The Brooklyn Nets enter next season with a lot of moving parts and not many clear answers, but one thing should stay fixed: development has to come first.
That’s the real tension in Brooklyn right now. The team could spend another year near the bottom of the Eastern Conference, or it could take a meaningful step forward and flirt with the postseason picture. There’s enough uncertainty around the roster that both outcomes feel possible.
The Nets have at least given themselves a chance to change the conversation. Julius Randle arrived in a draft night trade, and Mikel Brown Jr. was added in the draft, giving the summer a different feel than a simple teardown. With those moves, Brooklyn looks like a team that might be able to push toward the play-in race in a deep conference, even if the climb from 20 wins to relevance is a steep one.
That’s where the temptation starts. If Randle helps stabilize things and Michael Porter Jr.’s 50-win projection somehow starts to look more realistic, the front office could feel pressure to accelerate the timeline. Brooklyn has spent the past few years rebuilding, and even after the Kevin Durant-Kyrie Irving-James Harden era ended the way it did, there will always be a pull toward making another big swing.
Still, the Nets need to resist that urge until the 2027 offseason. Even if the season starts going better than expected, the smarter move is to keep the long view in focus.
Brooklyn has five first-round picks from 2025, and Brown could be a legitimate franchise cornerstone. Those are the pieces that matter most.
There’s also the reality of the roster itself. The Nets are not one move away from being a true contender, and anything less than that should wait.
A short window with Randle and Porter could create some urgency, but that doesn’t change the bigger picture. The franchise needs patience more than it needs another quick fix.
That responsibility reaches Jordi Fernandez, too. Winning games from the bench matters, but not if it comes at the expense of giving the young core enough minutes and enough chances to grow. Extra wins next season won’t mean much if they come with stunted development.
Brooklyn’s future is still hard to map out, and next season could go a lot of different ways. But the priority should not be hard to identify. The Nets need to stick to the plan and keep building.
In Other News...
How An Old Nets Salary Dump Just Paid Off Again
The Nets found another bit of value from a deal that dates back to 2018, when a salary-clearing move involving Jeremy Lin sent out a second-round pick that eventually worked its way back into Brooklyns hands. In the 2026 NBA Draft, that same pick became Tyler Bilodeau, the 6-foot-8 UCLA forward whose game fits the modern profile the organization keeps targeting.
Bilodeau signed a two-way contract, giving Brooklyn a low-cost look at a player expected to help with shooting and positional flexibility. For a team that has leaned on clever roster management for years, it is a reminder that even an old transaction can still shape the next wave of development, especially when the return is a forward who can stretch the floor and add versatility on the margins. [Read more 🡒]
Nets Fans Just Got A Reminder About One Recent Roster Cut
The Raptors latest roster move offered a familiar kind of reminder for Nets fans: a recently cut guard is already finding his next opportunity. Toronto has converted Jaden Bradleys two-way deal into a standard NBA contract, a multi-year agreement that reflects how quickly teams can reshape the back end of a roster when they believe a young player has earned a longer look.
Brooklyn, meanwhile, is seeing a name it just let go pop right back into the league picture. Malachi Smith, who was waived by the Nets recently, is expected to slide into the two-way opening left by Bradley in Toronto, giving him another chance to stick after Brooklyn moved on. For the Nets, it is another small roster note, but the kind that tends to linger when a player leaves one situation and lands in another almost immediately. [Read more 🡒]
Nets Training Camp Will Reveal If This Roster Can Actually Fit
Brooklyns training camp is set to be less about a playoff push and more about figuring out what this roster can become. For the Nets, the real value lies in player development, with Michael Porter Jr. and Julius Randle both in position to show what they can bring while also setting themselves up for future contract talks.
Egor Demin and Mikel Brown Jr. give the camp a different kind of urgency, since both are trying to sharpen their games and adjust to the speed and physicality of NBA competition. If the Nets are going to make any real progress this season, it will start with how quickly those players build chemistry and how well the pieces begin to fit together. [Read more 🡒]