Brooklyn Nets Off to Worst Start in 10 Years

The Brooklyn Nets fell to 0-7 after their 125-109 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday, their worst start in 10 years.

A lot has happened in those 10 years.

The Nets built a superteam featuring Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and James Harden, only for several factors outside of basketball to break that team up before it even had a chance to compete in the playoffs for a second straight season.

The Nets now have the youngest roster in the league, averaging 23.3 years old.

With that said, there are going to be a lot of growing pains, but it's hard to see the future direction of this team with no true building block emerging for the black and white.

Egor Demin's shooting stroke and playmaking skills were enough to sway the Nets into making him the No. 8 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft.

While he's shown accountability, nice touch from 3-point range, and the occasional nice dish, he needs to do more to sell fans on the idea that he can be a franchise cornerstone.

Demin had a nice stepback midrange jumper and finger roll layup attempt in the Nets' loss to the Timberwolves, but he still looked a bit slow and inorganic on those attempts.

Obviously, it takes time for a 19-year-old rookie to adjust to the NBA, but there are several other rookies, namely Philadelphia 76ers guard VJ Edgecombe, who are already garnering legitimate All-Star buzz through the first two weeks of the season.

Though he's limited as a playmaker, Cam Thomas's all-around scoring at all three levels still gives the Nets the most realistic scorer to lean on during this next step of their rebuild.

Thomas has learned from some of the best players the game has ever seen, weathered some uncertain situations throughout his career, and lit up box scores in ways only a few players have in franchise history.

However, he's probably best served as a sixth man on a true championship-contending team, but at this stage, the idea is to let him cook and keep his morale high if the plan is to keep him long term.

The Nets' contract negotiations with Thomas this offseason suggest he's not a part of their long-term plans, so if that's the case, the team should look to offload him to a contender in need of a scoring punch for future assets before he walks away for nothing in the offseason.