Years of NBA Draft Despair Have Led the Brooklyn Nets to the 2026 Lottery

The Nets are hoping to change their NBA Draft luck with Sunday's lottery. History hasn't been kind to them.

Jul 29, 2021; Brooklyn, New York, USA; Cameron Thomas (LSU) walks off the stage after being selected as the number twenty-seven overall pick by the Brooklyn Nets in the first round of the 2021 NBA Draft at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images | Brad Penner-Imagn Images

The Brooklyn Nets are carrying more weight into the 2026 NBA Draft Lottery than any other team. Entering Sunday's drawing, almost all of the franchises in play for the No. 1 overall pick have some sort of young or established star to fall back on if they can't land one of the generational prospects in the top three (AJ Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson and Cameron Boozer).

For the Nets, falling back in the order is not an option.

While the rest of the NBA was blatantly tanking throughout the regular season, Brooklyn either did not participate or was extremely good at hiding it. The team's 20-62 record was purely based on poor play and a lack of true talent, especially when Michael Porter Jr. sat toward the end of the year.

The Nets have some fine young pieces, including five players selected in the 2025 NBA Draft, but 2026 needs to bring their next franchise cornerstone. History has led to this moment.

Brooklyn hasn't landed the No. 1 overall pick since the organization operated in New Jersey, selecting Kenyon Martin first off the board in 2000. The last time the Nets had a top-three pick was in 2010, bringing in Derrick Favors.

The franchise took a 14-year hiatus from the draft lottery due to some playoff appearances, but mostly the infamous Kevin Garnett-Paul Pierce trade that saw Brooklyn ship off a haul of first-round picks.

In 2025, the Nets were finally able to watch the lottery with something at stake, but they fell behind two spots to end up with Egor Dёmin. Sure, he showed flashes as an elite three-point shooter, but is he truly the guy to lead Brooklyn into the future? Probably not.

So here we are. Sunday is nearly here, and the Nets share the best odds to land the top pick in 2026 with the Washington Wizards and Indiana Pacers. They'll have a familiar face representing them in Vince Carter.

The last time the Nets drafted an All-Star who was actually rostered on the team when he received such an honor was Brook Lopez in 2008. All of their other top-tier talent since then has come via free agency or trade, and players like Favors and Jarrett Allen blossomed elsewhere.

Any one of Dybantsa, Peterson or Boozer would be a major victory, but anything less would keep fans in a state of despair. Each one of these generational prospects possesses superstar potential, whether it be elite scoring, two-way impact or the ability to impact every aspect of offense.