Brooklyn Nets 2024-25 season preview: The race for the NBA’s worst record has begun

The 2024-25 NBA season is here! We’re breaking down the biggest questions, best- and worst-case scenarios, and fantasy outlooks for all 30 teams. Enjoy!

2023-24 finish

Offseason moves

• Additions: Head coach Jordi Fernandez, Bojan Bogdanović, Shake Milton, Ziaire Williams

• Subtractions: Mikal Bridges, Lonnie Walker IV, Keita Bates-Diop, Dennis Smith Jr.

• Complete roster

The Big Question: Who is even on these Nets in two years?

The Brooklyn Nets are a team in transition. Long gone are Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and James Harden. So, too, is Mikal Bridges, their best player from last season’s 32-win team. In their place are Ben Simmons, Cameron Johnson, Dorian Finney-Smith and a collection of draft picks that could one day bear fruit.

Not this day, though. Simmons has played 57 games over the past three seasons, mostly poorly. Johnson and Finney-Smith are placeholders. Do not be surprised if one or both are traded for more draft assets. The goal now: Pray that one or more of those picks — their own or someone else’s — becomes The Guy.

This is why they swapped a bunch of picks from the Phoenix Suns to get back the rights to their own in 2025 and 2026 from the Houston Rockets. They could not have signaled their desire to tank any louder. They want the NBA’s worst record, which could deliver Cooper Flagg or Ace Bailey at the top of the draft.

In the meantime, they should evaluate what few prospects they have. In recent years they have drafted Cam Thomas, Noah Clowney and Dariq Whitehead in the first round. Thomas is the closest thing the Nets have to a reliable scoring threat, though that might be because he is the one willing to take all the shots. Can he improve his efficiency enough to convince us that his output will translate to winning basketball?

Clowney is a big who bounced back and forth from the G League last season. Can he shoot well enough to justify playing him alongside starting center Nicolas Claxton? If not, can Clowney make enough of an impression that they consider moving the four-year, $97 million deal to which they just signed Claxton?

Foot and shin surgeries cost Whitehead almost the entirety of his rookie season. Can the 6-foot-7 Duke product rediscover the potential that made him the top-ranked wing in the high school Class of 2022?

Do not waste time trying to win games with Dennis Schröder and Bojan Bogdanović. Taking fliers on Killian Hayes and Ziaire Williams, a pair of recent top-10 picks who did not succeed with the teams that drafted them, was smart business. Why not see if they can resurrect their value while the losses mount?

And then there is Simmons. He is the only one on the roster who has sniffed an All-Star team, and he made three of them — before his back gave out, he lost his confidence, or both. He finished runner-up for Defensive Player of the Year three years ago. Is any of that still in him? He is 28 years old. This past season, he averaged a 9-12-9 per 36 minutes in 15 games and barely made a blip on the radar. His career has one of the most bizarre arcs in league history. He is in the final year of a max contract. Is he even a minimum-salaried player next season? At the very least we should know the answer to that by April.

As for who is even on this roster in two years, who knows. That is for them to figure out this season.

Best-case scenario

Thomas is legit. Maybe Whitehead is, too. Clowney is a stretch 4 who can play with Claxton, and the two of them together could be the foundation of a stout defense. The Nets find takers for Johnson and Finney-Smith, adding to their draft stash. One way or the other, Simmons finds peace with his basketball career. And the team is absolutely terrible, so bad that they land enough Ping Pong balls to score Flagg.

If everything falls apart

Nobody is all that good, but the Nets try like hell. First-year head coach Jordi Fernandez becomes enamored with his veterans, slapping together Schröder and Johnson and Finney-Smith and Bogdanović and Claxton and scrapping their way to another 30 wins — enough to fall late into the lottery. And we are right back here again next season in the same predicament, wondering who even belongs in Brooklyn.

Fantasy spin

Thomas is in for a breakout season. The 23-year-old bucket-getter was one of four guards, 23 and under, to average at least 20 points per game last season, with a 30% usage rate. Add in his evolving playmaking and he’s an upside pick in the sixth round.

Claxton is a good source of blocks, rebounds and FG%, while Johnson will look to build off a disappointing and injury-riddled season. Johnson finished 128th in per-game value primarily because his efficiency dipped across the board.

Clowney is an intriguing late-round flier, but he’ll become more valuable once the Nets fully commit to the Cooper Flagg sweepstakes. Schröder will have his moments, too, and I have more faith in him contributing this season than Simmons. — Dan Titus

2024-25 schedule

Whatever the number, take the under.