Inside The Nets

Brooklyn Nets NBA Draft Notebook: End of the Regular Season

As the NBA regular season comes to a close, what are the Brooklyn Nets focusing on before the draft?

Wilko Martinez Cachero

Nov 9, 2022; Brooklyn, New York, USA; Brooklyn Nets general manager Sean Marks speaks during a press conference before a game against the New York Knicks at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images
Nov 9, 2022; Brooklyn, New York, USA; Brooklyn Nets general manager Sean Marks speaks during a press conference before a game against the New York Knicks at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images / Brad Penner-Imagn Images
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The Brooklyn Nets finish their 2024-25 season on Sunday afternoon against the New York Knicks. The cross-city rivalry will put a bow to head coach Jordi Fernández’s first season in charge of the Nets, and also set off the team towards the 2025 NBA Draft. 

The draft isn’t until June 25 and 26, but there will still be plenty of draft-related ongoings until then. The most important date is May 12, when the draft lottery takes place. Many Brooklyn fans should already have that day circled on the calendar and hoping for the best. Right now, the Nets are locked into the sixth-best odds in the lottery. Tankathon projects the team to draft at Nos. 6, 19, 25, 27 and 36.

The draft combine is from May 11-18 this year. Invited players are required to participate in the combine; otherwise, they become ineligible for that draft. Participation in the combine was not mandatory until last year. Prospects can still sit out of the 5-on-5 scrimmage portion of the event, which is what lottery picks always do. The scrimmaging is generally where prospects whose stock is in the second round or outside of the draft can raise their profile.

The G League combine, previously known as the G League Elite Camp, is from May 9-11. This event is evidently geared towards NBA hopefuls who probably won’t get drafted, but it’s still a great chance for prospects to get new exposure. Typically, a handful of the best G League combine prospects get called up to the NBA draft combine. Last season, Isaac Jones participated in every step of the process, signed a two-way contract with the Sacramento Kings after going undrafted and is now on a standard deal.

Overseas, some leagues are still going on. In Europe, draft prospects like Noa Essengue and Ben Saraf (Ulm in Germany), Nolan Traoré (Saint-Quentin in France), Noah Penda (Le Mans in France), Hugo González (Real Madrid in Spain), Bogoljub Markovic (Mega in the Adriatic League) or Sergio de Larrea (Valencia in Spain) are still competing. They could all be targets for the Nets’ mid-first round pick.

In fact, there was some controversy about this surrounding 2025 prospect (although 2026 seems likelier) Dame Sarr, who traveled to the Nike Hoop Summit without the permission of his club FC Barcelona. This came at an important time in the team’s schedule, although the Hoop Summit also represented a chance for Sarr — whose contract ends this summer — to be seen up close by NBA evaluators.

Qingdao’s Hansen Yang is still playing in the Chinese league. The 19-year-old is an intriguing 7-footer with his creativity and production as a very young pro. He also has significant questions to answer, especially on defense. Yang is averaging 16.5 points, 10.3 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 2.7 blocks on 58.7/30.8/67.2 shooting splits so far this season. He is now represented by Klutch Sports, which also represents Noah Clowney or Keon Johnson.

Elsewhere, the NBL ended with the Illawarra Hawks winning the Australian league’s championship. The Hawks’ 21-year-old forward Lachlan Olbrich has already declared for the 2025 draft. He averaged 8.4 points, 3.8 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 0.8 ‘stocks’ in 37 NBL games this season. Nets general manager Sean Marks visited Australia earlier in the season. The G League, which has a couple of draft prospects like Thierry Darlan or Isaac Nogués, also finished.

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Wilko Martinez Cachero
WILKO MARTINEZ CACHERO

Wilko is a journalist and producer from Madrid, Spain. He is also the founder of FLOOR and CEILING on YouTube, focusing on the NBA Draft and youth basketball.

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