Day’Ron Sharpe hits 25 on Friday, and the timing couldn’t be much more meaningful for the Brooklyn center. After years of climbing the ladder in Brooklyn, he’s finally getting his first real shot to open games as a full-time starter.
That’s a big turn for a player who entered the league after one season at North Carolina, where he put up 9.5 points and 7.6 rebounds in 29 games. The Phoenix Suns took him with the 29th pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, but Brooklyn ended up with his draft rights in the Landry Shamet deal. From there, the Nets bet on the 6-foot-10 big man’s size, strength, rebounding, and activity around the rim.
The early years were a grind. Sharpe split time between Brooklyn and the Long Island Nets during his first two seasons, appearing in 32 games as a rookie and then 48 games in his second year. The minutes weren’t always steady, but the progression was obvious.
By 2023-24, he had carved out a bigger lane. Sharpe played in 61 games that season and averaged 6.8 points and 6.4 rebounds in 15.1 minutes per game. He kept giving Brooklyn the same things that made him valuable in the first place: energy, work on the glass, and easy finishes near the basket.
The numbers kept moving up from there. In 2024-25, he averaged 7.9 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 1.8 assists in 50 games. Then came his best statistical season in 2025-26, when he posted 8.7 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 2.3 assists over 62 games.
That season also showed real growth in his efficiency and playmaking. Sharpe shot 60.1% from the field and looked more comfortable as a passer, not just a finisher. He also dealt with a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his left thumb that required season-ending surgery in March 2026, but Brooklyn still showed its faith in him by agreeing to a new two-year, $20 million contract in June.
Now the Nets are asking for even more. Sharpe is stepping into a starting role for the first time in his NBA career this season, and Brooklyn will be leaning on him for steady production in the middle.
He’s already shown what he can do when the floor opens up. On November 1, he logged the 20th double-double of his NBA career with 15 points, 13 rebounds, and four assists in Brooklyn’s 98-90 win over the Indiana Pacers. It was a clean snapshot of the kind of all-around impact he can bring when he’s involved on both ends.
Brooklyn’s development track has clearly worked for him. Sharpe hasn’t always been the loudest name in the room, but he’s kept improving, and that steady rise has turned him into a real piece of the organization’s plans.
At 25, he’s still got room to grow. And with this new starting opportunity, the next chapter could be the one that matters most.
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Mikel Brown Jr. will also be unavailable against Dallas, leaving the Nets even thinner in the guard rotation. Both players are at least in line to be in the conversation for Brooklyns next game against the New Orleans Pelicans, giving the team a possible boost after a short turnaround and a chance to regain some needed stability in the backcourt. [Read more 🡒]
Nets Rotation Faces Heat After A Loss Brooklyn Should Have Closed
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Then the closing stretch turned into the kind of loss that tends to linger in a locker room and in the film room. The 124-121 defeat to Atlanta left Brooklyn sorting through player grades and individual performances, but the bigger concern is harder to grade: how a game that was there to be closed slipped away when it mattered most. [Read more 🡒]
Julius Randle May Have Just Changed Brooklyns Late-Game Rotation
Jordi Fernndez got a useful look at something different in the fourth quarter against Charlotte, and it helped carry the Nets to a 114-104 win. Instead of leaning on the usual late-game mix, Brooklyn kept reserves Danny Wolf and Terance Mann on the floor, and the move paid off as the group helped the Nets separate in the final period.
Julius Randle still did his part with 22 points, but he also showed the kind of selflessness coaches love when a game starts tilting in the right direction. The bigger question now is whether Fernndez treats that stretch as a one-off adjustment or the start of a new closing formula, especially with Wolf and Mann making a strong case to stay in the mix when games tighten up. [Read more 🡒]