The Brooklyn Nets came into the 2026 NBA offseason with the goal of improving the team as much as possible following a 2025-26 season in which they finished with a 20-62 record. Brooklyn's biggest move of the summer was trading for Minnesota Timberwolves forward Julius Randle, but there are some who still believe that the Nets will be at the bottom of the Eastern Conference next season.
"The Nets ... are also here, but Brooklyn did add former All-NBA forward Julius Randle to help provide legitimacy to its rebuild," Jamal Collier wrote for ESPN when discussing where the Nets will finish next season. ESPN's NBA insiders made prediction for all 30 NBA teams and next year, Brooklyn is projected to finish with a 18-64 record, giving them the worst record in the league in this scenario.
"With the league's newest draft lottery rules and the relegation zone in effect, the five teams in this category won't have as much incentive to lose. How that will affect the bottom of the standings will be a storyline all season long," Collier continued. As Collier noted, the new version of the NBA Draft Lottery with the relegation zone will take effect next season, but the Nets have a unique circumstance that may affect their thinking.
The Nets owe their 2027 first-round pick to the Houston Rockets and if they are not trying to get the pick back, they may choose to be as good as possible next season since they will be getting the Rockets' pick. After adding Randle, Brooklyn now has a 1-2 punch with him and sharpshooting forward Michael Porter Jr. that should make them more competitive than they were last season.
However, there are other pundits, sportsbooks like BetMGM, and Brooklyn's fanbase that believe that the Nets are going to win more than 18 games, so next season will be interesting to watch for multiple reasons. If Brooklyn is going to be as bad as ESPN predicts, then the hope is that they aren't blown out as much and that Egor Demin and Mikel Brown Jr. continue to get better.
This article originally appeared on Nets Wire: Nets projected to be worst team in Eastern Conference next NBA season
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