyn, I expect to participate in several transactions in the next 24 hours.”
So, here we go!
—February 5: NBA Trade Deadline (3 p.m. ET) The Nets currently have about $15.5 million in cap space, most in the NBA. Trades must all be completed and made official by the afternoon deadline. The Nets also have other issues to take care of, like getting to 15 standard NBA contracts as well. Agbaji, at the moment, would be the 16th standard NBA contract on the roster, so someone has to go. Cam Thomas did not accompany Brooklyn to Orlando on Thursday afternoon and rumors continue to swirl about his fate. There are of course other candidates and perhaps other permutations as the day progresses.
Meanwhile, on Long Island, the players wait for the fallout to determine their fate. The deadline is often a time for teams to rethink whether a two-way deal should be elevated to a standard deal or whether a regular G League contract should be converted to a two-way deal.
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—February 8: The Nets, aka the Long Island Nets, are back in Quebec against Noblesville Boom, the Pacers subsidiary. It’s the third of four games the Nets’ G League affiliate is playing this season in Laval, a Montreal suburb, as the team hopes to establish a fan base in French-speaking Canada, 375 miles from the Thruway and Northway.
—February 10: The Nets play at Noblesville Boom in Quebec. Final game of the season in the Great White North (as opposed to the Great White Which in New York.) Between the two games, the Nets will activate a number of community activities.
—February 13-15: 2026 NBA All-Star Break in Los Angeles.
—February 13: Egor Demin will likely be Brooklyn’s only representative at the Intuit Center, home of the Clippers. He will play the game Rising Stars
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—February 14: NBA All-Star Saturday at Intuit Dome – 5 p.m. ET (NBC and Peacock)
—February 15: 75th NBA All-Star Game at Intuit Dome – 5:00 p.m. ET (NBC and Peacock)
—March 1: Deadline for waiving playoff eligibility, i.e. the buyout deadline. Players waived before March 1 can sign with a new team and participate in the NBA playoffs. Players waived after March 1 can still sign with teams, but they will not be eligible for the playoffs.
—March 1: Jalen Wilson becomes eligible for a multi-year contract.
—March 4: Last day to sign bilateral contracts. The networks currently have no openings with all three two-way deals fulfilled, but either way is not guaranteed.
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—March 28: G League regular season ends
—March 31: G League playoffs begin
—April 12: NBA regular season ends (all 30 teams play)
—April 13: Rosters set for 2026 NBA Playoffs (3 p.m. ET)
—April 13: WNBA Draft. Liberty has just one pick at No. 41 in the third round, having already swapped its first and second round picks. The draft is also important for trades.
—April 14-17: SoFi NBA Play-In Tournament
—April 18: Start of the NBA Playoffs
—April 19: WNBA training camps open. Chris DeMarco, the new Liberty coach, is getting started.
—April 25: New York Liberty’s first preseason game at Barclays Center against the Indiana Pacers and Caitlin Clark. Game time: 3 p.m. ET. This will be Clark’s first action since a groin injury ended his season on Jan. 25.
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—May 3: Second preseason game for the New York Liberty, this one against the Connecticut Sun in Uncasville. Another afternoon begins at 3 p.m. ET.
—May 8-10: Combine the NBA G League in Chicago
—May 8: WNBA regular season tip. New York Liberty hosts the Connecticut Sun at Barclays Center. All WNBA dates, of course, assume the league and players’ union have reached an agreement on a new CBA by that date.
—May 10: NBA Draft Lottery. The biggest day in franchise history since… the Clean Sweep in 2019, KD’s departure in 2023? The Nets are currently tied for the fourth-best chance at No. 1 overall with 11.5% shooting and 45.2% shooting among the top four picks.
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—May 10-17: NBA Draft Combine in Chicago
—June 1-17: WNBA Commissioners Cup Tournament
—June 30: WNBA Commissioners Cup Championship
—July 1: Teams can approach free agents at 12 p.m. ET. Deal rumors begin reporting at 12:01 p.m. The Nets are currently projected to have a cap hit of $48.8 million entering free agency.
—July 6: Free agent contracts can be signed starting at 12 p.m. ET.
—July: Michael Porter Jr. eligible for four-year, $243 million extension starting in 2027-28.
—July 24-25: WNBA All-Star Weekend (Chicago)
—August 31 – September 16: FIBA World Cup break for WNBA players and coaches.
—September 24: Last day of the WNBA regular season
—September 27: WNBA playoffs begin
