Nets' Poor Offseason Grade Shouldn't Come as a Surprise

As training camp for the new NBA season sits around the corner, many teams have finished their offseason, ready with a certain direction. It's pretty easy to tell which teams will be competitive, and which are expected to finish toward the bottom of the standings.

The Brooklyn Nets, to no surprise, are early contenders for a top pick in the 2026 NBA Draft. The Nets, who had been stuck in mediocrity for the last few seasons, since the departures of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, have pieces for the future. Brooklyn has accumulated an impressive amount of draft capital and cap space after a series of moves over the last year or so.

However, just because the Nets have a set direction in the midst of their rebuild doesn't mean they handled the offseason the right way. It's about how rebuilding teams use their assets, and many believe Brooklyn still has more questions than answers heading into the 2025-26 season.

ESPN gave the Nets a C- offseason grade. Yahoo Sports gave them a D, while Bleacher Report was way less harsh in giving them a B. While many see the upside and justification of the moves (or lack thereof) Brooklyn has made this summer, the consensus among the basketball world is that the culmination of decisions has been questionable.

This is not to say that the 2025 offseason could end up being extremely beneficial. We have yet to see the Nets' five first-round take the floor for a regular-season game, and they're still just a piece of the puzzle in the rebuild. Many offseasons that have been viewed as failures end up being wildly successful when looking back later on.

However, it's tough to look at how Sean Marks and company handled the summer as a whole. To start, Brooklyn's first-round picks had a lot of questions, based on the notion that they all need the ball in their hands to be at their best. Four of the five selections are regarded as facilitators.

The Nets also took on an extra $17 million in cap when trading Cam Johnson for Michael Porter Jr. The move could boost the former Denver Nuggets forward's trade value, but for a team that had so much strength in the cap, Brooklyn didn't use it so wisely, at least not at the moment.

On top of it all, Cam Thomas, the team's star, remains a restricted free agent, unsigned. The 23-year-old is in the middle of contract negotiations, with no other team interested, which has resulted in Brooklyn not being so quick to bring him back.

Thomas still has a lot of questions surrounding his game, and as a result, the Nets aren't willing to pay the $30 million he and other restricted free agents desire. There's debate among fans whether or not he deserves such a large deal, but they can all agree that the contract turmoil isn't the best look for either side.

All of this has morphed into what was an offseason that saw the Nets take a step in the right direction, but didn't fully capitalize on the opportunities in front of them. With Thomas unsigned and the rookies still giving concerns from the rest of the NBA community, the summer grades shouldn't surprise fans. It's now on Brooklyn to prove everyone wrong.