The offseason ends Sunday. Monday is Media Day, the beginning of pre-season. Hurrah!
A week later, after six practice sessions at HSS Training Center, the 20 players — 15 on standard deals, three on two-ways and as of now two on Exhibit 10s — will fly to Charlotte for their first pre-season game vs. the Hornets on October 8, a week. Three more preseason games, starting with a home game vs. the 76ers at Barclays Center two days later on October 8, will follow, giving fans their first look at the Nets newest era.
The regular season starts October 21 in Brooklyn, also vs. Charlotte, in the friendly confines of Barclays Center. Then, it’s really on through Sunday, April 11, vs. the Raptors. Hopefully, it will mean something.
So, the wait is over, the truth will soon be told. Here comes both the excitement of a new season with its new hope … and more than a little anxiety, too.
The offseason was a disappointment for some fans who had hoped the Nets would make a big move or two, using all that cap space, all those draft picks to move beyond the hurt of the tank. What made it worse was the first event of the off-season, the NBA Draft Lottery in Chicago. The Nets’ whole rationale for losing all but 46 games the last two years: getting top lottery picks, didn’t work out the way they planned. After finishing with the sixth worst record and winding up with the eighth pick in 2025, they dropped again last June, picking at No. 6 in what was then seen as a four-star draft. The Nets had hoped that by finishing with 20 wins, third worst in the league, they’d finish higher. Didn’t the basketball gods understand they were owed?!?
Instead of making incremental moves, Sean Marks & co. stuck to their mantra that the team would not expend all those precious assets for anything less that a player who would “absolutely and automatically change the trajectory of the franchise”, aka a superstar. Call it the Marks Doctrine if you want. Just before the Draft, as he does virtually every year Marks made what was the biggest move of the off-season: acquiring Julius Randle, a power forward — emphasis on the power — and another first round pick at No. 28 in return for Nic Claxton who by every analysis had run out his time in Brooklyn plus a second rounder.
Randle may have made three All-Star teams and been honored with two All-NBA draws; may have averaged 21.7 points and 8.9 boards over 551 games the last eight seasons, may have played 79 games last season. But no one thinks he is the man who will “change the trajectory of the team.” But getting a player with that resume’ in a salary dump — putting aside his baggage — is pretty, pretty good as one Brooklyn native might say. Even if he could wind up a rental — he has a player option in July and will soon turn 32 — the deal has to be seen at worst as intriguing, at best a lot more than that. (If you think we believe that trade is under appreciated, you’re right. Despite everything, he wants to be here! Even Michael Porter Jr. later admitted he initially hated the idea of moving from a title contender to a rebuild.)
The night of the Draft held one mystery. Would the Nets get a player they wanted at No. 6? They absolutely loved Caleb Wilson but none of the top four teams were entertaining offers. After that, there was Mikel Brown Jr., who they loved almost as much. The Clippers had the fifth pick and it looked liked they would take Keaton Wagler, but ya never know until Adam Silver walks to the podium. And walk he did to announce LAC would take the Illinois sharpshooter. There was cheering in the War Room and it was not perfunctory. They wanted ‘Kel and he wanted Brooklyn.
At No. 28, the other piece in the Randle/Claxton trade, they took Joshua Jefferson. While everyone was celebrating Brown Jr., the scouts also liked Jefferson a lot. Marks publicly said Brooklyn had followed him from early in the season. The scouts saw and still see the 22-year-old as a steal, a player who if he had been two years younger might have been a lottery pick. It is not an exaggeration — at all — to say the Nets wanted that exchange of picks — No. 28 for No. 33 — out of the Randle/Claxton trade specifically so they could take the 6’9″ in the first round. Marks hinted at it on Draft Night and another insider confirmed it to ND.
After the Draft, the off-season was a series of small to medium signings — some like Day’Ron Sharpe and Josh Minott solid young adds, others like Keon Ellis and Moe Wagner promising rotation players and veterans as well. There are intriguing players among the two-ways as well. Grant Nelson, the athletic 7-footer, Chaney Johnson, who looks a bit like Bruce Brown-lite from a couple of years back and Tyler Bilodeau, the 6’9″ 3-point specialist taken at No 43 in the draft, will spend time in Brooklyn.
Grading the off-season at this point in the process though seems silly. The games are about to begin and rankings, ratings and grades will all be forgotten, be irrelevant. We’ve seen grades from D- to A+ with most marks closer to the latter than the former.
We’ll hear more about how BBOps and players feel about things Monday but Tsai, Marks and Fernandez appear satisfied with their progress, even if slow and steady.
In his interview with David Rubenstein for “Inside the Owner’s Box,” Tsai even congratulated Nets fans on their patience, enlisting them in his long march.
“The Brooklyn Nets have a sophisticated fan base,” he said. “They have very strong opinions. You think the fan base is always about ‘win now, get the best players pay the highest price.’ Right now, they’re saying, unanimously, that we should be going through a multi-year rebuilding process. we need to be patient, We need to build through the Draft. It’s a very knowledgeable fan base.” Emphasis added.
(Memo to Tsai who said he derived his sense of the fan base through Twitter: The Nets fan base, “knowledgeable” or not, is not unanimous about anything!)
Bottom line of the off-season: the tank is over, but the rebuild is far from it. Despite their bad luck in the lottery the last two years, they’re very happy with Demin and Brown Jr. who sure looked like the point guard of the future in limited minutes. Demin didn’t just bulk up physically after going down with an episode of plantar fasciitis in March. He looked more confident in Summer League, more willing to drive the lane, giving Fernandez more options. Moreover, the two worked well together in Sacramento and Las Vegas. Also, the team’s marketing apparatus seized on them as the face of the franchise, present and future.
There were other positives in off-season as well as some negatives — Ben Saraf looked marginally better in Summer League play, particularly on defense but he, Drake Powell and Danny Wolf didn’t give anyone goose bumps on offense. Nolan Traore has bulked up, maybe even added an inch in height, but he didn’t play in either Sumer League after getting his knee scoped. He’s expected to be in training camp. Bilodeau showed sparks in Sacramento and Las Vegas as well as did Jefferson, but their minutes were limited.
Still, as Tsai preached, the “build” will be “multi-year.” Fourteen of their 18 players are under 25. They have the youngest team in the league — again — and with eight guys on rookie contracts they’ll top the NBA — again — in that category. Plus, they added a couple of 20-point scores to tide things over. Scout, draft, develop, repeat till Mr. Absolute Automatic arrives on a white horse. However, one cavalier is already suited up.
Over and over, you hear, that finally, after two years, Fernandez will be unleashed. They’re extremely happy with him and his staff, rewarding all 10 of them with contract extensions and raises (one of the more under appreciated moves of the summer in that it showed great confidence in the future.) They’ve also added an assistant to the head coach to the basketball operations staff. Reports from inside 168 39th Street in Sunset Park indicate he is raring to go, believing he has a team that can surprise all those nasty pundits and reward all those forsaken fans.
And who can forget flexibility!?! (What’s the over/under for the number of times Marks uses the word Monday?) To recap, Brooklyn still has $4.9 million in cap space, the $9.4 million room exception, the full $8.5 million in cash considerations plus 32 draft picks. You know the math … or should by now! 13 firsts, 10 of which can be traded, and 19 seconds, all of which can be traded. And at the moment, no Nets player has a contract that extends beyond 2027-28. That could change with MPJ getting an extension but don’t hold your breath. The smart heads who track these sorts of things keep noting that Brooklyn can move in a number of different ways. The fans are less analytical. They are less interested in counting draft picks than wins.
There’s been a big turnover. A number of players left the team since last year this time, some of them seen as key pieces at one point or another. Cam Thomas and Dariq Whitehead were first rounders in 2021 and 2023. Both are currently out of the league. Jalen Wilson was a fan favorite and he wound up on a two-way with the Hawks. There was divided feeling on Ziaire Williams now making the vets minimum — less than half what he earned in Brooklyn — with his hometown Lakers. There was no market for any of them which should tell you something, actually a number of things. Tyrese Martin is playing in Spain, E.J. Liddell in Greece, Tyson Etienne in France, Tre Scott in Germany. Ochai Agbaji is just across the river, but on an Exhibit 10 fighting for a deal to keep him out of the international market. Based on all that, you’d have to say this year’s roster is better, a lot better.
There will be as Brian Lewis notes Sunday, a number of interesting battles that will play out in training camp. At the two forward spots, Randle and MPJ hold sway but behind them, who will get minutes among Noah Clowney, Wolf, Jefferson and the versatile Josh Minott? Of course, “forward” is not a hard designation. Clowney, given best case scenario, may be able to get minutes at the both power forward, small forward and even small ball center. And he should be motivated. He’ll be a restricted free agent in July. Wolf and Jefferson should be able to play point forward and small ball center in a pinch.
Lewis also wonders how much youth must be served at the “guard” spot. With the two 20-year-olds, Demin and Brown Jr., seeming set at Nos. 1 and 2, does Fernandez rely on Terance Mann and Ellis or “force feed” Saraf and Powell even if they’re struggling?
Those questions may be a bit conventional side. The Nets have prioritized positional size, versatility and athleticism as well as character (which includes coachability) the last couple of years. Is Demin a point guard, shooting guard, small forward or point forward? How about a lineup featuring Brown Jr., Demin and Traore? Could Minott spend time at the 2? Wagner at the 4? What is Wolf’s natural position? Same with Jefferson, assuming he doesn’t spent a lot of time on Long Island? How many minutes, particularly late in games will we Randle pounding the ball down in the blocks as a traditional 5? Who gets minutes based on their defense? Who doesn’t?
And everyone has a lot to prove. We mentioned how Clowney and Porter Jr. will be free agents next July. Randle has a player option then, too. Mentioned that as well. Sharpe and Minott have team options. Wagner and Ellis have “mutual” options. It will be a busy off-season next year as well.
Yeah, they’re a work in progress. That, along with their youth and versatility, should make them intriguing to watch. “Intriguing” will hopefully wind up being the word people will use in describing their identity. It’s a lot better than the conventional wisdom.
Final Note
There’s more, of course, but again it won’t matter starting Monday when Sean Marks and Jordi Fernandez walk in the door at HSS Training Center, greet the mics, video and still cameras, reporters’ notepads and writers (including us) hungry for news. Hopefully, Marks won’t open things with bad news like he did last year when he announced the Egor Demin had undergone a procedure for plantar fasciitis over the summer. Surprise! There’s no need for that!
For those who can sneak a look without getting an email from HR, YES Network will have live coverage between 11: a.m. and 1:00 p.m. in front of the practice court which is in front of the Great Window which will likely be covered with rain drops. The Nets official site will not carry things live, but the team’s internal video team will no doubt be posting highly produced clips for days!
So thanks for reading. Over the years, we published about 500 of these. Whenever we write the first one of the off-season, we dread the routine but as things wear on, it gets more interesting, more fun. We hope you feel the same way.
Go Nets!
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