The Brooklyn Nets have already done much of their heavy lifting this offseason, and the next phase of the rebuild may be less about big splashes and more about waiting for the right opening.
A major piece of that summer work was the trade for Minnesota Timberwolves forward Julius Randle, but even with that veteran addition, the bigger question hanging over Brooklyn is what comes next. The team appears to be positioning itself for a better 2026-27 campaign, yet the roster still looks like one built for patience.
Brian Lewis of the New York Post, via NetsDaily, put the current outlook in blunt terms on Tuesday: "After going 20-62 last season (with a preseason over/under win total of 19.5), the Nets are tabbed to be one of the league’s worst teams again. They’re listed with the second-lowest wins over/under by FanDuel and BetMGM at 24.5," Lewis wrote. Even with Randle on board, Brooklyn is still being viewed as a team near the bottom of the league.
Lewis also highlighted just how much the Nets leaned on their youngest players last season. "With eight rookies on the Nets’ roster last season - including a record five first-round picks - they played those first-year pros a league-high 6,716 minutes," he wrote. That comparison placed Brooklyn alongside the Sacramento Kings, Oklahoma City Thunder, Portland Trail Blazers, and Washington Wizards as another team working through a deep rebuild.
Right now, the Nets have 10 players who are 24 years old or younger, with Egor Demin and Mikel Brown Jr. standing out as the youngest names on the roster. For Brooklyn fans looking for a clearer timeline, the answer seems tied to two things: which young player takes a real step forward, and when general manager Sean Marks decides to turn the team’s draft stash into a move for a star.
The Nets did not seem to be in the mix for Giannis Antetokounmpo or Jaylen Brown this summer, which leaves the franchise waiting on the next star-level player to become available. Until that happens, Lewis’ note about the heavy workload for Brooklyn’s young players may be the clearest hint that at least one of them could be ready to break through sooner than expected.
In Other News...
Nets Fans Are About To Learn How Much Respect This Team Gets
The next few days will give the Nets a much clearer read on where they stand around the league. The NBA is rolling out the full 2026-27 regular season schedule in pieces between Tuesday and Friday, and with it come the dates that tend to say the most about a teams profile: Opening Night, Christmas Day and the NBA Cup slate. Brooklyn has already done most of its offseason shopping, including the addition of Julius Randle, so the attention now shifts from what the roster looks like to how the league chooses to showcase it.
For a team trying to reassert itself, those placement details matter. The Nets are expected to land in East Group A for the NBA Cup, where the competition is slated to include the Pistons, Raptors, Magic and Bucks, a grouping that will offer an early hint at how the league views Brooklyns place in the conference. The schedule release should answer a lot of those questions in short order, even if the final judgment on respect comes later on the floor. [Read more 🡒]
Nets Rebuild Timeline Just Put One Big Brooklyn Question In Focus
The Nets are still leaning into a patient rebuild, one that puts internal development ahead of any immediate swing for a superstar trade. Around the league, that kind of timeline only becomes more important when rivals are balancing their own futures, and the Knicks offer a good example of how fragile roster building can be even after a championship. Jalen Brunson is recovering from wrist surgery and remains in the middle of a 6-to-8 week timeline, while New York also has three young players with limited NBA experience and Mohamed Diawara looking like the most likely to help next season.
Brooklyns front office has made its preference clear for now, and that leaves one big question hanging over the next phase of the rebuild: how long the Nets are willing to stay in this lane before the urge to accelerate grows stronger. The broader Eastern Conference context only sharpens it, especially with the Knicks still trying to sort out their own supporting cast and the league continuing to mark the passing of former Knicks coach Don Nelson, a reminder of how quickly circumstances can change around a franchise. [Read more 🡒]
Nets Still Have One Roster Battle That Could Matter More Than Fans Think
With Chaney Johnson and Tyler Bilodeau already locked in, the Brooklyn Nets still have one two-way roster spot to sort out for the 2026-27 season, and the final decision does not look close to being settled yet. Summer League has already given the front office a few names to keep circling, with several players making enough of an impression to stay in the conversation as the team moves toward camp.
Dain Dainja and Ben Humrichous have both put themselves into the mix, while Cam Nelson remains a possibility once healthy after missing Summer League because of injury. The Nets have not made a final call, and training camp could end up being the place where this job is won, which is exactly why a seemingly small roster battle may wind up carrying more weight than it first appears. [Read more 🡒]