Nets’ Loss to Knicks Takes a Toll on Draft Capital

The Brooklyn Nets' regular season finale couldn't have ended in more ironic fashion.

Pitted against their cross-twon rival New York Knicks—who sat Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns, Josh Hart, OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges—Brooklyn closed out year one of its rebuild with a damaging loss.

Already having locked up the sixth-best odds in May's draft lottery, a win over the Knicks would've merited the Nets a tie for the 22nd-overall pick, a selection acquired in last summer's Bridges swap. Instead, after falling 113-105, the New York pick sits at 26.

While the four-spot drop won't harm Brooklyn's rebuild drastically, head coach Jordi Fernandez expressed the team's desire to head into the offseason having broken New York's 10-game head-to-head winning streak.

“I [told them] I was proud of them for the season, the work they put in, the good intentions they’ve had,” Fernandez said via Brian Lewis of the New York Post. “You know what we’ve built so far, and we have to keep moving on and keep working. And I was very, very happy for the guys. Obviously, [we] wanted to win that game but couldn’t make it happen.”

The Knicks' pick, now in the back end of the first round, could still present the Nets with a highly-impactful prospect. Cam Thomas and Nic Claxton—Brooklyn's two longest-tenured players—were each selected by Sean Marks after pick 27. Assuming Thomas re-ups with the franchise this summer, both players will be under contract long-term.

Eventual draftees like Walter Clayton Jr., Yaxel Lendeborg and Chaz Lanier all could be available by the time the Nets are on the clock. Should one of those prospects land in Brooklyn with the pick acquired from the Bridges deal, the loss to New York won't sting as much as it does now.

Pairing one of Clayton, Lendeborg or Lanier with whoever Marks chooses in the lottery as well as potentially a haul of external free agents is the exact influx of youthful talent the Nets' roster needs.

The end to a tumultuous season—full of injuries, bad losses, impressive triumphs, difficult goodbyes and hidden gem discoveries—reveals one truth: better days are ahead.