Today is not going to be as big as May 10, the date of the NBA Draft Lottery. Nor the draft whose date has yet to be set but somewhere in the last week of July at Barclays Center. Those two days have the potential to be franchise-changing and the days leading up to today have been, at least for the Nets, predictable with only one trade reported as of 10:30 a.m. ET: the Nets fifth salary dump since last summer.
The Nets acquired 6’6” 25-year-old shooting guard Ochai Agbaji; a 2032 second rounder (their fifth pick in that faraway draft) and $3.5 million in cash, likely bound for basketball operations in return for … the draft rights to a 29-year-old Serbian shooting guard, Vanja Marinkovic, essentially draft ballast to help Toronto get its financial books in order. To make Marinkovic even more obscure, he tore his achilles 10 days ago.
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Meanwhile, Brian Windhorst, aware of the flexibility Sean Marks & co. have built up, predicted a busyness in the business of Brooklyn basketball. “Brooklyn, I expect to be in multiple deals in the next 24 hours.”
So, here.we.go!
—February 5: NBA Trade Deadline (3:00 pm ET) Nets currently have around $15.5 million in cap space, most in the NBA. Trades must all be completed and made official by the afternoon deadline. The Nets must also attend to other issues, like getting down to 15 standard NBA contracts as well. Agbaji, at the moment, would be the 16th standard NBA contract on the roster so someone must go. Cam Thomas didn’t accompany Brooklyn to Orlando Thursday afternoon and rumors continue to swirl about this fate. There are of course other candidates and maybe more permutations as the day wears on.
Meanwhile, In Long Island players are waiting for the trickle-down effect to determine their fate. The deadline is often a team for teams to rethink whether a two-way should be elevated to a standard deal or a G League regular contract be converted to a two-way
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—February 8: Les Nets, aka the Long Island Nets, are back in Quebec vs. Noblesville Boom, the Pacers affiliate. It’s the third of four games that the Nets G League affiliate are playing this season in Laval, a Montreal suburb as the team hopes to establish a fanbase in French-speaking Canada 375 miles up up the Thruway and Northway.
—February 10: Les Nets play Noblesville Boom in Quebec. The final game this season in the Great White North (as opposed to the Great White Whatever in New York.) Between the two games, the Nets will be activating a number of community activities.
—February 13-15: 2026 NBA All-Star Break in Los Angeles.
—February 13: Egor Demin will likely Brooklyn’s lone representative at the Intuit Center, the Clippers home. He’ll play in the Rising Stars game
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—February 14: NBA All-Star Saturday at Intuit Dome – 5:00 p.m. ET (NBC & Peacock)
—February 15: 75th NBA All-Star Game at Intuit Dome – 5:00 p.m. ET (NBC & Peacock)
—March 1: Playoff eligibility waiver deadline aka 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 be ineligible for postseason play.
—March 1: Jalen Wilson becomes eligible for a multi-year deal.
—March 4: Last day to sign two-way contracts. Nets currently have no openings with all three two-way deals filled, but two-ways are 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 NBA Playoffs 2026 (3:00 p.m. ET)
—April 13: WNBA Draft. Liberty have only one pick at No. 41 in the third round, having previously traded away their first and second round picks. Draft is also big for trades.
—April 14-17: SoFi NBA Play-In Tournament
—April 18: NBA Playoffs begin
—April 19: WNBA training camps open. Chris DeMarco, the Liberty’s new coach, gets started.
—April 25: New York Liberty first preseason game at Barclays Center vs. the Indiana Pacers and Caitlin Clark. Game time: 3:00 p.m. ET. It’ll be Clark’s first action since an injured groin ended her season on January 25.
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—May 3: New York Liberty’s second preseason game, this one vs. the Connecticut Sun in Uncasville. Another afternoon start at 3:00 p.m. ET.
—May 8-10: NBA G League Combine in Chicago
—May 8: WNBA Regular Season Tip-Off. New York Liberty hosts the Connecticut Sun at Barclays Center. All WNBA dates of course assume that the league and players union have a deal on a new CBA by this date.
—May 10: NBA Draft Lottery. Biggest day in franchise history since … the Clean Sweep back in 2019, KD’s departure in 2023? Nets currently are tied for the fourth best chance at the overall No. 1 at 11.5% and a 45.2% shot at a top four pick.
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—May 10-17: NBA Draft Combine in Chicago
—June 1-17: WNBA Commissioner’s Cup tournament
—June 30: WNBA Commissioner’s Cup Championship
—July 1: Teams can approach free agents at 12:00 p.m. ET. Rumors of deals start to get reported at 12:01 p.m. Nets are currently projected to have $48.8 million in cap space entering free agency.
—July 6: Free agent contracts can be signed, starting at 12:oo p.m. ET.
—July: Michael Porter Jr. eligible for a 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, coaches.
—September 24: Last day of WNBA regular season
—September 27: WNBA Playoffs begin
