At the 2023 trade deadline, the Brooklyn Nets admitted defeat, trading Kevin Durant and ending an era that was much stranger, sadder and shorter than anyone had envisioned. Since then, they’ve traded the two players they got from the Phoenix Suns in that deal (Mikal Bridges and Cam Johnson) and stockpiled draft picks. They are in full rebuild mode, and the most valuable of their league-high 32 picks in the next seven years might be their own first-rounder in the 2026 draft.
Brooklyn could be back in win-now mode as soon as 2026-27, given that it has the tools to add talent next summer and does not own its 2027 first-round pick. This season, though, the plan isn’t hard to figure out. The Nets will play a lot of young guys, and they will be near the bottom of the standings. “Success for us looks like, ‘How do we find, how do we determine who are the next Nets?'” General Manager Sean Marks said at media day. For the five rookies they drafted in June, for the returning Cam Thomas (who signed the qualifying offer after a long standoff), for the newly acquired Michael Porter Jr. and for the rest of the roster, 2025-26 will be something of an audition. It’s about proving to Brooklyn — or other teams — that even when you’re not winning games, you can be a winning player.
The state of play
Last year: New coach Jordi Fernández earned rave reviews right away, as the Nets went 9-10 in the first five weeks with vastly improved vibes. Players raved about the freedom he gave them, while opposing coaches praised him for presiding over a tough, physical, organized team. The wins were harder to come by after trading Dennis Schröder and Dorian Finney-Smith and taking a conservative approach to injury management but, even after losing 21 of its final 26 games, Brooklyn finished 26-56, the sixth-worst record in the league, giving the team just a 37.2% chance of picking in the top four.
The offseason: The Nets got the No. 8 pick, which they used to draft 6-foot-9 playmaker Egor Dëmin. They then drafted 6-foot-4 playmaker Nolan Traore with the No. 19…
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