The Brooklyn Nets came into the 2026 NBA offseason with the goal of improving the roster as much as possible following a 2025-26 campaign where they finished with a lowly 20-62 record. Brooklyn made some interesting moves this summer, headlined by trading for Minnesota Timberwolves
forward Julius Randle, but there are some around the league who believe that this upcoming season will be another tough one for the Nets."Unlike the Bulls and Kings, these final three teams won't even reap the rewards of their own subpar record next spring," Zach Kram wrote for ESPN of the group that the Nets find themselves in heading into this upcoming season. Kram provided his tier list for all 30 NBA teams and Brooklyn was sorted into the category of teams expected
to be among the worst next season that don't have their own first-round pick in 2027.
"The Nets owe a pick swap to Houston, the Clippers owe a pick swap to Oklahoma City and the Bucks owe their first-rounder outright to either Atlanta or New Orleans," Kram continued. "Counterintuitively, those deals could make tanking more likely from this trio, because they shouldn't care if their traded picks' lottery odds are depressed. Still, there's enough talent here to make 60-plus losses fairly unlikely."
As Kram alluded to, the Nets do not have control of their first-round pick in the 2027 NBA Draft as the Houston Rockets have swap rights over that selection. The Nets will still get a first-round pick next year from Houston, but with the Rockets still expected to be one of the better teams in the league with Kevin Durant leading the way, that first-round selection will likely be in the 20's.
Ultimately, Brooklyn could swing for the fences this season since they wouldn't have their own pick to ruin the Lottery odds for, but they should win more than 20 games with Randle and forward Michael Porter Jr. sharing the floor together. Next season will be interesting from the standpoint of what moves the Nets could make by the trade deadline, but either way, it seems that they have some people who doubt how much they will be winning this season.
This article originally appeared on Nets Wire: Nets projected to be 'noncompetitive' in the 2026-27 NBA season
