The Brooklyn Nets have officially drawn their cards. With they and the Indiana Pacers ending their regular seasons this afternoon, they’ve locked in their position for the 2026 NBA Draft lottery. Out-tanked this year by only the Pacers and the Washington Wizards, the Nets will have the best odds to land a higher pick when the ping pong balls are drawn just under a month from now. Here’s how it all breaks down:
As shown above, Brooklyn will have a 14% chance to land the top pick in this year’s draft, which is the highest the lottery allows. Their pick can also drop as far back as seventh overall. They finished with a 20-62 record to get here. That’s tied for their fourth-most ever in a season.
Recent teams to have won the lottery from the three slot include the San Antonio Spurs in 2023 and the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2020. Last year, the Charlotte Hornets were in it. They fell back to the fourth overall selection, but took the expected rookie of the year in Kon Knueppel.
Tanking is never fun, and a divisive topic, but what’s mutually agreed is that this was as good a year as ever to do it. The 2026 NBA Draft class is loaded with talent. Pundits have long touted Darryn Peterson, A.J. Dybantsa, and Cameron Boozer as its top three prospects and noted their potential to be franchise-changing talents.
It’s also the last year where “tanking” will be an option when it comes to team-building, at least in the way we know it to be today. Roughly two months ago, Shams Charania reported that Adam Silver informed the league’s 30 general managers that they plan to make anti-tanking rule changes for the 2026-27 season. A variety of amendments to the lottery system have reportedly gained traction amongst the owners and Silver, which mainly involve expanding the lottery and flattening the odds even further.
There’s more obvious reasons why landing a top pick this summer will be paramount as well. Point blank, the Nets have been a bad team for three straight years. Even as they continue to sell out the Barclays Center and engrain themselves in the Brooklyn community, we can’t pretend like sustained losing isn’t harmful to their brand.
The last time Brooklyn rebuilt, it also took a three year gap from 2015-18 before they returned to the playoffs. That time, they did it without control over their picks. Now, they do. We’ll cross our fingers and hope that’s enough break through the glass. The lottery takes place on May 10th in Chicago.
