Day’Ron Sharpe is sticking with the Brooklyn Nets.
The former North Carolina big man reportedly agreed to a two-year, $20 million deal with Brooklyn, keeping him with the only NBA team he has played for so far. The news comes just days after another Tar Heel, Coby White, landed a new contract with the Charlotte Hornets.
Sharpe spent the 2020-21 season at UNC, where he made the most of his lone year in Chapel Hill. He averaged 9.5 points and 7.6 rebounds in 19.2 minutes per game, which translated to 19.8 points and 15.8 rebounds per 40 minutes. That production helped earn him All-ACC Freshman honors before he entered the 2021 NBA Draft.
Brooklyn took him with the 29th pick, and he has carved out a steady role ever since. Across his NBA career, Sharpe has averaged 7.0 points and 5.9 rebounds as a reserve, and his role has only grown as the Nets have shifted into a rebuild.
Last season was his best to date in a lot of areas. He posted career highs with 8.7 points and 6.7 rebounds while shooting better than 60% from the field.
The contract should also mean more opportunity. Brooklyn finished 20-62 last season and has moved on from most of its better players, including Cam Johnson, who was sent to the Denver Nuggets before the season. That leaves Sharpe in position for a bigger workload than he would likely get on a contending team, and that expanded role could matter when he reaches his next contract.
He’ll still need to keep improving, but over the next two years, he should get every chance to show what he can do.
In Other News...
Michael Malones First UNC Roster Faces One Huge March Test
Michael Malone is building his first North Carolina roster with a very different look, and the early shape of it says a lot about how he wants to play. The Tar Heels are bringing back only a small core from last season, with Isaiah Denis, Jarin Stevenson and Jaydon Young the only familiar holdovers, while the rest of the rotation is being pieced together through additions at both guard and forward. The makeover is obvious enough that depth, versatility and how quickly the newcomers settle in figure to matter just as much as talent on paper.
The backcourt has been overhauled with Terrence Brown, Matt Able, Kevin Thomas and Neoklis Avdalas among the new names expected to see real minutes, while Sayon Keita and Alexandros Samodurov give UNC more options inside. Even with that kind of influx, there is a sense that the frontcourt could have looked even stronger with Henri Veesaar in the mix, which is the kind of offseason what-if that lingers around a roster this new. For Malone, the challenge is not just finding enough pieces, but getting them to fit quickly enough to survive the kind of March test that has a way of exposing teams still learning each other. [Read more 🡒]
Coby White Just Landed A Massive NBA Opportunity
Coby White is cashing in on the progress he has made since leaving Chicago, with a new three-year, $74 million agreement set to keep him in place for the next stretch of his career. After being traded to Charlotte during the 2025-26 season, the former Tar Heel has settled into a role that looks increasingly important for the franchise as it reshapes its backcourt.
The timing makes this more than just a payday for White. Charlotte has already moved on from LaMelo Ball in a trade with Minnesota, and that opens the door for White to step into a far bigger responsibility going into 2026-27. For a player who has kept improving since arriving, it is a chance to move from useful guard to the one expected to steer the offense. [Read more 🡒]
UNC Suddenly Has A Real Shot At Elite 2027 Big Man
North Carolinas late push into the Darius Wabbington sweepstakes is the kind of development that can change the tone of a recruiting race in a hurry. The Class of 2027 big man has already climbed high enough on boards to draw national attention, and the Tar Heels were among the programs that earned a place in his trimmed list, alongside Arizona, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisville and Texas.
For UNC, the intrigue is in how quickly the opportunity arrived after the June 18 offer and how much ground still has to be made up. Wabbington already has three official visits on the books, but the Tar Heels have not yet lined one up, leaving Hubert Davis and his staff with work still to do if they want to turn an unexpectedly real opening into something more lasting. [Read more 🡒]