Nets Labeled As Regretful Regarding 2025 NBA Draft

When the Brooklyn Nets completed their 2025 NBA Draft, many fans and analysts were left scratching their heads. With a league-record five first-round picks, the Nets had the opportunity to bring in an entirely new core in the span of less than a few hours. Most people believe they whiffed.

Brooklyn drafted plenty of playmakers, but a major concern was that none of the rookies were regarded as scorers. Egor Demin, Nolan Traore and Ben Saraf are all talented, but they never commanded the load with their previous teams. Danny Wolf was viewed as a 'does a little bit of everything' prospect, while Drake Powell was in a more positive light as an underrated 3&D wing.

Through the first 14 games of the season, the Nets are 2-12, on track to land another top selection in 2026, where there are more franchise-changers in the prospect pool. Right now, though, a major issue hasn't been the losing, rather the lack of playing time given to the rookies.

Bleacher Report's Grant Hughes labeled Brooklyn as one of five teams regretting its 2025 NBA Draft right now. While it's still early, Jordi Fernandez's inability to give sufficient minutes to the younger players has many questioning if he truly believes in the rebuild.

"Maybe Brooklyn would have been better served targeting another wing, or even trading some of its selections for future assets with more risk but greater potential upside," Hughes wrote.

"Positional-glut issues aside, the Nets might feel better about their draft if they'd taken Ryan Kalkbrenner (No. 34) over Danny Wolf (No. 27). Kalkbrenner would easily make an All-Rookie team if the season ended today, and his combination of rim-protection and efficient finishing make it a lot easier to see him contributing as a starter over the long haul than Wolf.

"Higher up the draft, maybe there would have been a way for the Nets to use all their picks to climb a spot or two, which might have netted Jeremiah Fears over Egor Demin or Cedric Coward over Nolan Traoré."

Hughes' note of trading at least one of the 2025 picks was what many fans believed would happen leading up to the draft. The Nets have their own selection in 2026, but their 2027 pick will get swapped with the Houston Rockets, who are title contenders at the moment. It would have made sense for Brooklyn to sacrifice at least one choice this year to control its destiny down the road.

Alas, the Nets are stuck with Demin, who is averaging 7.4 points, 3.0 rebounds and 3.4 assists through his first 13 games. The rest of the rookies have either been injured or spent time with Brooklyn's G League affiliate in Long Island. Again, it's still early in their careers, so there's time for all five players to show potential.