Brooklyn Nets' Tanking Outlook Could Hinge on Matchup vs. Wizards

The Brooklyn Nets have established themselves as one of the worst teams in the league this season, but they could set themselves apart in the tanking race with another loss on Sunday.

After a 1-11 start to the season, it’s hard to imagine there could be many teams with a case to be worse than the Nets. Of course, one way to make that case is for another team to have the same 1-11 mark through 12 games.

Nearly a month into the 2025-26 campaign, the Nets are one of three teams with only one win. While the Indiana Pacers, the only team Brooklyn has beaten, is 1-12, the Washington Wizards hold the same 1-11 record going into Sunday’s matchup.

With the first Wizards-Nets matchup of the year coming in Washington, the Nets will be looking to secure their second road win against a one-win squad this season. Of course, the front office probably wouldn’t mind if the Nets continued their losing ways against a team that seems destined to be at the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings alongside Brooklyn after 82 games.

Although it’s still early in the season and the Wizards may be in a position to get back on track and rack up some wins later in the year, this matchup could still loom large when it comes to how the lottery odds will end up. Over the first dozen games of the year, the Nets and Wizards have mostly played in uncompetitive losses and shown that they are nowhere close to playoff contention, even after both teams had some promising stretches at different points last season.

With Cam Thomas sidelined for awhile for Brooklyn, the Nets have been struggling to fill his scoring void. Even if he isn’t often considered a winning player, Thomas’ ability to keep the scoreboard moving is something the Nets have clearly missed since he went down.

In a matchup like this, there’s a decent chance that the outcome will be decided by which team’s veterans can show up. While the Nets will mostly be relying on Michael Porter Jr. and Terance Mann in that department, some solid performances from CJ McCollum and Khris Middleton could be enough to push the Wizards over the top.

In any case, this game could be a showcase of where the teams at the bottom of the NBA standings compare to each other. Sure, there will still be another five months of action after this game, but there’s a chance this game matters as much as any in the league’s tanking race this season.