Any sane individual has already written off the Brooklyn Nets for the upcoming NBA season, and there's plenty of valid reasons to do so.
With a projected over/under win total of 20.5 (via Fanduel), they won't just be pacing themselves for the tankathon. It'll be a full out sprint towards next years draft.
The roster as constructed is comparable to the box of Lego pieces sitting in your garage. A bunch of random bricks from multiple different sets, with no instruction manual in sight. You try your best to make something cool, like a skyscraper or a fighter jet. Alas, the final product always looks like shit. They make the island of misfit toys look like a cohesive unit.
I'd ask a fan how they feel, but I've never met a Nets fan. I'm truly not sure if they exist. It's not necessarily pessimism as much as it is a brutal indifference to how well this team does. Do people really care how well the Nets perform? Do people in the building even care?
However, amongst the grey clouds and rainy days, I find myself the slightest bit.... intrigued..... by New York's red headed step child.
Do I think they have the ability to be competitive? Absolutely not. Even in the desolate wasteland of the eastern conference, this team will not win games (not that they would even want to).
However, I do think there are some story lines that could at the very least be entertaining for half the year, before they fully enter the tank and start benching any players who give them a shot to win games.
Usage Rate War of Attrition: Cam Thomas vs. MPJ
To preface, all of what I'm about to say is a moot point if Cam Thomas leaves the Nets, as he's in a little contract scuffle with the front office. Let's just assume everything is candy canes and lollipops going forward and that he stays in Brooklyn.
This is in no way a propaganda piece in regards to the "is Cam Thomas an empty calories ball hog" debate. I'd rather not suffer the same fate as Zach Lowe (although I believe some of it got taken out of context). I'm simply going to provide some statistics.
According to cleaningtheglass.com, Cam Thomas usage rate for the 24/25 season was 33.1%, which was in the 100th percentile for his position.
Now, he only played in 25 games last season due to injury. If you look at 23/24, his usage was 29.5%, which was in the 95th percentile over the course of 66 games. The ball is in his hands a lot. Whether that's a biproduct of the Brooklyn wasteland, which was void of much on ball creation to begin with, I'm not sure (not a ball hog, plz don't yell at me).
In comes Michael Porter Jr. Traded to the Nets (along with a 2032 first round pick) for Cam Johnson.
Now I know what you're thinking. "But WhataMark, Michael Porter has only averaged 16.2 point per game in his career. He's not a ball dominate player.".
On the surface, that would seem reasonable. However, he's played his entire career in a system with Jokic, who most believe is the best basketball player walking the earth today. It was assimilate or get sent packing. Know your role and shut your mouth, to put it plainly.
Also, have you ever watched a video of a summer hoops run on YouTube? The videos where a bunch of NBA guys, college players, and some high school standouts run 5's to work on their games?
One of the videos I saw included Michael Porter Jr. It's not an exaggeration to say he took 90% of the shots. I honestly felt bad for the other guys on his squad. It seemed like a way to expel his ball dominant demons before heading back to Denver.
He may stroll in to Brooklyn and do the exact same thing. There's no winning culture. No superstar to adhere to. Roll the ball out and let's jack up some shots.
Confirming my suspicions, believe it or not, was a Nets executive.
Someone in Brooklyn's front office told Spotrac's Kieth Smith that MPJ could potentially win the scoring title:
"We’re going to play a lot of young players. But we need some vets to balance that. And, of course, we need to score some points,” the member of the front office said. “Porter will help us a ton there. I’m not saying he’ll win the scoring title, but I think it could be close.
Scoring title hype seems incredibly generous, but the point stands.
It now begs the question, who will carry the torch in the name of ball dominance? Maybe it'll work seamlessly. Will Cam Thomas even be in Brooklyn this season? I'll be waiting to see, as I'm an agent of chaos.
Will Any of the First Round Draft Picks be a Hit?
Last year's tank didn't exactly go according to plan for Brooklyn. They landed the 8th pick in the draft lottery, which was nowhere near Cooper Flagg territory.
In addition to the 8th overall pick, the Nets had 4 more first round picks in the 2025. 5 in total, which is absolutely hilarious to think about. Roughly 17% of the first round belonged to Brooklyn.
I'm not sure if anyone thought Brooklyn would use all 5 picks. There figured to be some type of deal that would pan out, whether it be acquiring future assets, etc.
To much surprise, Brooklyn used every single daggum first round pick they had. They drafted 4 guards and a point forward. Someone is going to handle and distribute this ball or we will die trying.
In a way, I kinda get it. You're not going to get a star player trading those picks. Why on earth would Giannis want to play in Brooklyn. This roster looks like it was made out of play-doh and bubble gum. Sure you could've maybe squeaked out more future assets from team wanting to move up or into the first round. But this organization is a mess. They hit the zag and decided to try something different. You might as well throw a couple darts and hope one sticks.
There's upside in the rookies, but they also all have their flaws. Whether it be turnovers or ability to shoot the ball. Wouldn't consider any a sure thing. They're all probably going to get reps, so we'll see how it pans out.
Hell, Brooklyn may just Fab-5 this thing and start all the rookies when they're really looking to hit their tank stride. Why not? Who cares!? It's the Brooklyn Nets!
Drew Timme Needs a Roster Spot
This one is simple. Drew Timme looks like he should be writing macros in excel. Perhaps even designing a PowerBI dashboard. Instead, he was giving fellas the business in Las Vegas Summer League. He averaged 25.3 points, 8.0 rebounds, and 2.7 assists, becoming one of the biggest storylines in Vegas.
The former Gonzaga standout got some run last season near the end of the year as well. Will he actually pan out as an NBA rotation player? No clue. For reasons based solely on entertainment factor, he needs to be in the rotation this season.
Think of a scenario where he goes nuclear for a week straight. We get a linsanity type of fever for Drew Timme. We call it "Timme Time". Brooklyn is the talk of the town for 2 weeks. It then inevitably fizzles out when they realize they're winning games. It could be magical! Get Timme on the roster!
Those are some of the reasons I'm at least 1% interested in watching the Nets this season. You may think I'm an idiot after reading this. I'll I can say is I can't really blame you.
This intrigue may last a month. Maybe less than that. Probably less than that, actually. I'll be waiting with anticipation.
-WhataMark