Should Nets consider tanking or competing this season?

The Brooklyn Nets just pulled off perhaps the most shocking win of the NBA season thus far. Not only were they without Dorian Finney-Smith, Ben Simmons, Nic Claxton, Noah Clowney, and Bojan Bogdanovic, but both Cam Johnson and Cam Thomas left Monday's game against the Golden State Warriors due to injury. Yet, with a rotation completely unrecognizable, they came back from a deficit as large as 18 points in the second half to earn a win in Golden State on the second night of a back-to-back after defeating the Sacramento Kings on Sunday.

That win improved Brooklyn's record to 8-10 on the season. They're currently tied for the No. 7 seed in what's been a remarkably weak Eastern Conference. They're just 1.0 game back of the No. 5 seed.

This wasn't supposed to be how the season began for the Nets. Once they traded Mikal Bridges and found a way to acquire some of the first-round picks that they traded to the Houston Rockets in exchange for James Harden a while back, they were expected to be among the worst teams in the NBA. As their record suggests, that has not been close to the case.

Brooklyn's surprisingly solid start has some fans wondering whether the team should pursue competing or continue down the tanking path this season. As fun as the start to the season has been, the answer should be remarkably clear. The Nets as a franchise would benefit a lot more by tanking.

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Surprisingly decent start cannot deter Nets from achieving ultimate goal

Let's make a couple of things abundantly clear. First, the Nets have played entertaining basketball. They've shared the ball remarkably well, their effort level is noticeable, and Cam Thomas is a joy to watch when it comes to scoring the basketball. Second, rooting for the team to win is far more enjoyable than rooting for the team to lose. Making it to the playoffs would be more fun than not.

With that being said, though, what's the realistic ceiling with this team? Can they make it to the playoffs when the season comes to an end? Perhaps, but even if they do, does anyone expect them to even win a single game against a team like the Boston Celtics or Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round? Then, all the Nets get from this season is a pick just outside of the lottery.

It'd be more fun if they tried to compete now, but that will only hurt them in the future. The 2025 NBA Draft is full of exciting prospects, with Cooper Flagg, of course, leading the mix. The Nets should not voluntarily choose to take themselves out of the mix to select him or earn a top-five pick in a loaded draft just to try and get swept in the first round as a No. 8 seed. The way they can build themselves a championship-level roster that can compete at a sustainable level is through the draft. They got their own picks to do that.

The No. 1 goal for this season should be seeing players like Cam Thomas, Jalen Wilson, Noah Clowney, and even Nic Claxton continue to develop. Trading veterans on expiring contracts like Dennis Schroder and Dorian Finney-Smith in exchange for assets that can help Brooklyn in the future should be a no-brainer. Dangling Cam Johnson amid a breakout season also must be done, although the Nets don't have to rush to trade him given his contract situation.

The Chicago Bulls are a good example of a team that constantly hovers around where the Nets ceiling is for this season, and they're in one of the worst positions in the sport because of it. The worst place a team can be in the NBA is in the middle.

Had they not gotten their first-round pick back, seeing what they can do in a weak conference would've made sense. Now that Brooklyn controls its own future again, there's no reason to not wave the white flag for 2024-25 in an effort to help the organization in the coming years. Having Flagg or any of the top prospects in this draft class makes the future look so much brighter than if the Nets somehow made the playoffs and had to settle on a mid-level prospect instead.

Given where the Nets are standings-wise right now, hopefully, Sean Marks will find a way to trade guys like Schroder and Finney-Smith sooner rather than later to help the Nets fall in the standings.