Brooklyn Nets fans are leaning toward a team that lands somewhere in the middle of the Eastern Conference picture in 2026-27, but not by much. In the latest offseason fan poll, 58% picked the Nets to finish between the 11th and 15th seed. Another 36% think there’s still a route to the Play-In Tournament, while only 6% believe this group can climb into a top-6 spot and lock in a guaranteed playoff berth.
That split fits the bigger conversation running through this three-part fan series: what exactly are the Nets going to be next season? The roster has been reshaped with offseason additions Mikel Brown Jr., Julius Randle, Michael Porter Jr., Moe Wagner, Keon Ellis, and Joshua Jefferson. On the other side of the ledger, Nicolas Claxton stands out among the summer departures.
The earlier polls painted a similar picture. When fans were asked how many games the team would win, 56% landed in the 30-39 range. In the second poll, 48% said the Nets would not be in the postseason race at all.
Among the majority expecting a finish outside the Play-In picture, Netstradamus laid out the case this way: “I think that Randle will be an innings eater, and Day’Ron and MPJ will contribute enough to winning to lift us out of the basement. I say 31-51, 12th in the East ahead of Milwaukee, Chicago and DC.”
kno took a sharper view of the situation: “come on people...the NETS are not not going anywhere this season unless MARKS has some special deals/signings up his sleeve.....................”
The poll also included a Play-In outlook, with 7-10 seed backing from fans who still see a path to postseason contention.
In Other News...
Nets Just Locked In A Familiar Big Worth Watching
Grant Nelson is back in the Nets orbit on a two-way contract, giving Brooklyn a familiar face after he spent last season moving between the big club and Long Island. The move also fills all three of the teams two-way slots, a sign that the organization wanted to keep a close eye on a player it already knows well. Nelsons path has included a knee injury, but he still managed to show promise in the G League and got a brief look in the NBA.
His summer was quieter than he would have liked, since he did not play in Summer League while working his way through recovery. Even so, he stayed around the team and traveled with Brooklyn during the offseason, which suggests the Nets have kept him in the conversation as they sort out the back end of the roster. Now the question is how quickly he can turn that familiarity into a real role once the regular work begins. [Read more 🡒]
Ben Simmons Is Back With A Chance Nets Fans Never Saw
Ben Simmons is back in the NBA on a one-year, $3.5 million deal with the Sacramento Kings, a fresh turn for a player whose last season away from the floor made it feel like his next stop might be as interesting as it was uncertain. For Brooklyn fans, it adds another chapter to a story that once held so much promise, only now with Simmons arriving in Sacramento after spending the 2025-26 season out of action.
The Kings put him through medical exams and workouts before signing off, and by all accounts he showed strong health heading into the new year. Simmons also kept busy away from basketball, including owning a sport fishing team, a reminder that his time off was not spent waiting around for a comeback so much as living a very different version of the offseason while the league moved on without him. [Read more 🡒]
Nets Suddenly Have A Real Decision To Make With Porter Jr
More than three months into extension talks, Michael Porter Jr. and the Nets still have not reached a deal, and the number being floated around him is hefty enough to make this a real organizational fork in the road. Porter is reportedly seeking roughly $40 million annually, a figure that forces Brooklyn to weigh his value not just as a scorer, but as a long-term cap commitment for a team still trying to sort out its direction.
That uncertainty has opened the door to trade chatter, with Orlando emerging as a team to watch in any possible Porter discussion. The Magic already have cap complications of their own and could need to reshuffle the roster to make something work, with talk around the league centering on the kind of larger deal that would test both teams appetite for draft-pick movement and major talent exchange. [Read more 🡒]