Brooklyn Nets Clearly Won't Have Issue Tanking This Season

The Brooklyn Nets are in a rough spot, but they’ve shown one clear bright spot this season.

Over the first five games of the season, the Nets have been one of the league’s worst teams. With little competition for the title of *the* worst team, Brooklyn dropped to 0-5 on Wednesday night as yet another comeback fell short against, this time against the Atlanta Hawks.

Entering the night as one of only three winless teams remaining in the league, the Nets’ counterparts in that unsavory list, the Indiana Pacers and New Orleans Pelicans, also had losses.

While Brooklyn might not end up as the league’s last winless team, it has likely cemented its status as one of the worst teams for the season. While Jordi Fernandez’s team will surely show plenty of fight throughout the year, just as it has through the first week and change, it doesn’t seem likely to translate to wins like it did early last season.

In fact, Wednesday’s matchup against the Hawks might have been the perfect example. Although the Hawks held a sizeable lead for much of the contest, the Nets were within striking distance the entire night and had plenty of chances down the stretch to turn the game in their favor.

Over the final minutes, Brooklyn’s heart clearly wasn’t lacking, and with Trae Young out for Atlanta, the talent deficit also wasn’t too much to overcome. Instead, Brooklyn’s lack of execution in the big moments sealed its fate in another clutch loss.

Those are the perfect types of games for a tanking team. Not only do the young players get some valuable experience in close games, as fans get a chance to watch a competitive and fun game in an otherwise dreadful season, but Brooklyn gets one step closer to the top odds in the lottery.

Of course, this was only one of 82 steps in that process, but the Nets need to take those steps anyway they come, especially considering that the Nets won’t own their pick in 2027. With guys like Cam Thomas and Michael Porter Jr. leading the way most nights, the Nets will surely get some outbursts from their top players that result in occasional wins, but it’s a good bet most nights that heavy doses of either will end in losses.

Last season, the Nets had no real direction and spent far too long on the line between tanking and competing, but they’ve made a firm decision to tank this season, and it’s paying off.