Nets owner Joe Tsai confirms the team’s strategy for this season: “We hope to make a good choice”
It wasn’t exactly a secret what the Brooklyn Nets’ goal was this season: They used all five of their first-round picks last June, then this summer traded or let Cam Johnson, Dorian Finney-Smith, Dennis Schroder and D’Angelo Russell walk. Brooklyn will rely on Cam Thomas – playing on his next qualifying offer contract – and Michael Porter Jr. to lead their offense.
But if you had any doubts about the plan, here’s what the team owner says Joe Tsai said on the All-In podcast (hat tip RealGM).
“I have to say we’re in a rebuilding year. We spent all our picks (in the 2025 NBA Draft). We had five first-round picks last summer…
“We have one [first-round] choose in 2026 and hope to get a good choice. So you can predict what kind of strategy we will use for this season. But we have a very young team.”
This upcoming NBA Draft is considered a strong draft at the top with Darryn Peterson (Kansas), AJ Dybantsa (BYU) and Cameron Boozer (Duke) all in the mix for the #1 pick, with other real talents like Nate Ament (Tennessee), Mikel Brown (Louisville) and Tounde Yessoufou (Baylor) worth keeping keep an eye on.
Brooklyn isn’t the only team starting this season with an eye on the draft, the same idea is spreading to Utah and Washington, and you can be sure that a few other teams with long-term postseason hopes will soon turn to the strategy.
The Nets control their pick this season, but in 2027 the Houston Rockets will have the right to trade. Starting in 2028, the Nets will have their own first-round picks and/or first-round picks or trades from the Knicks, 76ers and Nuggets.
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