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The Brooklyn Nets are one of the many teams in the NBA that could stand to improve after a 2023-24 season that saw them stumble to a disappointing 32-50 record. Like teams with losing record usually do, Brooklyn’s offseason came as early as possible, but that comes with the chance to find different ways to improve the roster.
One of the main topics of discussion with the Nets fanbase is how Brooklyn should move forward following a campaign that was hard to watch at times. Normally, a team like the Nets would have a lottery pick in the Draft to add a player that could potentially be a star, but Brooklyn will not have that luxury due to the James Harden trade from the Houston Rockets that happened in what seems to be ages ago.
At this moment, the Nets are in the position of having one less avenue to improve while also not having a lot of cap space to work with this summer even as they seek to re-sign unrestricted free-agent center Nic Claxton to a new deal. Brooklyn has a lot of draft capital, but the ironic part about that is the Nets will not have control of their own picks until 2028.
As most Nets fans know, the Rockets have reportedly given Brooklyn multiple opportunities to get their own picks back at the cost of either Mikal Bridges or the Phoenix Suns picks that they acquired in the Kevin Durant trade. However, the Nets have remained steadfast in holding onto their most valuable player and arguably their most valuable draft capital.
As Nets Wire has written about before, it does not make sense for Brooklyn to rebuild without their own draft picks to directly benefit from. If the Nets do not get their picks back from Houston, how can they improve this offseason? John Schuhmann of NBA.com recently gave his take on what is available for Brooklyn to get better outside of having their own draft picks:
“The Nets have no picks in this Draft, but there are other paths to improvement. The first step was hiring first-time coach Jordi Fernandez. They do have the full mid-level exception to use in free agency and some future picks they can trade, but their player with the biggest salary (Ben Simmons) is a negative asset, having played in just 57 total games over the last three years.”