{"id":848846,"date":"2026-10-02T03:03:16","date_gmt":"2026-10-02T03:03:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/848846\/"},"modified":"2026-10-02T03:03:16","modified_gmt":"2026-10-02T03:03:16","slug":"nets-dayron-sharpe-looks-to-pace-himself-while-keeping-his-edge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/848846\/","title":{"rendered":"Nets’ Day’Ron Sharpe looks to pace himself while keeping his edge"},"content":{"rendered":"

Finally a starter for the first time, Day\u2019Ron Sharpe is going to face more first-stringers<\/a> and log more minutes than ever.<\/p>\n

The Nets center knows he\u2019s going to have to pace himself. But pacing doesn\u2019t mean passive. Sharpe only knows one way to play: all out.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like I played against starters last year as well,\u201d Sharpe said. \u201cSometimes, when I would come in the game, they would put the more physical guy in the game to deal with me. So just do my thing, just keep playing hard.<\/p>\n

\"Day'RonDay\u2019Ron Sharpe is all smiles during Nets during Media Day at HSS Training Center on Sept. 28, 2026. Corey Sipkin for New York Post<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd even if it\u2019s double the minutes, learn how to pace myself during the game, learning what opportunities to take [to avoid] getting in foul trouble, saving myself for later on in the game. But I\u2019m just going to play hard until the wheels fall off. That\u2019s all I can do.\u201d<\/p>\n

How much can those wheels take?<\/p>\n

Sharpe, 24, logged a career high in minutes last season, though it was just 1,160. He could be asked to nearly double that with longtime starter Nic Claxton in Chicago<\/a> after a four-team trade this summer.<\/p>\n

As a high-energy bully on the boards<\/a> \u2014 playing harder and more aggressive than most foes \u2014 it begs the question of whether Sharpe will be able to maintain that advantage despite scaling up his minutes.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just think that\u2019s me, bro,\u201d Sharpe said. \u201cI don\u2019t really look at it how many minutes I\u2019m playing. I look at it more so just stints. So I probably get more stints of me getting in the game. Last year, it was two stints coming off the bench where I play 10 minutes at a time. So I really don\u2019t look at it like that. I\u2019m just trying to win. So when the whistle starts, when the game starts and it\u2019s time to play, I\u2019m playing. When the game\u2019s over, game over.\u201d<\/p>\n

Over his career, Sharpe has averaged 18.7 rebounds per 100 possessions, including a staggering 8.3 on the offensive end. The latter figure would rank second best in league history, per Basketball Reference.<\/p>\n

\"Day'RonDay\u2019Ron Sharpe looks on during Nets practice practice at HSS Training Center on Sept. 29, 2026. Corey Sipkin for New York Post<\/p>\n

How much, though, will Sharpe\u2019s edge drop off when having to log more extended playing time? The same holds true to an extent for newcomer Moritz Wagner, presumably brought in to be Sharpe\u2019s primary backup.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a challenge because the minutes are going to go up,\u201d Jordi Fern\u00e1ndez admitted. \u201cBut I want them to fight for a starting spot. So right now, whether it\u2019s Day\u2019Ron or Mo, they\u2019ve never been at starting minutes. I see it more like a group that works well together. They challenge but embrace each other. It could be different guys finishing games, different guys starting games.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlso, to me, their health and their bodies are very important and I have to be cautious with how much I do to them. So their intentions, their intensity, everything, it\u2019s been amazing. \u2026 It\u2019s good for me to see how they compete now, what different things we try. But I don\u2019t think minutes are going to be an issue.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFollow all the basketball buzz in Brooklyn\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSign up for Inside the Nets by Brian Lewis, exclusively on Sports+.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\tThank you\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Seeing how the center platoon works could be why the Nets signed Sharpe to a $10 million team option for next season and Wagner a $9.7 million mutual option.<\/p>\n

With almost 4,000 center minutes available, Wagner also will see his playing time spike. A torn left ACL in late December 2024 limited him to just 564 minutes two years ago and 427 last season.<\/p>\n

Wagner\u2019s career high is 1,415. With no other true centers on the Nets \u2014 they have only forwards Julius Randle, Chaney Johnson, Danny Wolf and Grant Nelson \u2014 Wagner also will be asked to exceed that career-best total.<\/p>\n

Sharpe has struggled with foul trouble, but he correctly notes that often is due to moving screens more than defense. He\u2019s confident his cardio will hold up but has worked on mobility and flexibility.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m going to get used to recovery. I\u2019ve been pushing on that more, stretching, trying to be more flexible,\u201d Sharpe said. \u201cSo I\u2019ve been doing that a lot and I realized doing mobility helps me a lot when it comes to recovery. So just keep doing those things, and I should be OK.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Finally a starter for the first time, Day\u2019Ron Sharpe is going to face more first-stringers and log more…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":848847,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3767],"tags":[7,670,247,3803,2299,6,671,66],"class_list":["post-848846","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brooklyn-nets","tag-basketball","tag-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn-nets","tag-brooklynnets","tag-dayron-sharpe","tag-nba","tag-nets","tag-sports"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/117369097910821947","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/848846","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=848846"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/848846\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/848847"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=848846"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=848846"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=848846"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}