The Brooklyn Nets are just a few days away from beginning their preparations for the 2026-27 NBA season in which they'll look to "shock the world" among other goals to achieve. Brooklyn is still in the midst of its rebuild so development of the younger players will be at the forefront, but what is the outlook for one of the youngest teams in the league this season?
"After three straight seasons where they lost more games than the year prior, the Nets might finally be ready to take a step forward. Julius Randle will complement Michael Porter Jr. well on offense and raise the overall floor," John Schuhmann wrote of the Nets for NBA.com. Despite the fact that many around the NBA expect the Nets to have another tough season, they are also projected
to be better than they were last year.
"But the spotlight remains on the Nets’ group of five second-year players that they selected in the first round of the 2025 Draft," Schuhmann continued. "The only one of the five who received any votes for first or second team All-Rookie was Egor Demin, who got two second-team votes. We can’t expect all of them to make giant leaps in Year 2, but the Nets need to see real progress from more than one of the five."
While forwards Michael Porter Jr. and Julius Randle are expected to be the offensive engines for Brooklyn's rebuilding roster, it remains to be seen what the development portion of the season will look like. As Schuhmann alluded to, guard Egor Demin looks to be a hit for the Nets, but Nolan Traore, Drake Powell, Ben Saraf, and Danny Wolf still have more to show before others believe that Brooklyn made the right choices in the 2025 NBA Draft.
Based off last season, it seems that Traore and Wolf are closer to being considered productive rotation players like Powell and Saraf, but a second season in the league could be what these young players need. Porter and Randle will no doubt lead the way for the youngsters on and off the court, but part of the season will be seeing how many of the young players develop, especially the aforementioned four members of the "Flatbush Five."
This article originally appeared on Nets Wire: What is the outlook for the Nets heading into 2026-27 NBA season?
