Everything Nets Fans Should Know for the 2026 NBA Draft: Picks, Targets and Rumors

The Brooklyn Nets are set to make their highest pick in decades, with the 2026 NBA Draft just one week away.

The Nets disappointingly fell at the 2026 draft lottery, but are still tasked with leaving the draft with star-level talent sixth-overall. Given there’s a nearly-locked in top-four, that should mean Brooklyn can land a talent two spots later. The LA Clippers will follow up the Bulls at No. 5, and Brooklyn’s decision could hinge on what they do.

Below is everything Nets fans need to know before draft day:

Picks:

No. 6

The best asset currently in the team’s cache, teams will be jumping at the chance to trade into the top-six, though Brooklyn should like stand pat and draft their building block of the future. There will be numerous options sixth overall, with the front office doing its due diligence on each.

No. 33

The NIL landscape has thinned out the end of the first round and early-second range significantly, with players heading back to college on multi-million dollar deals. Still, there are some highly intriguing upside swings here that Brooklyn could add.

No. 43

The class will have certainly thinned more by this point, though the same sentiment holds as No. 33.

Potential Targets:

Keaton Wagler

Wagler saw a meteoric rise in the draft space, coming in as a mystery and leaving as a potential top-five pick via a Final Four run with Illinois. He’s been penciled in at No. 5 to the Clippers for many, but could still be around at No. 6, offering a scoring wing with good passing feel.

Darius Acuff Jr.

Acuff, a stocky Arkansas guard, was one of the best players in college basketball this year, offering superstar scoring and passing, while leading the Razorbacks to the SEC title and Sweet Sixteen.

Kingston Flemings

Houston guard Kingston Flemings has claim to being the best defender and passer of the guard bunch, with elite athletic tools both vertically and horizontally. He needs to improve the scoring process, but could very well do that with reportedly high work ethic.

Mikel Brown Jr.

One of the highest upside options in the class, save for the top-four, Brown has the best combination of tools in terms of shooting, passing, handling, positional size and more.

Aday Mara

Drafting a center at No. 6 would feel a little bit of a stretch for Brooklyn, though if the Nets did take Aday Mara there, it would signal how much they believe in his size and ball skills at 7-foot-3.

Reports

Nets Have Been Hard to pin Down so far

Per ESPN’s Jeremy Woo, the Nets’ No. 6 pick has been a hard spot for rival teams to predict.

“Brooklyn's pick has been challenging for rival teams to project,” Woo wrote in a recent mock draft. “With the Nets tied to a large group of prospects and no obvious best fit. Although Acuff doesn't match the Nets' preference for positional size on the perimeter, rival teams have come to view him as a serious candidate.”

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