Can Brooklyn Nets’ Grab Top-Three Pick at 2026 Draft?

The Brooklyn Nets are fresh off the 2025 NBA Draft, where they grabbed a record five first round prospects in Egor Demin, Nolan Traore, Drake Powell, Ben Saraf and Danny Wolf.

The reception to Brooklyn’s draft wasn’t great, though it remains exciting that the team will enter next season with a developmental bunch. Still, it’s hard not to look toward the future — a potentially bright one from the Nets’ point of view.

As loaded as the 2025 draft was, 2026 is said to be even better. Near the top, three potentially No. 1-level prospects reside in BYU forward AJ Dybantsa, Kansas guard Darryn Peterson and Duke forward Cam Boozer. The goal of the NBA’s bottom tier teams this season will seemingly be to nab one of those three.

As it stands right now, the Nets seem to be one of the league’s lesser teams on-paper. But can they actually nab a top-three selection at the 2026 NBA Draft?

Brooklyn will, of course, roll out its host of developmental players. But they also have a crop of talented win-now players in Nic Claxton, Terrance Mann, Michael Porter Jr. and more. The team seemed primed to land a top pick last season, but won too many games late off the backs of similar players, eventually landing at No. 8.

If the Nets’ want to secure a top draft ranking in ’26, they’ll likely need to further off-load talented players in the coming months. Though, that’s not a priority right at this moment.

Even then, the draft odds are almost never in any certain team’s favor. The Mavericks had just a 1.8% chance at landing forward Cooper Flagg in 2025, but did so. And moving forward, Brooklyn couldn’t be faulted for not putting all their eggs in the draft lottery basket.

Regardless, the team should do all it can — within reason — to secure one of the top 2026 prospects, and add a future star talent to the team. Doing so could very well change the trajectory of the franchise for years to come.