Brooklyn Nets Struggle to Rebuild Amid NBA Power Rankings

Brooklyn Nets Remain Near Bottom of NBA Power Rankings After Quiet Offseason

Following two seasons that featured a combined 118 losses, the Brooklyn Nets have officially shed the tanking label. Jordi Fernandez and co. will look to take a step back towards relevance during the 2026-27 campaign. Despite this, Brooklyn had a relatively quiet offseason. The Nets acquired Julius Randle via trade, signed Keon Ellis and Moe Wagner in free agency and drafted Mikel Brown Jr., Joshua Jefferson and Tyler Bilodeau. Their lack of wholesale changes has left many skeptical that they will take a significant step forward this season.

What Happened?

Brooklyn finished in the bottom six of six separate preseason NBA power rankings. CBS Sports placed the Nets at No. 29 in their rankings. ClutchPoints, ESPN and Bleacher Report each had Brooklyn at No. 28. Meanwhile, SB Nation and The Athletic had the rebuilding squad slightly higher at No. 25. “I have the Nets out of the basement because they have no incentive to be bad, besides the new tanking rules,” wrote The Athletic's Law Murray. “The Rockets can swap their pick, courtesy of the 80 games James Harden played in Brooklyn. The Nets made moves accordingly, trading Nic Claxton for Julius Randle. Keon Ellis replaces Ziaire Williams, Mikel Brown Jr. is in for Malachi Smith, Joshua Jefferson is swapped in for Ochai Agbaji and Moritz Wagner supplants Jalen Wilson. Watching Randle and Michael Porter Jr. attempt to share the ball will be an acquired taste. But if nothing else, the Nets should have a significant size advantage.”

Why It Matters for Brooklyn Nets

Randle should provide a significant boost to the Nets' offense as a proven on-ball creator.

What Comes Next?

The 6-foot-9 forward averaged 21.1 points, 6.7 rebounds and 5.0 assists on 48.1 percent shooting across 79 appearances with the Minnesota Timberwolves last season. Barring a trade, Brooklyn will also have Michael Porter Jr., who is coming off a career-best season. And while Mikel Brown Jr. and Egor Demin make up one of the NBA's youngest backcourts, the duo impressed during Summer League action.

Recent Form

The Nets will open the preseason on the road on Oct. 6 against the Charlotte Hornets. They'll host the Hornets during their regular-season opener on Oct. 21 at Barclays Center. Ahead of a run of games you can check on our [fixtures](/fixtures) page. The team's recent form has been poor, with a recent record of 0W-0D-5L (LLLLL, most recent first); lost the last 5.

Brooklyn Nets' Young Core

After making eight picks in the last two drafts, the Nets have 11 players age 24 or younger. Demin and Brown will play heavy minutes as starters. Meanwhile, Day'Ron Sharpe, Noah Clowney and Josh Minott each return with multiple NBA seasons under their belts. Nolan Traore, Drake Powell, Ben Saraf and Danny Wolf should also see extended opportunities as sophomores.