The Brooklyn Nets still have a path in the NBA Cup, but it’s already getting narrow.
After Saturday night’s loss in Atlanta dropped them to 2-7 overall, the Nets are trying to steady themselves in Dallas on Sunday. That game matters for the season at large, but the bigger short-term issue is where Brooklyn stands in East Group A after a rough start to cup play.
The opening result did the damage. Brooklyn was blown out by the Detroit Pistons, and in the NBA Cup, the size of the loss matters. The Nets are sitting at a point differential of -16, which leaves them in last place in the group as one of two teams at 0-1.
That differential puts Brooklyn behind the curve even before the rest of the group has fully sorted itself out. The Nets are slightly worse than the Milwaukee Bucks in that category, so even avoiding the bottom spot will require some cleanup. Advancing is a bigger ask still.
A 2-2 finish can sometimes be enough to stay alive in the knockout chase, but three wins is usually the number that keeps a team in the mix. Since Brooklyn already has one loss, running the table may be the only realistic route from here.
Friday night brought a little more clarity when the Toronto Raptors beat the Bucks in Milwaukee. Toronto is now the only team in the group with multiple cup games played and sits at 1-1.
That result helps frame Brooklyn’s situation. If the Nets win out, they would move ahead of those teams in the standings. But even a 3-1 record would only secure a finish above Toronto and Milwaukee at this point.
There’s still another wrinkle. With Brooklyn already losing to Detroit and the Orlando Magic winning their first group game, the Nets would need to win out and also get a Detroit loss to keep a shot at taking the group. If the top of the group ends in a tie among those three teams, point differential becomes the separator, and Brooklyn has plenty of ground to make up there.
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Julius Randle and Michael Porter Jr. were brought in to help steady things, but the ball security concerns around the roster have become hard to ignore. When the offense is struggling to create clean looks and the bigger names are part of the problem, the conversation naturally starts to widen beyond the court. Brooklyn is already hearing from around the league on some of its larger contracts, which makes the next stretch feel less like a simple correction and more like a test of how long the front office can wait for this group to settle in. [Read more 🡒]
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The intrigue is coming from Sacramento, where Sabonis role has reportedly shifted enough to make people around the league wonder how settled he feels in the current setup. Any deal would have to make sense for the Kings as well, and that is where the conversation gets complicated, with experienced pieces being floated as part of the framework. Nothing has been confirmed, but this is the kind of frontcourt possibility that can linger because it fits a need on one side and raises questions on the other. [Read more 🡒]
Day'Ron Sharpe May Have Given The Nets A New Identity
DayRon Sharpe has been doing more than cleaning up the glass for Brooklyn lately, and his latest outing hinted at a bigger shift. In a 124-121 loss to the Hawks, he put together a rare all-around night with 12 points, 10 rebounds and 13 assists, a sign that his passing has become a real part of the Nets offense rather than just an occasional wrinkle.
Brooklyn still let a winnable game slip away after giving up 38 points in the fourth quarter, but Sharpes growing role as a facilitator is the kind of development that can change how this team looks going forward. For a roster searching for identity, having a big man who can rebound, score and keep the ball moving gives the Nets a different kind of pressure point to build around. [Read more 🡒]