Season Wrap: The 2025-26 Brooklyn Nets

  • By Mark C

    Last Updated on April 29, 2026 12:44 pm by Mike Passador | Published: April 29, 2026

    There was no question that the Nets would be a team toiling at the bottom of the standings. That said, there will always be plenty of intrigue in a team that drafted a recordย fiveย first-round picks. While these rookies ultimately ended up faltering, some of the veterans surprised with the value they provided. Now the Nets are in a bit of a quagmire — with a lack of control of their 2027 draft pick, they are essentially forced to start making moves to win. What level of faith do we have in their current players on the roster?

    How’d It Go?

    With a rebuilding team, there are usually three goals you want to accomplish. The first is ensuring your own draft capital has the chance to be the best it can be. Job complete for Goal One, as the Nets secured a bottom-four placement in the NBA. The second goal is to make sure the veterans do not lose too much of their value and even potentially improve their stock around the league. Mission accomplished! Nicolas Claxton was, at worst, similar to prior seasons. Day’Ron Sharpe continued to be one of the league’s better backup bigs. And of course, Michael Porter Jr. provided a standout season — there will be much more on him below.

    The third goal however is where the Nets utterly failed, and that is in the development of their rookies. The Nets drafted and retained a record-setting five players in the first-round of the 2025 NBA Draft. I would argue none demonstrated themselves to be clear-cut core pieces. Egor Dั‘min had some bright spots as a shooter, but his scoring left a lot to be desired. Nolan Traorรฉ demonstrated his passing vision but clearly needs additional seasoning and to bulk up his frame. Danny Wolf flashed as an all-around offensive talent yet lacked consistency. Drake Powell was a fine complementary piece, but that isn’t an archetype you build the team around. Ben Saraf massively struggled to get to his spots and unlock some of his creation talents.

    With the Nets not having the rights to their own first-round pick in 2027 (the Rockets have swap rights), the Nets could have desperately used just one of these prospects to profile as a build-around option. These rookies will improve of course; no first-year player stays fully stagnant. That said, if you are a Nets fan, you cannot be filled with any sort of confidence with them right now. In addition to third-year player Noah Clowney stumbling, the future of the Nets appears shaky and reliant upon whomever they select in the upcoming 2026 NBA Draft.

    Coaching

    Head coach Jordi Fernรกndez may not be a household name, but he’s done a commendable job through his two seasons as the Nets head coach. It’s not going to be displayed in any stats as the team itself doesn’t contain that much talent. Watching the Nets in the the beginning of the season, it’s clear that this is a well-coached group. Compared to other teams around the Nets in the standings, there is a cohesive game plan on both ends of the court. When the team’s best players were still playing, the offense made logical sense in terms of where the ball was flowing and maximizing players’ skill sets. On defense and in transition, there were no slumped shoulders or lack of effort from the team. Again, none of the positive coaching from Fernรกndez and his staff show up in the stats since the team is just not ready to compete. But Fernรกndez is a sleeper candidate for one of the more talented coaches in the league.

    To add onto his platitudes, Fernรกndez helped enable Michael Porter Jr. to a career-best season. This is the second straight wing that Fernรกndez has aided after Cam Johnson last year. There seems to be some wing magic with Fernรกndez that almost has me worried on a player declining after being traded from the Nets.

    If you don’t believe me that Fernรกndez is a solid head coach, then believe the team who clearly believe in him. He and his staff and were all recently extended, signaling that the team believes Fernรกndez is the head coach that can lead this team to a winning era. If that isn’t a vote of confidence I’m not sure what is.

    Brooklyn Nets extended head coach Jordi Fernandez and his staff’s contracts, emphasizing player development and a competitive spirit despite recent struggles.

    [image or embed]

    โ€” Brooklyn Nets Briefly (@netsbriefly.bsky.social) April 20, 2026 at 12:33 PM

    The Players

    Michael Porter Jr.
    SF, Brooklyn Nets
    SeasonTeamGPGSMPG FGMFGAFG% FTMFTAFT% 3PTM3PTA3PT% PTSREBAST STLBLKTO
    25-26 BKN 52 52 32.5 8.5 18.4 46.3 3.8 4.4 85.9 3.4 9.3 36.3 24.2 7.1 3.0 1.1 0.3 2.3
    24-25 DEN 77 77 33.7 6.9 13.6 50.4 1.9 2.5 76.8 2.5 6.4 39.5 18.2 7.0 2.1 0.6 0.5 1.4
    23-24 DEN 81 81 31.7 6.4 13.3 48.4 1.1 1.4 83.6 2.7 6.8 39.7 16.7 7.0 1.5 0.5 0.7 1.1

    ADP: 71.4 / 55.5 (Yahoo/ESPN) | Total Value: 76/80 (8/9-cat) | Per-Game Value: 26/29 (8/9-cat)

    It’s fair to say that Michael Porter Jr. exceeded even the loftiest of expectations. Some usage increases along with extra points? Maybe a few nudges there. But any of those gains were supposed to be greatly offset by inefficiencies without supporting talent on his team and games missed due to insert injury and/or tanking reason here.

    Well Porter certainly increased his usage and scoring, averaging a career-best 24.2 points and 3.4 triples a game. Getting there on an acceptable 46.3% though? Along with 52 games played, all mostly within fantasy seasons? That was unexpected! The fun didn’t stop there with Porter providing an additional 3.0 assists and 7.1 boards per contest, also career-bests!

    In case it isn’t obvious, Porter will be the Fantasy Star from this team, so we’ll save some of the data talk for that section. The positive outlook for Porter moving forward is that the Nets seem more than content to keep him rather than trade him, and the Nets need to win next season. Both of those factors, with the potential lottery reform, should allow Porter to see more game time and give fantasy managers value across the entire season.

    Nicolas Claxton
    C, Brooklyn Nets
    SeasonTeamGPGSMPG FGMFGAFG% FTMFTAFT% 3PTM3PTA3PT% PTSREBAST STLBLKTO
    25-26 BKN 69 68 27.8 4.8 8.4 57.1 2.0 3.3 61.6 0.0 0.3 15.8 11.7 6.9 3.7 0.7 1.1 1.4
    24-25 BKN 70 62 26.9 4.6 8.1 56.3 1.1 2.2 51.3 0.1 0.3 23.8 10.3 7.4 2.2 0.9 1.4 1.2
    23-24 BKN 71 71 29.8 5.2 8.2 62.9 1.5 2.8 55.1 0.0 0.1 20.0 11.8 9.9 2.1 0.6 2.1 1.3

    ADP: 103.4 / 111.3 (Yahoo/ESPN) | Total Value: 109/110 (8/9-cat) | Per-Game Value: 162/161 (8/9-cat)

    Claxton is an interesting player to discuss because the per-game ranking probably does him a disservice. Yes, Claxton played 69 games total which obviously is strong enough for him to see a substantial boost to his totals position. That said, consider that the Nets leaned into a tank after All Star break. That led to Claxton seeing just 24.1 minutes a night instead of 29.3 minutes, which is of course going to affect one’s per-game value. Pre-All Star break, Claxton had fantasy rankings of 128/119 (8/9-cat) per game, which is clear standard-league territory. He was even better pre-All Star break per game if you punted FT% with a ranking of 101/88. Now we’re talking value at his ADP!

    Claxton didn’t actually achieve his fantasy success with either rebounds nor blocks, which sat at 6.9 and 1.1 a game. Instead, he developed as a passer, increasing his assists to a career-best 3.7 a night. Claxton was a more aggressive driver and passer, both which served to increase his role in the offense.

    We’ll have to see what additions the Nets make in the offseason, as they could serve to reduce Claxton’s minutes. If no major moves are made at center, Claxton can serve value as a late-round selection in standard leagues.

    Egor Demin
    PG, Brooklyn Nets
    SeasonTeamGPGSMPG FGMFGAFG% FTMFTAFT% 3PTM3PTA3PT% PTSREBAST STLBLKTO
    25-26 BKN 52 45 25.2 3.4 8.6 39.9 1.0 1.3 83.1 2.4 6.2 38.5 10.3 3.2 3.3 0.8 0.3 1.7

    ADP: 142.8 / 126.5 (Yahoo/ESPN) | Total Value: 230/245 (8/9-cat) | Per-Game Value: 200/233 (8/9-cat)

    Egor Dั‘min was drafted the highest amongst the quintet of Nets rookies, going eighth overall. Dั‘min profiled as a talented passer with some struggles in his creation and essentially met that prognosis in his rookie season. We’ll start with the good — Dั‘min’s three-point shot is already a weapon. Dั‘min attempted a robust 6.2 treys in 25.2 minutes a game, making 2.4 of them at a 38.5% clip. A good portion of these were movement triples, something that any offense can utilize. The passing was there enough at 3.3 assists a game as Dั‘min flashed his high-end passing repertoire throughout the season. These are solid building blocks for an offensive initiator.

    And then we get to the negatives. Dั‘min rarely was able to attack inside due to a poor handle and lack of athleticism to truly power inside. Dั‘min only attemptedย 2.4 two-pointers a night, a stark contrast against his triples attempted a game. In addition, just 1.3 free-throw attempts an outing further signifies his issues as a scoring creator. It’s fine and dandy that Dั‘min possesses high-end passing talents, but if he can’t threaten defenses with scoring, there will be a ceiling to what he can do on offense. There is a clear improvement point for Dั‘min, and we’ll find out next season if he has taken the next step.

    Demin also missed the last month of the season with left plantar fasciitis after managing the injury for most of the campaign, so hopefully that clears up with extended rest.

    Noah Clowney
    PF, Brooklyn Nets
    SeasonTeamGPGSMPG FGMFGAFG% FTMFTAFT% 3PTM3PTA3PT% PTSREBAST STLBLKTO
    25-26 BKN 66 60 27.0 3.8 9.6 39.6 2.7 3.4 80.4 2.0 5.9 32.9 12.3 4.1 1.6 0.8 0.7 1.5
    24-25 BKN 46 20 22.7 2.9 8.1 35.8 1.5 1.7 83.8 1.9 5.7 33.3 9.1 3.9 0.9 0.5 0.5 1.0
    23-24 BKN 23 4 16.1 2.2 4.0 53.8 0.9 1.3 70.0 0.5 1.4 36.4 5.8 3.5 0.8 0.3 0.7 0.7

    ADP: 103.4 / 111.3 (Yahoo/ESPN) | Total Value: 172/184 (8/9-cat) | Per-Game Value: 212/237 (8/9-cat)

    This is just a sneak peek of the Season Wrap. The entire roster is covered, as well as the Fantasy Star, Letdown, One to Watch and One Burning Question for this team.ย You’ll need to have an Ethos 360, All-Sport or NBA FantasyPass membership. Click here to learn more and sign up!ย Premium Access Required

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    April 29, 2026, 12:44 pm