NBA Draft Notebook: Evaluating the Nets' Recent Draft History and Future Context

The Feb. 6 trade deadline is rapidly approaching, but the most important dates for the Brooklyn Nets’ short-term future are likely May 12, when the NBA Draft lottery happens, and June 26 and 27, the two nights of the actual draft.
Right now, the buzz will be about whether the Nets trade or keep Cam Johnson. For one night, it was an occasion to remember as the organization retired Vince Carter’s No. 15. But that was also a night that ended in another loss, as Brooklyn now stands 14-32 for the season.
Tankathon currently projects the Nets’ draft starting at No. 6. Brooklyn will have three more first-rounders — via the Milwaukee Bucks, New York Knicks and Houston Rockets — and their own second-rounder.
The Athletic’s most recent mock draft had the Nets drafting BYU playmaker Egor Demin, French wing/forward Noah Penda, Duke and South Sudan center Khaman Maluach, Serbian forward Bogoljub Markovic and Texas Tech swingman Darrion Williams.
Bleacher Report's latest mock featured Brooklyn going with Oklahoma point guard Jeremiah Fears, North Carolina scoring guard Ian Jackson, Arkansas powerhouse wing Adou Thiero, Arizona freshman Carter Bryant and Illinois wing Will Riley.
That No. 6 start in the draft is not a certainty, but it for sure will be Nets general manager Sean Marks’ highest draft selection as Brooklyn’s chief decision maker. Marks has been spotted multiple times over the course of the season spotting Rutgers freshmen Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey.
Harper is widely seen as the favorite to go No. 2 in the 2025 draft, behind consensus top pick Duke freshman Cooper Flagg. Bailey’s range appears rangier but seems likely to start after the first couple of selections.
The Nets GM was also seen in Australia earlier in the season. There, the Marks sighting occurred at the Sydney Kings vs. South East Melbourne Phoenix game, in which Sydney Kings wing Alex Toohey scored 26 points on four made threes.
“The ultimate goal here is at some point to be able to say, ‘Hey, we’re contending for a championship,’” Marks said on Jan. 2 to The Post’s Brian Lewis. “That’s what every team wants to be able to build up to do that. And hopefully with the flexibility that we’ve got and we’ll have an opportunity to do that at some point. When that is, I couldn’t answer.”
“We've talked about building long-term sustainable success, and that's what we want to get to,” he also said to the YES Network. “And how we're going to do that is going to be through these future draft picks and draft assets that we get.”
Marks' previous draft picks include Jarrett Allen (2017), Dzanan Musa (2018), Nic Claxton (2019), Cam Thomas (2021), Noah Clowney (2023), Dariq Whitehead and Jalen Wilson (2023). Claxton, Thomas, Clowney, Whitehead and Wilson are still with Brooklyn. Musa is currently playing for Real Madrid in Spain and in the EuroLeague. Allen was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers as part of the trade that sent James Harden to the Nets.
Of course, it’s only fair to point out that plenty of these picks were about finding value not very high up in the draft. The jury remains out on Clowney, Whitehead and Wilson long term, but they were picked at No. 21, No. 22 and No. 51, respectively. Thomas was the No. 27 pick. Claxton was the first pick of his second round at No. 31. Allen went at No. 22.
:
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 30, 2024
New NBA salary cap is $140,588,00
Luxury Tax: $170,814,000
First Apron: $178,132,000
Second Apron: $188,931,000
Under the NBA’s new collective bargaining agreement (CBA), the expectation is that draft picks have become increasingly valuable. This is because salary cap rules are now more stringent, meaning that less expensive rosters will broadly be desired, so those team-controlled rookie contracts gain more importance. The Nets own 31 draft picks — 15 first-rounders, 16 second-rounders — over the next seven years.
The newer, more restrictive CBA went into effect on July 1, 2023. This CBA runs through 2029-30 season, and it appears like teams are still figuring out how exactly to best operate under it. That is important for any organization, but arguably even more for one like the Nets with an ongoing rebuild and probably a still-shuffling roster.
ESPN’s CBA explainer reads: “Restrictions in the 2023 CBA [make] it difficult for high spending teams to acquire an All-Star in the summer of 2024 and beyond. [...] Teams over the new ‘first apron’ are not allowed to use a pre-existing trade exception and also take back additional salary in a trade. The restrictions for a team over the ‘second apron’ increase, including the inability to aggregate contracts sent out and trade cash in a deal.”
Watch List:
Here are two games of college basketball to watch per day for this week of the 2025 draft cycle:
Mon., Jan. 27: Michigan vs. Penn State @ 6:30 PM ET — Danny Wolf (Michigan); Nick Kern Jr., Yanic Konan Niederhauser (Penn State)
Mon., Jan. 27: Duke vs. NC State @ 8:30 PM ET — Cooper Flagg, Khaman Maluach, Kon Knueppel, Caleb Foster, Tyrese Proctor, Isaiah Evans (Duke)
Tues., Jan. 28: Georgia vs. South Carolina @ 7:00 PM ET — Asa Newell, Somto Cyril (Georgia); Collin Murray-Boyles (South Carolina)
Tues., Jan. 28: BYU vs. Baylor @ 9:00 PM ET — Egor Demin, Kanon Catchings (BYU); VJ Edgecombe, Robert Wright III, Norchad Omier (Baylor)
Wed., Jan. 29: Maryland vs. Wisconsin @ 7:00 PM ET — Derik Queen (Maryland); John Tonje (Wisconsin)
Wed., Jan. 29: Northwestern vs. Rutgers @ 7:00 PM ET — Brooks Barnhizer (Northwestern); Dylan Harper, Ace Bailey (Rutgers)
Thurs., Jan. 30: Nebraska vs. Illinois @ 8:30 PM ET — Kasparas Jakucionis, Tomislav Ivisic, Will Riley (Illinois)
Thurs., Jan. 30: UCLA vs. Oregon @ 10:30 PM ET — Eric Dailey Jr. (UCLA); Jackson Shelstad, Kwame Evans Jr. (Oregon)
Fri., Jan. 31: Princeton vs. Yale @ 5:00 PM ET — Xaivian Lee, Caden Pierce (Princeton); John Poulakidas (Yale)
Fri., Jan. 31: Georgetown vs. Butler @ 6:30 PM ET — Thomas Sorber (Georgetown)
Want to join the discussion? Like Nets on SI on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest Nets news. You can also meet the team behind the coverage.