The Brooklyn Nets have spent the past two seasons piling up losses, but the franchise has moved past the tanking label and is trying to chart a different course under Jordi Fernandez in the 2026-27 campaign. Even so, the offseason that followed was hardly a splashy one.
Brooklyn’s biggest addition came through a trade for Julius Randle, and the rest of the roster reshaping was relatively modest. The Nets also signed Keon Ellis and Moe Wagner in free agency and added Mikel Brown Jr., Joshua Jefferson and Tyler Bilodeau in the draft. That kind of measured business has done little to convince the outside world that a major jump is coming, which is why Brooklyn landed in the bottom six of six different preseason NBA power rankings.
“I have the Nets out of the basement because they have no incentive to be bad, besides the new tanking rules,” wrote The Athletic's Law Murray. “The Rockets can swap their pick, courtesy of the 80 games James Harden played in Brooklyn.
The Nets made moves accordingly, trading Nic Claxton for Julius Randle. Keon Ellis replaces Ziaire Williams, Mikel Brown Jr. is in for Malachi Smith, Joshua Jefferson is swapped in for Ochai Agbaji and Moritz Wagner supplants Jalen Wilson.
Watching Randle and Michael Porter Jr. attempt to share the ball will be an acquired taste. But if nothing else, the Nets should have a significant size advantage.”
Randle gives Brooklyn a real shot of offense as a forward who can create with the ball in his hands. Last season with the Minnesota Timberwolves, the 6-foot-9 veteran averaged 21.1 points, 6.7 rebounds and 5.0 assists while shooting 48.1 percent over 79 games.
Unless there’s a trade, Michael Porter Jr. will be part of the mix too after turning in a career-best season. And while Mikel Brown Jr. and Egor Demin form one of the league’s youngest backcourts, both made noise in Summer League.
Brooklyn’s hopes of outperforming those low rankings will depend heavily on what comes from inside the building. The Nets used eight picks over the last two drafts, and they now have 11 players who are 24 or younger.
Demin and Brown are expected to log heavy minutes as starters. Day'Ron Sharpe, Noah Clowney and Josh Minott are back with multiple NBA seasons already on their resumes, while Nolan Traore, Drake Powell, Ben Saraf and Danny Wolf should also get extended run as sophomores.
The preseason begins on the road Oct. 6 against the Charlotte Hornets. Brooklyn will then open the regular season against the Hornets on Oct. 21 at Barclays Center.
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Cam Whitmore Suddenly Feels Like A Nets Fit To Watch
Cam Whitmores path has quickly turned uncertain after Cleveland acquired him in a multi-team trade, only for the Cavaliers to reportedly weigh whether to waive and stretch his contract. For a young wing with real upside, that kind of roster calculus can be harsh, but it also opens the door for a team that still has room to think more about talent than fit on paper.
The Nets are one of the clubs worth watching if Whitmore does become available. Brooklyn has a clear need for young scoring help on the wing, and Whitmores profile lines up with the kind of upside swing that makes sense for a team still sorting out its long-term core. Charlotte is another possible landing spot, but from Brooklyns perspective, this is exactly the sort of opportunity that can go from theoretical to very real in a hurry. [Read more 🡒]
Nets Fans Are Split On What This Season Really Means
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There is some real intrigue here, because the roster has enough recognizable talent to make a leap feel possible, but not enough certainty to quiet the doubts. Oddsmakers have set the bar around 24.5 wins, which says plenty about how the league views the Nets right now, and it leaves Brooklyn stuck in the middle of two different conversations: whether this is the start of something more serious, or just another season of waiting for the rebuild to show its hand. [Read more 🡒]
Michael Porter Jr. Could Decide How Far The Nets Really Go
Brooklyns roster is starting to look more layered after the additions of Julius Randle and Mikal Bridges, but the real swing piece may still be Michael Porter Jr. Porter is heading into his second season with the Nets after a strong year in which he averaged 24.2 points, 7.1 rebounds and 3 assists, production that gave the offense a reliable scoring outlet and helped shape what the team could do around him.
Now he enters the final year of his contract with the kind of platform that can change both his value and the Nets ceiling. If Porter stays on the same track, he wont just be one of Brooklyns most important players this season, he could also become one of the more closely watched free agents next summer, which makes his year a little more complicated than a typical contract season. [Read more 🡒]