Nets' Win Over Lakers Creates Serious Identity Issues

The Brooklyn Nets picked up an impressive win over the Los Angeles Lakers at home last night, 111-108. Despite Luka Doncic's 20-point triple-double, Brooklyn was able to take advantage of Los Angeles without LeBron James on the floor.

The Nets had major scoring outings from Cam Johnson (18), Keon Johnson (18), and Noah Clowney (19), who combined for 55 points. Brooklyn also combined for 10 total steals and six blocks. Despite putting up just 16 points in the first quarter, the Nets were able to catch up to the Lakers and get the win.

While it's impressive to pick up a victory over one of the best teams in the NBA, the win does more harm to the Nets than good. As we near the end of the regular season, Brooklyn is in a tight race for high lottery odds. The Nets are now seventh in odds to get the No. 1 overall pick (8.2%), according to Tankathon.

Brooklyn is simply not bad enough to end up high in lottery odds, but also seemingly isn't good enough to make the Play-In Tournament, the most prominent reason being Jordi Fernandez. The first-year head coach has overachieved with a difficult roster as well as injuries to rotation pieces such as Clowney and Cam Thomas.

The second reason is the roster makeup. The Nets didn't end up trading any of their veterans at the deadline this season, and instead only moved Dennis Schroder and Dorian Finney-Smith in December. Brooklyn is now finishing the season with experienced players such as Johnson, D'Angelo Russell, and Nic Claxton, all of whom could have been traded before Feb. 6.

It's nice to see Brooklyn win more than a team like the Washington Wizards, whose season was shot down from the start. However, they'll likely get the last laugh with the best odds to land generational prospect and Duke phenom Cooper Flagg.

The Nets, on the other hand, will have a similar finish to last year. In 2024, Brooklyn went 32-50 as the 11th seed but got blessed with lottery luck, landing the No. 3 pick. Unfortunately, the one year it drastically swung the Nets' way was the year their pick went to the Houston Rockets. Expected to be the 11th seed once again, Brooklyn may not get the same result, which hurts the organization for the long term.