Zeng Fanbo's chances of staying with the team have decreased again! The Nets have signed two players: Liddell on a two-way deal and Sharp re-signed.

On September 4th Beijing time, the Nets confirmed two signings: they secured free agent forward E.J. Liddell on a two-way contract and officially completed a deal with free agent interior player Day'Ron Sharpe.

At 24 years old, Liddell was selected 41st in the 2022 NBA Draft, but he tore his ACL during the Summer League just weeks after the draft, which sidelined him for his entire rookie year. Since then, his NBA playing time has been very limited, appearing in only 20 games combined for the Pelicans and Bulls. Over the past two NBA seasons, he has totaled 76 minutes on the court, scoring 25 points and grabbing 14 rebounds.

However, Liddell has shown more impressive performances in the NBA G League. For example, last season he played 27 games for the Windy City Bulls (the Bulls’ G League affiliate), averaging 15.7 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 2.5 assists in 32.3 minutes per game, with shooting percentages of 47.2% from the field, 36.1% from three-point range, and 66.1% from the free-throw line.

Although technically Liddell has been in the NBA for three seasons, he missed one entire season due to injury and therefore still retains eligibility for two years of two-way contracts. Currently, Liddell and Taishan Etienne are the Nets’ two-way players, leaving only one two-way contract slot available on the team.

Chinese player Zeng Fanbo signed with the Nets this summer, but it was only a training camp deal, not a full contract that would open the door to the NBA. Therefore, he still needs to compete to upgrade that deal to a two-way contract.After his signing, the team waived Toussaint Eiwema. Originally, there were two two-way slots, but with Liddell’s signing, Zeng Fanbo’s chances of securing a full two-way contract have been reduced by one.

Before the free agency period officially began, reports indicated that Sharpe was set to sign a $12 million contract with the Nets. The team delayed finalizing this deal and also had not completed a similar $12 million contract with Ziaire Williams, aiming to keep salary cap flexibility for future moves.According to Scotto, Sharpe ultimately signed a two-year, $12.5 million contract, with the second year being a team option.

However, clear signs indicate that at least one of these contracts had to be signed using salary cap space—because the Nets had previously relinquished their rights to sign Sharpe and Williams, and the team’s $8.8 million room exception cannot cover both contracts simultaneously. Given this, officially re-signing Sharpe will not significantly impact the Nets’ salary flexibility, as the team still has over $10 million in cap space available.