The Brooklyn Nets are banking on Julius Randle to help steady a roster that is still very much in the middle of a rebuild, even as the front office pushes for a more competitive 2026-27 season.
Brooklyn brought in Randle and the No. 28 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, Joshua Jefferson, in a deal that sent Nic Claxton and the No. 33 pick, Isaiah Evans, the other way. The move doesn’t signal a full reset, but it does show the Nets want more than just patience. They want some real punch, too.
That’s where Randle comes in. The 2021 Most Improved Player has spent the last seven seasons becoming a familiar postseason presence, and his game gives Brooklyn something it badly needs: a proven scorer who can get downhill, bully his way into the paint and still operate with enough guard-like skill to fit into a more modern offensive setup. At 6-foot-9 and 250 pounds, he brings size and force, but also the kind of playmaking the Nets are trying to build around under Jordi Fernández.
He also arrives as one of the older voices on one of the league’s youngest teams. That matters.
Brooklyn has young forwards in Danny Wolf, Noah Clowney and Jefferson who can pick up plenty from a veteran like Randle, even while he remains a productive piece in his own right. The fit is not just about leadership, though.
It’s about how he meshes with the rest of the core.
The Nets could roll out one of the biggest starting groups in the NBA next season, with potential starters from Mikel Brown Jr. to Day'Ron Sharpe all measuring between 6-foot-5 and 6-foot-10. For Randle, that should mean less need to reinvent himself. He can keep playing the way he knows best.
And Brooklyn needs that. The Nets finished last in the NBA this past season in both points per game and field goal percentage.
Randle’s track record at the other end of the spectrum is far more encouraging: over the last eight seasons, he has averaged 21.7 points per game while shooting 46.7% from the field. His 3-point numbers drag the overall picture down, but he only takes about four threes a night.
Michael Porter Jr. is still expected to be the team’s main offensive engine, but Randle gives Brooklyn another option when the game tightens up. In late-game situations, or if the Nets find themselves in play-in or playoff territory, he offers a seasoned presence who can either create a shot or make the right read.
He also adds something Brooklyn didn’t have enough of last season: foul pressure. Randle averaged more than six free-throw attempts per game last year and hit 80.2% of them. By comparison, the Nets were in the bottom half of the league in both free-throw attempts and free-throw percentage, and no player on the roster got to the line more than five times per game.
The biggest driver of Brooklyn’s ceiling will still be internal growth. That part doesn’t change. But Randle gives the Nets a way to survive some of that development time, and maybe even stay competitive while the young pieces try to catch up.
In Other News...
Keon Ellis Might Be The Kind Of Nets Move Fans Wanted
Brooklyn kept its offseason focus on the kind of move its fans have been asking for, adding Keon Ellis on a two-year, $18 million contract with a mutual option for the second season. The guard is entering his fifth NBA year and arrives with a reputation built more on disruption and effort than on shot creation, which fits the direction the Nets have been trying to establish.
Ellis also comes with a familiar face in the building, reuniting with assistant coach Jordi Fernandez after the two worked together in Sacramento. For a Nets team looking to sharpen its identity, that connection matters almost as much as the contract itself, because it gives Brooklyn a player the staff already knows can be trusted in the right role. [Read more 🡒]
Sean Marks Just Pushed The Nets Deeper Into A Defining Reset
Brooklyns offseason reset took another sharp turn when the front office used the No. 6 pick on guard Mikel Brown Jr. and then kept reshaping the roster around him. The Nets re-signed Josh Minott, DayRon Sharpe and Chaney Johnson, exercised Malachi Smiths team option, and added free agents Keon Ellis and Mo Wagner, all while declining options on Ziaire Williams, Ochai Agbaji and Jalen Wilson to keep the roster fluid.
The bigger swing came in the trade market, where Brooklyn brought in Julius Randle and also picked up another first-round selection, then used that No. 28 pick on Joshua Jefferson. With cap space still available and more free-agent shopping possible, Sean Marks has left the Nets with a young draft class, a reshaped supporting cast and one major unanswered question about how far this reset is going to go. [Read more 🡒]