Nets' 2026 Draft Position is Seemingly Dominating Their Season Before it Starts

Brooklyn has a lot to look forward to this season, despite being in a rebuild. However, the team's outlook for the 2026 NBA Draft is already overshadowing everything.

Sep 23, 2025; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Brooklyn Nets guard Egor Demin (8) at Media Day. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images / Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images

They may not be projected to win many games, but there are still some things to like about the Brooklyn Nets this season. Two, in particular, are that they have a direction, and they have the assets to back it up.

The Nets are finally deciding to embrace the rebuild after the 2023-24 season, trading a plethora of veterans between June and December. Mikal Bridges, Dennis Schroder and Dorian Finney-Smith highlighted Brooklyn's departures, but the team now has plenty of draft capital and youth to build on.

This season, the focus should be on how the Nets develop their five first-round picks of the 2025 draft. Egor Demin, Nolan Traore, Drake Powell, Ben Saraf and Danny Wolf will make their NBA debuts and lead the new era of Brooklyn basketball. However, it seems like the rest of league ignores that when talking about the team's season.

The Athletic's Mike Vorkunov labeled the Nets' burning question as where they'd be picking in the 2026 draft. It's more than fair to write off Brooklyn's season in terms of competitiveness, but that shouldn't be the only, or even the main focus.

"The Nets are in the second year of their rebuild. The first one was complicated. In some ways, they were too good early on and out-tanked by the Philadelphia 76ers down the stretch," Vorkunov wrote.

"They landed the No. 8 pick in the draft, which is nice but not high enough. Will they be able to triangulate their draft position a little better this season so they can get a super-high draft pick who could have elite talent in the top-three picks? We’ll see in mid-May."

Entering year two of the rebuild, the Nets' biggest storyline will be how the five first-round picks perform in their first season. Demin, in particular, will get plenty of opportunities right off the bat. Saraf and Wolf had impressive preseason debuts, combining for 14 points and 11 assists while shooting 6-for-10 from the field.

Brooklyn's draft position doesn't matter, but it shouldn't be a narrative this early. Many analysts and scouts across the league were quick to laugh at the Nets for their selections.

A league-record five picks in the top 30 is impressive, regardless of who was chosen, and each player displayed promising talent in NBA Summer League. Entering the regular season, head coach Jordi Fernandez has a legitimate core to work, and can build on Brooklyn's talent while still contending for a top draft pick.

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