In an NBA Draft where the tallest and most-hyped Chinese player since Yao Ming was taken damn near 20 picks above his mock, the Brooklyn Nets still managed to collectively pull off possibly the weirdest draft of all time.
Brooklyn fans were frothing at the mouth at Sean Marks and the Nets' front office: capping off a frenzy of deals by basically walking into a fifth 2025 first round pick by basically playing ball with Boston and Atlanta in the Kristaps Porziņģis trade. A deal was cooking. A move for the top two picks. Maybe Dylan Harper looked a bit redundant on the Spurs alongside Fox, or Nico Harrison was stupid enough to deal Cooper Flagg. Hell, judging off the KD trade, most would have thought that Brooklyn could have easily cooked up a package to get Milwaukee to let Giannis go.
And then draft night came, and the Nets made NBA history as the first team to ever hold onto, and use five first round picks in one year. No trade-ups, no superstar deals. But telling the story of Brooklyn's weird draft night only starts there.
Because at the back half of the lottery, Brooklyn took the first big swing of the draft by picking BYU point guard(?) Egor Demin. And while ESPN's Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo laud Demin's rare mix of size and playmaking, both acknowledge that he is a huge risk for Brooklyn given his streaky shooting and less-than-average athleticism. And even while he improved his draft stock plenty in the offseason, most project Egor as being available for the Nets to take at 19. And Brooklyn finished the round by quadrupling down on Demin's draft profile. Between him, Nolan Traore, Ben Saraf, and Danny Wolf, the Nets are suddenly flooded with hybrid, position-less players are ready to run an NBA offense if they only improve their shooting.
So what are the Nets doing?
One of these players make sense -- but four? And all four were relative reaches -- not to mention that Demin, Traore, and Powell were taken over better-projected prospects as well. Khaman Maluach was available at 8, Kasparis Jakucionis slots more naturally into the Nets' scheme and had a massive slide down the boards, and Powell's jump over Asa Newell is must be studied.
After looking at these picks, it's easy to come to the conclusion that Marks and Co. tried and failed to deal their war chest of draft assets. However, the bevy of prospects the Nets drafted in the first round with similar draft profiles beg deeper speculation. Brooklyn's front office clearly knows what it wants, and if we're being honest with ourselves, it makes more sense than a first look would imply.
Nic Claxton is clearly staying, as is Cam Thomas. Despite their offensive ratings being in the basement, according to Basketball-Reference, Brooklyn's front office must feel that the solution lies with better playmaking, rather than scoring (and once Cam Thomas returns, so do the buckets). Claxton is also clearly viewed as their big of the future, and offers a similar profile to Maluach, explaining that away.
Thus, playmakers. Specifically the four they drafted. And if at least one of them pans out, it's safe to say that Brooklyn can call this draft a success. And as for Dwight Powell, 3-and-D prospects will never go out of style in the NBA. And he's way less expensive than Cam Johnson, who is a likely candidate to be off the roster by the 2026 deadline.
And who knows if they will pan out or not? But no one can say that Brooklyn didn't take big swings on draft night. No, they didn't do anything splashy with their picks, but the last time they did something splashy with their assets, the Nets were an injury and morale-ridden circus that got no farther than a bottom 4 playoff seed and the second round, jersey sales notwithstanding. The team needed a reset, and the 2025 Draft cemented their commitment to the new direction they're taking. Fantasizing about Giannis or Cooper Flagg is nice, but a superstar gets you no farther than playoff eligibility without a rock solid supporting cast. As of now, it's tough to say if the Nets have either.
But with the right development and another year of growth from Claxton or CT, they could have both within the next few years.