Bleacher Report Gives Nets D-Plus Grade for 2025 NBA Offseason

Earlier in the week, David Aldridge published an article in The Athletic that listed the Brooklyn Nets as owners of the 22nd-best 2025 offseason. The placement was more than fair, as Aldridge was able to recognize the strides Brooklyn made without overreacting to any of the team's personnel moves.

Bleacher Report wasn't as forgiving. Instead of ranking each organization, the outlet gave out letter grades. The Nets received a D-plus , tied with the Chicago Bulls for the third-worst grade.

The author of the piece, Zach Buckley, wasn't moved by the salary dump additions of Michael Porter Jr. and Terrance Mann, criticized Brooklyn's incoming rookie class and cited Cam Thomas' ongoing contract dilemma as the final justification for the low grade.

"The Nets had the league's most cap space this summer and five first-round picks in the draft. With all of that flexibility, they managed to add...well, very little," Buckley wrote on Aug. 14. "Maybe the front office will claim to be huge fans of Michael Porter Jr. and Terance Mann, but those players are only in Brooklyn because their last employers attached first-round picks to send t hem there."

For context, here's what an anonymous member of the Nets' front office had to say about Porter and Mann to Spotrac's Keith Smith back at the NBA2K26 Summer League in Las Vegas:

"We’re transitioning our roster, of course. 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 executive 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. And Terance will help with everything. He’s such a good connector. He’s going to help our young ballhandlers a ton with learning the NBA.”

Buckley then revealed his gripes with Brooklyn's five first-round draft choices, believing they have "overlapping skill sets," which is a fair assessment. Three of the five se lections were primary facilitators, although Egor Demin, Danny Wolf and Drake Powell do offer plenty of versatility.

And of course, Thomas' restricted free agency contributed to the grade.

"They've also left Cam Thomas, a 23-year-old who paced them in scoring last season, to languish in the thorny world of restricted free agency," Buckley concluded.

Now, that's not necessarily a bad thing. If Brooklyn had caved and handed Thomas a contract that includes somewhere between $30 and $40 million annually, that grade likely would've been a lot lower.

While Buckley did make some solid points, he may have been a tad overly harsh on the Nets. We'll find out come the regular season.