How Games out of the Nets Control Will Affect Them Come Draft Season

The Nets currently have the fifth-best lottery odds for the No. 1 pick in 2026.

Sep 30, 2024; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Brooklyn Nets General Manager Sean Marks (left) speaks to head coach Jordi Fernandez (right) during media day at HSS Training Center. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images | Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images

While tanking is at an all-time high in the NBA as the supposed generational 2026 draft class approaches, the Brooklyn Nets have a chance to make up some ground in the lottery race without having to do anything themselves. The fourth-worst Indiana Pacers and second-worst Washington Wizards face off in back-to-back games on Thursday and Friday night.

The two teams are no doubt in search of a top-three pick in the 2026 NBA Draft to potentially make a run next season. They split the first two games of their season series, and no matter what happens in the next two, the Nets' odds should improve.

Brooklyn also has a back-to-back on Thursday and Friday night, but its opponents are the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Oklahoma City Thunder. Those games can be assumed losses for the sake of the best-case scenario, which would put it at a 15-40 record. If Washington and Indiana split these two games again, the Wizards will sit at 15-40 and the Pacers at 16-41.

In two games against Washington this season, the Nets have won both and there's only one more game in their season series, meaning that the Wizards will have the tiebreaker if necessary. Brooklyn also has a three-game season series with Indiana, and they split the first two games. The tiebreak game will be played on April 9 at Barclays Center.

It's likely that no team will catch up to the Sacramento Kings, who have the league's worst record and are on a 14-game losing streak. The other team in the bottom five of the NBA that the Nets have a chance of catching in the lottery race is the New Orleans Pelicans.

The Nets split their two games with the Pelicans this season. New Orleans has the 22nd hardest strength of schedule from this point compared to Brooklyn who has the sixth hardest schedule. Washington has the 12th hardest remaining schedule, and the Pacers have the 18th hardest remaining schedule.

Brooklyn selected five players in the first round of the 2025 NBA Draft. So far, the majority of that class looks promising, but none have singled themselves out as a franchise cornerstone.

Getting a bottom-three record to give the Nets even odds at the No. 1 pick could do wonders for their rebuild. There are some really promising players down the board, but the top three players in the class have superstar potential.