Duke’s Kon Knueppel continues to look like a consensus pick at No. 8, but the Brooklyn Nets draft order does not seem set, per ESPN.
A week after their post-lottery draft, ESPN is back Monday with a new mock that benefits from Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo’s scouting — and reporting — at the NBA Draft Combine. Although their projection of Duke SF Kon Knueppel as the No. 8 pick is not particularly a surprise — he is the leading candidate post-lottery, Givony and Woo increasingly believe the Brooklyn Nets will not use all four of their first round picks. They expect the Nets will either consolidate their picks and/or trade up using picks and player assets, specifically Cam Johnson.
Beyond Knueppel, Givony and Woo have the Nets taking a number of bigs IF they use the four firsts and their own second. They have the Nets taking Thomas Sorber, the promising but injured Georgetown center at No. 19, power forwards Yaxel Lindeborg of UAB and Rasheef Fleming of St. Joseph’s at Nos. 26 and 27, before taking Swiss seven-footer Yanic Konan Niederhauser from Penn State at No. 36. The 22-year-old Konan-Niederhaouser probably had the best week of any prospect, jumping from the G League Elite Camp to a consensus second rounder.
In each summary of the prospective Nets picks the two ESPN writers go to lengths to note their belief, apparently shared by NBA teams, that Brooklyn will not make all four picks, specifically noting that the Nets are unlikely to make picks at both their picks in the late 20’s. In general, here’s how Woo believes the Nets will see Draft Night:
Count the Nets among the many disappointed lottery teams, dropping two spots from No. 6 to No. 8 after San Antonio and Dallas jumped.
Brooklyn has veteran players, including Cameron Johnson, four first-round picks in this draft and future assets to dangle if it wants to move higher in the lottery. Teams expect the Nets, who are also operating in the interest of present and future cap space, to consolidate some of what they have.
Adding to the possible case for an uncertain Nets night at Barclays Center on June 25 is that Givony and Woo indicate that while they — as well as other draftniks — see Knueppel as the Nets consensus pick, Sean Marks & Co. could take a chance two big international point guards who played college ball this season.
There’s also an interesting case for selecting and developing a young ball handler such as Egor Demin or Kasparas Jakucionis, or going with the offensive upside of Derik Queen, if the Nets stay at this spot.
It’s not that Knueppel is seen as a bad choice. Givony in a weekend podcast with Kevin O’Connor of Yahoo! described himself as a big Knueppel guy. While many Nets fans see the Duke wing as a one-dimensional shooter, Woo disagrees:
Knueppel’s reliable offensive play and high-level shooting would be a nice building block for the Nets, with his skill set augmenting most lineups no matter how they choose to build long term. League insiders see additional scoring and playmaking upside from the consistent wing.
Are any of those “insiders” work at HSS Training Center?
Sorber, ESPN writes, won’t be working out for teams before the Draft, recovering from February foot surgery, but his measurements became an eye-opener and helped his draft stock which was already high from scouting reports prior to his injury.
Still, his strong feel for the game, defensive versatility, length, physicality and skill level as a pick-and-roll finisher are attractive qualities at 19 years old that should draw plenty of attention in this portion of the draft.
In Chicago, his wingspan was measured at 7-6, allowing him to play much bigger than his height (6-10½ in shoes).
It’s the two picks in the 20’s that seem most at risk of being moved, In assessing both Lendeborg (who may still decide to play at Michigan) and Fleming, they add caveats.
Rival teams expect the Nets to explore moving one or both of these picks in the 20s, as they manage their roster and salary cap situation to best position themselves moving forward…
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The Nets might not be the team selecting here, which would make these picks in the late 20s interesting swing spots.
The rationale for not using all their picks is multi-faceted, starting with the difficulty of developing so many young players at once, particularly since the Nets already have two 20-year-olds in need of more development on the roster in Dariq Whitehead and Noah Clowney and are looking at decisions on five minimum salary players and two two-ways, none of whom has played more than two seasons or 122 games in the NBA.
There’s also the roster spots. Each of the four firsts would command four-year deals, the first two years of which are guaranteed. That’s a commitment of $16.4 million this season, and a total commitment of nearly $80 million through 2029. On the other side of the argument, Brooklyn needs bodies.
One strong possibility previously noted by Givony and Woo is trading picks forward to the 2026 NBA Draft seen at least as good as 2025 selection, although its depth remains uncertain. The Nets currently have one first and two seconds in 2026.
Who might the Nets like if they moved up? No word from Givony and Woo, but several fan favorites are not that far from No. 8 including Jeremiah Fears, now firmly entrenched at No. 5 in ESPN’s rankings; followed by Tre Johnson at No. 6, and Khaman Maluach at No. 7. As we noted Saturday, the 76ers are reportedly putting out feelers for the No. 3 pick where ESPN places Ace Bailey of Rutgers.