The Brooklyn Nets, in a move that shocked many in the NBA's "Salary Cap" circles, picked up former Denver Nuggets forward Hunter Tyson on February 5, 2026 — and immediately waived him.
Described by NetsDaily as a "salary dump" to help Denver avoid the luxury tax, the move left a 25-year-old forward of championship pedigree looking for a locker room. As the Nets zeroed in on “roster flexibility” and a 2032 second-round pick, the rest of the league — the Charlotte Hornets included — ought to be pondering a Clemson University reunion. Tyson, who averaged 18.3 points with PJ Hall in college, was central to the Tigers’ recent success.
With Hall currently doing well in Charlotte’s “physical brand” of basketball, filling that hole with a floor-spacing forward like Tyson could be the final piece of the puzzle for a Hornets bench that often has difficulty with “pace and urgency” when the starters are seated.
“It shows what this team is capable of,” Hall said after the victory in OKC, of the team’s grit. The idea of hiring a player like Tyson — someone that Brooklyn effectively considered a “throwaway asset” — would double down on that identity.
For a Hornets team that’s successfully rehabilitated “two-way” players like Hall, it’s not just a smart move to take a flier on a waived prospect who already has a telepathic on-court connection to their growing star; it’s also a masterstroke.