Brooklyn Nets

The 2024-25 Brooklyn Nets were a controlled demolition. After years of chasing championships with Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and James Harden — only to watch that era collapse without a single title — the front office finally committed to a full-scale teardown. The result: a 26-56 record, the worst in franchise history since relocating to Brooklyn, good for 12th in the Eastern Conference and 4th in the Atlantic Division. It was ugly by design.

The offense was a disaster. Brooklyn posted a league-worst 105.1 PPG (29th) with a 108.5 offensive rating (28th), shooting just 43.7% from the field (29th) and 34.4% from three (25th). The defense was equally uninspiring at a 115.8 defensive rating (20th), producing a -7.3 net rating (26th) that told the full story: this was one of the worst teams in basketball. The one bright spot was free-throw shooting at 78.7% (11th), and the slow 96.4 pace (27th) at least kept games from getting out of hand. The Nets' 25.2 APG (20th) and 41.3 RPG (24th) reflected a roster that was constantly in flux, with players traded in and out as the front office prioritized asset accumulation over competitive results.

The one genuine revelation was Cam Thomas. When healthy, the 23-year-old averaged a scorching 24.0 PPG on respectable efficiency, establishing himself as one of the league's most lethal bucket-getters. But injuries limited him to just 25 games — a tantalizing sample size that left Brooklyn wondering what could have been with a full, healthy season. Meanwhile, Cameron Johnson was the model of consistency (18.8 PPG, 39.0% 3P in 57 games) before being dealt to Denver, and Dennis Schröder provided professional-grade point guard play before his midseason trade. The revolving door of the roster — with D'Angelo Russell acquired and then departed, Ben Simmons providing an enigmatic 24 games — told the story of a team in perpetual transition, building toward something it couldn't yet see.

Brooklyn's 26-56 record left them miles from postseason contention, finishing 12th in the Eastern Conference — eight games behind the 10th-seeded play-in cutoff. The Nets were never in the conversation after an 8-22 start buried them early, and midseason trades of key contributors only reinforced the tank narrative.

This was entirely intentional. The front office made the calculated decision to prioritize draft positioning and asset accumulation over competitive results. The payoff was significant: Brooklyn secured a top-10 draft pick (No. 8 overall) and entered the offseason with the most draft capital of any team in the NBA — 13 first-round picks and 18 second-rounders over the next seven drafts. The 2024-25 season wasn't about winning games. It was about stockpiling ammunition for the next era. On that front, mission accomplished.

The roster was a revolving door, but several players emerged as building blocks — or trade assets — depending on the front office's timeline. Cam Thomas was the star when available, Cameron Johnson was the steady hand who became a trade chip, and Nic Claxton quietly anchored the interior as the lone constant amid the chaos.

Thomas's 24.0 PPG in 25 games was the single most exciting development of the season. When healthy, he was a top-20 scorer in the NBA — a pure bucket-getter who can create his own shot from anywhere on the floor. The 43.8% FG and 34.9% 3P were solid for a first-option scorer on a bad team facing constant defensive attention. The problem was availability: a hamstring injury cost him 57 games, and the Nets' season effectively ended when he went down.

Cameron Johnson was the team's most efficient player (47.5% FG, 39.0% 3P), providing the kind of two-way wing play that contending teams crave. His trade to Denver for Michael Porter Jr. was the offseason's defining move. Schröder was the consummate professional, posting 18.4 PPG and 6.6 APG before being dealt at the deadline. Claxton was the immovable object in the paint — 62.4% FG and 7.4 RPG from a rim protector who does the dirty work every night. Simmons remained the NBA's most confounding player: elite playmaking (6.5 APG), elite efficiency inside (60.8% FG), and absolutely zero willingness to shoot from distance. His departure was inevitable.

GM Sean Marks went all-in on the youth movement. The headline: Brooklyn made five first-round picks in the 2025 NBA Draft — an NBA record that signaled the franchise's total commitment to a multi-year rebuild. The Cameron Johnson-for-Michael Porter Jr. trade swapped a reliable wing for a higher-ceiling scorer with injury history, plus a 2032 first-round pick that extends the asset pipeline deep into the next decade. Every move pointed in one direction: get younger, get longer, get draft picks.

The five first-round picks are the story. Egor Demin (No. 8) is the crown jewel — a 6'8" point guard with elite court vision and a European pedigree that fits Jordi Fernández's system perfectly. Nolan Traoré (No. 19) is a raw, explosive French guard with top-5 athleticism in the draft class. Drake Powell (No. 22) profiles as a 3-and-D wing. Ben Saraf (No. 26) is a polished Israeli playmaker who could push for immediate backup minutes. Danny Wolf (No. 27) is a stretch-5 project behind Claxton. Together, they represent Brooklyn's bet that volume drafting in a strong class will yield at least two or three long-term starters.

The Michael Porter Jr. acquisition is the most important individual move. MPJ averaged 18.2 PPG on 50.4% FG and 39.5% 3P with Denver last season — he's a legitimate No. 2 scoring option when healthy. The concern is the "when healthy" qualifier: Porter has a well-documented back injury history that has already required multiple surgeries. Brooklyn is betting that MPJ's scoring at age 27 provides the runway for the rookies to develop without being thrown into the fire as primary options. The Cam Thomas qualifying offer ($5.99M) is a short-term play to retain his Bird rights — if Thomas stays healthy and performs, a max extension is coming. If he doesn't, Brooklyn has flexibility.

The 2025-26 Brooklyn Nets are a full-scale developmental project — the youngest roster in the NBA, loaded with draft capital, and anchored by two established scorers in Cam Thomas and Michael Porter Jr. The goal isn't the playoffs. The goal is to find out which of these young players are worth building around for the next five to seven years. This is Year 1 of the real rebuild, and patience is the operating word.

Projected Starting Lineup

The starting five is a fascinating mix of established talent and raw potential. Thomas (23) and Porter (27) give Brooklyn two legitimate 20-PPG scorers — a rare luxury for a rebuilding team. Claxton (26) is a proven interior defender. But the wild card is Egor Demin, a rookie point guard being handed the keys to the franchise from day one. Demin's 6'8" frame, court vision, and European fundamentals fit Fernández's system, but asking a 19-year-old to run an NBA offense is an inherently high-variance proposition. Terance Mann provides veteran stability at the 4 — he won't put up big numbers, but his defensive versatility and playoff experience (with the Clippers) add connective tissue that this roster desperately needs.

Key Bench Players

The bench is deliberately young and project-heavy. Ben Saraf may be the most NBA-ready of the rookies — his playmaking IQ and shooting touch could earn him 15-20 minutes per night immediately. Nolan Traoré is the highest-ceiling athlete in the draft class but the most raw; expect G League stints with NBA callbacks. Noah Clowney's sophomore development is critical — his 35.8% FG as a rookie was concerning, but the stretch-4 tools are real. Haywood Highsmith is the lone veteran bench piece, bringing Heat culture defensive intensity to a young locker room. The depth chart is thin on proven NBA production but overflowing with developmental upside.

Coaching & Scheme

Jordi Fernández enters his second season as head coach, and this is the year his vision truly takes shape. The Spanish-born coach brings a European-influenced system emphasizing ball movement, position-less basketball, and unselfish play — a philosophy that aligns perfectly with a roster full of versatile young talent. Fernández's fast-paced, read-and-react offense encourages attacking decisions: shoot, pass, or drive, but do it with confidence and do it quickly. Defensively, expect aggressive switching schemes that leverage Brooklyn's length (Demin at 6'8", Porter at 6'10", Claxton at 6'11"). Fernández's background in player development — honed during stints with the Denver Nuggets, Cleveland Cavaliers, and the Canadian national team — makes him the ideal coach for a franchise that needs its young players to improve by measurable margins every month. The 2024-25 results (26-56) were ugly, but the coaching staff's development infrastructure earned praise around the league. This season will test whether Fernández can translate developmental gains into competitive basketball.

Projection systems see the 2025-26 Nets as one of the worst teams in the NBA — a consensus bottom-5 outfit in a rebuilding year with five rookies and no playoff aspirations. The range of outcomes is narrow at the top (a bad team) but wide at the bottom (historically bad vs. surprisingly competitive).

The 19.5 win total is the sharpest number on the board. The over requires Cam Thomas to stay healthy for 65+ games, MPJ to provide 18+ PPG, and the rookies to be competitive immediately. The under is a bet on the Eastern Conference — even the weaker East — being too much for a roster starting a 19-year-old point guard, and on the typical regression that comes with five rookies logging real NBA minutes. The Nets went 26-56 last year with more veteran talent; removing Schröder, Johnson, Russell, and Simmons while adding five rookies makes a sub-20 win season entirely plausible.

The Betting Angle: Brooklyn at +500,000 to win the championship is not a bet — it's a donation. The +100,000 to win the Atlantic Division is dead money in a division featuring the Knicks and a still-competitive Celtics squad. The only real action is on the win total. The under at 19.5 (-120) is the sharper play: this roster has four departed starters from last year's 26-win team, five rookies who will face a steep learning curve, and a Cam Thomas who has never played more than 58 games in a season. If Thomas misses 20+ games again, the Nets are looking at 15-17 wins and one of the worst records in modern NBA history. The over requires everything to go right. The under just requires normalcy.

The Atlantic Division has a clear hierarchy in 2025-26, and Brooklyn sits firmly at the bottom. The New York Knicks are the class of the division — the Jalen Brunson–Karl-Anthony Towns pairing gives them the best one-two punch in the East, and their 53-55 win projection makes them a legitimate championship contender. The Boston Celtics enter an uncertain year after Jayson Tatum's Achilles injury; Jaylen Brown and Derrick White will carry the load, but the ceiling drops from title contender to playoff team. The 76ers remain the eternal wild card — if Joel Embiid stays healthy, they're a top-4 seed; if he doesn't, they're fighting for the play-in.

The Toronto Raptors added Brandon Ingram to the Scottie Barnes core and project as a play-in contender in the 35-40 win range — meaningfully ahead of Brooklyn. The Nets' projected 20-24 wins would put them approximately 30 wins behind the division-leading Knicks and 15 wins behind the fourth-place Raptors. The gap is enormous and entirely expected. Brooklyn isn't trying to compete with these teams in 2025-26 — they're trying to build a roster that can challenge them by 2028-29. The +100,000 division odds tell you everything you need to know: the sportsbooks aren't even entertaining the possibility.

These six players will most directly determine whether the 2025-26 Nets exceed, meet, or fall short of their 20-24 win projection — and whether the rebuild has a foundation worth building on.