Nets 20-Year Old Big Man Named One of the NBA’s ‘Best Kept Secrets’

Getty Day'Ron Sharpe #20 of the Brooklyn Nets scores a basket against Cameron Oliver #21 of the Los Angeles Lakers

The Brooklyn Nets are filled with uncertainty about what their roster will look like next season. Kevin Durant has given the team’s governor Joe Tsai an ultimatum to either trade him or fire the franchise’s general manager Sean Marks and head coach Steve Nash. Tsai quickly shared a statement in support of his team’s front office and coaching staff, seemingly drawing a line in the sand where he stands in Durant negotiations. If Durant goes, Kyrie Irving is expected to be dealt as well. The experiment that was Durant and Irving in Brooklyn could be over already after a rocky 2021-22 campaign. 

Durant and Irving both have seen themselves in a myriad of trade rumors to multiple teams and, in some cases, even being dealt to the same team. The Nets have been said to be currently trying to negotiate a way to keep Durant in Brooklyn for next season. However, if the Nets do end up dealing their superstar forward, there is no saying what the Nets roster may consist of. If they are to enter a rebuild, they got one piece of encouraging report on who may be the Nets best kept secret next season. 

Nets’ Best Kept Secret’ Day’Ron Sharpe

In an August 16 article from Bleacher Report, Zach Buckley shared “The Best-Kept Secret on Every NBA Roster Heading Into 2022-23 Season.” On the list for the Brooklyn Nets was the twenty-year-old first-round pick from the University of North Carolina. Sharpe has been impressive when given minutes. He hasn’t gotten the developmental minutes on the championship contending Nets squad but should see a rise in minutes next season. 

“He delivered almost every time he was called upon and proved absurdly productive on a per-minute basis. By year’s end, his per-36-minutes averages included 18.2 points, 14.7 rebounds and 1.4 blocks. Oh, there were 5.5 fouls and 2.8 turnovers, too, but he was a teenager when his rookie run started, so growing pains were (and, to a degree, still are) inevitable,” Buckley wrote. 

Sharpe is also coming off of an impressive summer league campaign in Las Vegas this summer, where he averaged 12.8 points, 10 rebounds, 2.4 assists, and 1.8 blocks per game. The 6-foot-11 and 265-pound big man brings a paint presence to Brooklyn and is noted to be working on his three-point shot. He averaged 33 percent shooting from deep last season and hopes to improve that this season. 

Nets Negotiating For Durant Return

Sharpe is set to take a big step forward this season, and the Nets hope that the step happens with Kevin Durant on their lineup. Brian Windhorst reported that the Nets are currently negotiating with their star to return to the New York borough next season. 

“The other negotiation that is now developing is between Durant and the Nets. That separate negotiation about what it would like for him to come back. That’s what a big part of the discussion he had with owner Joe Tsai in London about 10, 11 days ago was. Joe Tsai and the Nets believe they have a really good team. They don’t believe they have a good trade for Kevin Durant. They want him to consider coming back. But Durant has very clearly made it known he doesn’t want to play for the Nets under the current situation with the current coach and current GM.

“You have to ask yourself, what is the avenue? What is the path for Kevin Durant to move forward with the Nets? Because he’s been told no on firing Steve Nash. He’s been told no on firing Sean Marks. So where do we go from here?” Windhorst said.