Brooklyn Nets waive Jarrett Jack before free agency begins

With the start of free agency less than a few hours away, the Brooklyn Nets announced that they have officially requested waivers on point guard Jarrett Jack Thursday afternoon.

If Jack is not claimed by another NBA team, the Nets will owe him $500,000 stretched out in equal payments of $166,666 over three years.  Had Jack remained in Brooklyn this season, the Nets would have had to pay him $6.3 million.   The Nets had until 11:59 p.m. ET Thursday to make a decision on Jack’s contract.  They reportedly tried to trade him during the NBA draft.

The decision to release Jack frees up even more cap space for the Nets, who enter free agency with as much as $56 million to spend.  The exact number will be released once the salary cap is officially set for the upcoming season, but Brooklyn will have more cap space than almost every other team in the league.

Jack spent two seasons in Brooklyn after coming over in a trade from the Cleveland Cavaliers, who needed to clear cap space in order to sign LeBron James during the summer of 2014.  He appeared in 112 games, averaging 12.2 points and 54 assists per game.  The 11-year NBA veteran appeared in 32 games this past season for the Nets, before suffering a season-ending right knee injury back in January.

It’s no secret that Brooklyn has plenty of holes on its roster, with point guard being the biggest position of need.  Multiple reports suggest the Nets will pursue Rajon Rondo, Jeremy Lin and Sergio Rodriguez to run the point next season.

The only players under contract for the upcoming season are Brook Lopez, Bojan Bogdanovic, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Chris McCullough, Sean Kilpatrick, and rookies Caris LeVert and Isaiah Whitehead.  Translation: Sean Marks and company have a lot of work to do once the clock strikes midnight on Friday morning.

Notes:  Guard Wayne Ellington has officially opted out of his contract with the Nets and will become a free agent.  He will join the likes of Shane Larkin and Thomas Robinson, players who signed 1+1 deals with the Nets last summer and opted out of second year of those agreements.  It is unknown whether or not the Nets will bring any of these players back.

According to ESPN’s Zach Lowe, the Nets have given guard Markel Brown a qualifying offer, making him a restricted free agent.  They had until Thursday to do so.  Brooklyn now has the right to match any offer that Brown may receive from another team.   Brown was drafted by the Nets in the second round of the 2014 NBA Draft, and has spent his first two seasons in Brooklyn.