Mired in a 60-loss season and cursed by lottery luck, Brooklyn occupies the league's basement while Jordi Fernández prioritizes rookie development and a high-stakes summer rebuild.
Law Murray of The Athletic dropped the final NBA power rankings for the 2025-26 season on Monday night, and the Brooklyn Nets finished last, dropping one spot from the previous rankings.
Murray arranged the rankings in five categories: "Top Contenders," "In a Good Place," "The Bubble," "Not the Tier to Fear" and "Basement Floor." Brooklyn, placing 30th, put the team in the "Basement Floor" tier.
He highlighted the Nets' having three 60-loss seasons since relocating from New Jersey, the New York Knicks winning the NBA Finals and the organization's terrible draft luck. They've had multiple opportunities to obtain top picks, but failed.
"The first two (60-loss seasons) resulted in top-three picks for the Boston Celtics (via that KG/Pierce trade), who selected two All-NBA players in Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum that were a part of Boston's 2024 championship team," Murray wrote. "The latest one didn't even get the Nets a top-five pick, leaving them trying to decide between some small guards a year after using four out of five first-round picks on guards."
Brooklyn finished the season with a 20-62 record, the third-worst in the league. Its finish gave the franchise a 14% chance at winning the lottery and obtaining the No. 1 overall pick.
Instead, the team fell to the sixth overall selection in next Tuesday's draft. The prospect pool is full of guards -- Arkansas' Darius Acuff Jr., Illinois' Keaton Wagler and Louisville's Mikal Brown Jr.
Selecting Tennessee forward Nate Ament has gained traction over the last few weeks. He provides positional versatility for a team that drafted four guards last year: Nolan Traoré, Egor Dëmin, Ben Saraf and Drake Powell (traded with the Atlanta Hawks).
Coach Jordi Fernández received praise from Murray in Brooklyn's paragraph of the power rankings. Murray called him "Will Hardy of the East." Hardy is the coach of the Utah Jazz and is recognized for his basketball IQ and for maximizing the talent on his roster.
Fernández prioritized developing the rookies throughout the season -- even if it led to losses -- to observe what skills they need to refine. Saraf and Traoré saw extended opportunities with the ball in their hands, running the offense.
While Brooklyn is at the bottom of the barrel, the organization could turn it around in a few seasons. It is predicated on some of the young players developing into rotational players and general manager Sean Marks maximizing each transaction window.
This summer is a critical one for the Nets, who are boasting the third-most cap space in the league and are interested in prying away young stars from other teams.
