Who Will be Brooklyn Nets' Go-To Scorer in Clutch Time Next Season?

The Nets' hopes of making the postseason may rely on stealing some games in the final moments.

Dec 21, 2025; Brooklyn, New York, USA; Brooklyn Nets forward Michael Porter Jr. (17) reacts after making a shot against the Toronto Raptors during the first half at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: John Jones-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Brooklyn Nets will be looking to make the postseason in 2027, and making plays in clutch time could be what gets them there.

As the Nets look forward to next season and coming out of this stage of their rebuild, they will need to find ways to win some more tight games. After spending the past few years tanking, the Nets are finally ready to get back to competitive basketball.

In getting back to competitive basketball, head coach Jordi Fernandez will have his hands full as his decision-making will be altered. After spending the past couple of years focused largely on development, the Nets will now need him to balance development and winning.

While that balance will be critical throughout the entire season and throughout all 48 minutes of each game, the final moments of tight contests will likely still feature a shift from that approach. As the Nets look to get back to the postseason, winning games in the clutch will be a massive piece of the puzzle.

Considering Brooklyn hadn’t exactly been going all-out for wins in the past few years, Fernandez will have to make some decisions on who he’ll go to when the game is on the line. As for the potential go-to options for a bucket late in games, Michael Porter Jr. and Julius Randle naturally top the list.

Almost certainly set to be the two leading scorers for the Nets next season, Porter and Randle’s experience both overall and making clutch plays throughout their careers make them the obvious choices for Brooklyn. Perhaps the biggest question will simply be which of the two Fernandez opts to go to most often.

That decision from night to night could be as simple as which player has the hot hand or who has a favorable matchup. However, there’s still some uncertainty beyond Randle and Porter.

While it’d be ideal for the Nets to go to one or both of those guys in clutch time each night, injuries, foul trouble or poor shooting games could mean that Brooklyn has to change up its game plan. That could leave the game in the hands of rookie Mikel Brown Jr. some nights, plus Egor Demin already displayed his clutch shot-making at times in his rookie year.

There’s no perfect answer for Fernandez as he looks to solve Brooklyn’s clutch-time equation, but the Nets certainly have enough options to make the final moments of tight games must-watch.