Brooklyn ranks third in a new "tanking" assessment, driven by draft urgency and past blunders. Find out how their future hinges on this pivotal class.
The 2026 NBA Draft Lottery can't come soon enough for more than a third of the teams in the association, and the Brooklyn Nets are certifiably one of them.
Losers of six straight contests, the 15-43 Nets are often thrown into the 'tanking' discussion that continues to ravage the NBA.
It's for good reason, as they're one of the many franchises aiming to land a franchise-altering talent this summer in the form of University of Kansas phenom Darryn Peterson, BYU's AJ Dybantsa or Duke University's Cam Boozer, among other top-tier talents.
Plenty of teams are gunning for the first overall selection in the draft, but a variety of factors have differentiated some tanking squads from others, at least according to Yahoo Sports' Tom Haberstroh.
Haberstroh recently compiled a backwards power ranking of the NBA's 11 'Tanktastic' teams, grading the franchises on their draft incentive, 'tankerific' roster, bill of health and more, giving each team an all-encompassing Tank Score.
Interestingly enough, Brooklyn's score was born from their sense of urgency, previous front office blunders and Michael Porter Jr.'s uncertain future.
"There’s urgency here even though they don’t have any protections on the pick like Utah (Jazz) and Washington (Wizards) do," Haberstroh wrote.
"Brooklyn owes Houston swap rights on their 2027 first-round pick as a result of the 2020 James Harden trade."
"Brooklyn’s time to add a face of the franchise through the draft is now. Michael Porter Jr. remains one of the best players in the tank field, but his iffy medical history suggests Brooklyn will be ultra conservative when it comes to allowing him to play through any sort of ailments."
All things considered, Haberstroh's 27/30 Tank Score positioned Brooklyn as the NBA's third-most 'Tankerific' team.
One thing is certain about his review of the Nets' situation as the 2025-26 season reaches the home stretch -- There's no better time than now to add a generation-defining athlete to the club.
Peterson, Dybantsa and Boozer all hold their specific advantages and differences in skillset, and the Nets' front office hitting a home-run with any one of the heralded trio would help the franchise quickly change course.
Brooklyn likely will never compete in a realistic sense with Porter Jr. as one of their top contributors despite his All-Star caliber surge this season, and landing a top-end talent in what should be a loaded draft class would give general manager Sean Marks some leeway to cook up a beneficial trade.
The Nets' urgency is a major factor in Haberstroh's tank scoring, but their level of desperation compared to a few other teams ranked lower on the list is questionable, at best.
For example, the postseason-starved Sacramento Kings fell at No. 6 on the list despite arguably needing a superstar talent more than any team has over the past two decades.
Brooklyn is desperate for a game-changing new face, but maybe not more than a Kings franchise with no clear direction and a boatload of mismanaged star-level talent waiting to be dealt, such as Domantas Sabonis, Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan.
However, owing the Houston Rockets their 2027 first-rounder as a result of the James Harden trade increases that level of desperation a tick.
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