The Brooklyn Nets have put the finishing touches on their 2026 offseason work, and the reason they remain such a fascinating team is simple: they still own a mountain of future trade ammo.
That stockpile is a big part of why Brooklyn was ranked third in the NBA in trade assets by Andy Bailey of Bleacher Report. The Nets are still early in their rebuild, but the value in their chest of picks is already obvious.
“Given where the Brooklyn Nets have been (and figure to be for the next few years), their first-round picks are valuable. Of course, Adam Silver's new rules aimed at reducing tanking could reduce that value a bit, but a lot of those years will be in the lottery,” Andy Bailey wrote for Bleacher Report when discussing the Nets' trade assets.
Bailey also pointed to one especially intriguing piece in the mix.
“And that 2032 first from Denver, when Nikola Jokić is 37 and the aforementioned rules may be retired, could be one of the better individual assets in the league,” Bailey continued on the Nets. “On top of that, Brooklyn has a valuable expiring contract attached to one of the best shooters in the NBA in Michael Porter Jr.”
The numbers back up the buzz. Brooklyn has 12 first-round picks from now through 2033, and that could become 13 if the Philadelphia 76ers’ first-rounder comes into play. The Nets also have 19 second-round picks over that same stretch, and those selections have taken on even more weight as teams hunt for cost control in a tighter financial environment under the current CBA.
There’s also the possibility that Brooklyn can add to that pile through the players already on the roster. Forwards Michael Porter Jr. and Julius Randle are veteran pieces who could draw interest next season or later, and either one could help the Nets turn their current position into even more future assets. For now, Brooklyn sits as one of the league’s clearest holders of trade flexibility.
In Other News...
D'Angelo Russell Is Back In A Nets Debate Fans Know Well
D'Angelo Russells name is back in the mix around Brooklyn, and it comes at a familiar moment for a franchise still sorting out its long-term direction. Now with the Memphis Grizzlies, Russell is reportedly unlikely to stay there, which has naturally reopened the door to a possible return to a Nets team that is still in a rebuilding phase and can at least be expected to look at experienced options as it maps out the next step.
For Nets fans, the idea is one they know well because Russell already has history here, including the midseason arrival in 2024-25 that briefly tied his career back to Brooklyn. Whether the conversation goes anywhere is another matter, but the fit is the kind of speculative, old-friend debate that tends to follow a player with roots in the building and a front office still weighing how to balance the present with what comes next. [Read more 🡒]
Nets Fans Are About To See Brooklyns First Real Test Map
The Nets have already checked off one of the biggest boxes of their offseason by trading for forward Julius Randle, but the calendar still feels a little unfinished until the league drops the full 2026-27 schedule. Brooklyn knows its preseason slate and can keep building toward camp, yet the real blueprint for the season is still coming into focus as the NBA is expected to release the complete schedule next week, according to insider Marc Stein.
For a team trying to turn offseason moves into something more tangible, the schedule matters almost as much as the roster. It shows when the first heavy stretch arrives, how soon the new-look group gets tested, and where the long road trips and home stands might shape the early rhythm of the year. Until then, the Nets can only prepare in broad strokes while waiting for the matchups that will tell the real story of how this season is likely to unfold. [Read more 🡒]
