Hey, what do you want from me? It’s August, and in lieu of any basketball or even news, the mind is left wandering all the possibilities for this upcoming NBA season.
I sat down with Erik Slater, host of Locked on Nets, and we discussed our most feasible but still hot takes for the Brooklyn Nets. Will they make the playoffs? The Play-In Tournament? Will someone make make the All-Star team or even an all-NBA team? Will Michael Porter Jr. put down the microphone?
No, nothing that hot. These have to be
somewhat realistic, and though our reasonings for any of the following takes aren’t, they exist! You’ll be happy to know I started out on a positive note.
Egor Dëmin makes All-Rookie First Team
I know, I know, quite the messenger. But here’s how I can see it happening.
Egor Dëmin should have real opportunity to put up counting stats this season, playing for an egalitarian offense that hopes to push the pace and take plenty of 3-pointers. I don’t think he’ll be a positive impact player his rookie season, but that’s a tremendous bar for any rookie ball-handler to clear; virtually all impact metrics had Stephon Castle, the 2025 Rookie of the Year, as a negative player. And that’s okay.
But if Dëmin can convert his catch-and-shoot 3-pointers at a reasonable clip, he’ll walk into 14/5/6 games, assuming he plays enough. I also trust Jordi Fernández, whose team ranked in the top-3 of pick-and-roll/dribble-handoff frequency last season, to scheme Dëmin downhill. We’ve covered his flaws as a driver and ball-handler extensively — and we’ll probably do it some more — but there’s no question that he can map the court out of high PnR. Come off a screen, come off another one and receive a handoff, the defense might just make the decision for you…
It might also help that Dëmin could be the best of Brooklyn’s five rookies, a great quote, and could compile the most highlight passes in the class. Voters’ delight.
Cam Thomas gets traded during the season
“The most likely scenario where he would be traded is if he signs the qualifying offer,” said Slater.
This one is easier to see. Thomas doesn’t seem to happy with how the Nets are valuing him, though Slater and I agreed that the chances of CT actually taking the qualifying offer are 30% at best. But this take, like the one that follows it, is based on the fact that Brooklyn has so many rotation players that rightfully feel entitled to minutes, many of them young and craving development. Jordi Fernández himself has said there’s no substitute for real minutes, for a young player.
Do the Nets see Thomas as a valuable piece, long-term, after the signals they sent with their draft full of quick-decision players? They’ve never directly said or done anything to indicate they don’t like Thomas as a player, but maybe the tea leaves are blowing out of Brooklyn for their 2021 first-round pick. Maybe it’s whether other teams want to take the flyer.
Dariq Whitehead isn’t a Net by next offseason
You almost forget that Whitehead was a first-round pick just two seasons ago. One of the youngest players in franchise history at the time of his selection just turned 21 — not ancient, but no longer a young NBA prospect. He hasn’t shown anything yet, even turning in a fairly unproductive G League season in 2024-25. Not super encouraging.
Still, supporters will point to the fact that he hasn’t had a truly healthy offseason since he was going into his senior year of high school. Whitehead himself will tell you that the most worrisome part of his game, a lack of explosion and burst, will eventually come back. He just needs time.
But the history of first-round picks who produced this little in the first two years, extenuating circumstances or not, are not too kind, unfair as it may be to Whitehead.
Maybe he’s packaged in a trade. Maybe he’s just waived to make room for a newcomer. I almost went double whammy and threw in his fellow 2023 draftee Jalen Wilson as a part of this take; Wilson might be an even less inspiring athlete with no injury history to boot, but as a second-round pick, the expectations are far lower.
Gun to my head, I don’t think this one comes true. But that’s the battle Dariq Whitehead is fighting these days.
Brooklyn does not win 20 games in 2025-26
Looking around the Eastern Conference, this one gets tough. But Slater mapped it out on the pod; Brooklyn’s first game is against the Charlotte Hornets, their 12th game is against the Washington Wizards. But those games bookend a stretch where the team exclusively faces playoff hopefuls, if not playoff locks. They do not seem likely to star 9-10 in 2025-26, as they did last season. Furthermore, with only one first-round pick — their own — the tank will be on from the get-go.
Better yet, they can tank without being too shameless early on. Rookies will be bad, great! Michael Porter Jr. is worse than Cam Johnson in a similar role, great!
Like it or not, there is no greater incentive for Brooklyn this season than to secure a top-3 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft. They will play the odds game. And luckily for them, their second incentive — develop the rookies — goes hand in hand with the first. Once again, Brooklyn will be very bad this season. But armed with young players who might actually be part of this team’s long-term future, they could at least be worth watching, even if they only go 18-64.
It’s tough to come up with hot takes for the Brooklyn Nets, whose season doesn’t have a very wide range of possible outcomes. But Erik and I tried, then kicked around a couple more — here’s the full pod, also available on music streaming platforms:
Please, come back to this article in a few months to tell Erik and I how wrong we were. Or better yet, drop your takes below. No judging!
We need something to get us through the dog days, after all. If you want some real basketball, the New York Liberty play on Thursday night at 7:00 p.m. ET against Angel Reese and the Chicago Sky!
