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The Brooklyn Nets are embracing a full rebuild entering the 2025-26 NBA campaign. A rebuild often entails a focus on draft positioning and, in turn, losing. That's why many analysts expect the Nets to finish towards the bottom of the league next season. NBA.com ranked Brooklyn dead last in the Eastern Conference in its latest offseason power rankings.
General Manager Sean Marks laid a potential foundation for the Nets' next era in June's draft, making a record five first-round picks. He also traded Cam Johnson, Brooklyn's top player from last season, to the Denver Nuggets for Michael Porter Jr. and an unprotected 2032 first-round pick.
While the Nets' roster has been torn down nearly to the studs, will they be the East's worst team next season?
Will Nets be Eastern Conference's worst team following busy offseason?
That should be the goal after last season's disappointing draft outcome. The Nets paid a steep price to reacquire their 2025 and 2026 first-round picks from the Houston Rockets last summer. Yet, they held onto several veterans, such as Johnson, Dennis Schroder and Dorian Finney-Smith, into the season and opened the year 9-10.
That hot start put them behind the eight ball in the tank race, as they finished with the sixth-best lottery odds. The Nets fell to the No. 8 pick in the draft, just two spots ahead of the Phoenix Suns' pick, which was one of four they traded to the Rockets to regain control of their 2025 and 2026 first-rounders.
The good news for the Nets is that the 2026 draft features several highly-touted prospects such as Darryn Peterson, A.J. Dybantsa and Cam Boozer. Brooklyn's veteran production should take a step back this season, with Porter Jr. and Terance Mann replacing Johnson and Finney-Smith.
Most importantly, the Nets replaced veteran point guards Dennis Schröder and D'Angelo Russell with rookies Egor Demin, Nolan Traore and Ben Saraf. While all three boast intriguing potential, it'll take time before they can run an NBA offense efficiently.
The Washington Wizards are the only team that should realistically compete with Brooklyn for the East's worst record. However, Brian Keefe's squad has far more talent on paper. The Wizards have promising young pieces in Alex Sarr, Tre Johnson, Bub Carrington and Bilal Coulibaly. They also traded for veterans CJ McCollum and Khris Middleton, as well as a talented young scorer in Cam Whitmore.
Barring injuries to McCollum and their other lead ball-handlers, the Wizards should have a good chance to finish ahead of the Nets in the standings. Such an outcome wouldn't be a bad thing for a Brooklyn team in desperate need of a top draft pick.
