The Nets officially announced the release of two players! Whitehead and Timmy depart, with one possibly becoming a competitor to Zeng Fanbo.

On October 14th Beijing time, the Nets officially announced that Derrick Whitehead and Drew Timmy have been waived. The team has already thanked them on social media.

Whitehead’s exit is important since his $3.26 million salary for the 2025-26 season is fully guaranteed. If he clears the league’s waiver period, the team option worth $5.36 million for the 2026-27 season will be declined as part of this move.

Standing 2.01 meters tall as a wing player, Whitehead was once a highly regarded high school prospect but has been plagued by injuries over recent years. In the 2023 NBA Draft, after one season at Duke University, he was selected 22nd overall by the Nets. However, the 21-year-old has only played 22 NBA games in the past two seasons, averaging 12.3 minutes, 5.3 points, and 1.5 rebounds per game.

ESPN salary expert Max revealed that after waiving Whitehead, the Nets’ total payroll is only $16,000 above the NBA minimum salary threshold.

Timmy had a stellar college career at Gonzaga but went undrafted in the 2023 draft. Over the last two seasons, he mostly played in the G League. At the end of March this year, thanks to his strong performance with the Nets’ affiliate Long Island team, he earned a promotion to a standard two-year contract.

At the end of June, the Nets exercised Timmy’s $1.95 million contract option for next season, but since it was fully non-guaranteed, waiving him does not create any salary cap hit. Late last season, the 25-year-old big man appeared in 9 games for the Nets, averaging 28.2 minutes, 12.1 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 2.2 assists, with shooting percentages of 44.1% from the field, 25.7% from three, and 62.5% from the free-throw line.

Nets reporter Lewis pointed out that since Timmy has only one year of NBA experience, if unclaimed, he could theoretically return to the Nets on a two-way contract. However, the Nets have not yet decided whether to allocate their final two-way contract slot to Timmy. Thus, Timmy has become a potential rival to Zeng Fanbo for a Nets two-way contract.

Waiving Whitehead and Timmy essentially means the Nets’ 15th standard roster spot will be contested between Jaylen Wilson and Tyrese Martin.

Wilson’s contract includes a $88,000 partially guaranteed amount, which would increase to about $382,000 if he makes the regular season roster. Martin’s contract is fully non-guaranteed, so waiving him would not result in any salary cap charge for the team.