Analyzing Brooklyn Nets’ Projected Win Total for 2024-25

The franchise has the lowest number across the entire league.

Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

Entering year one of a total overhaul, the Brooklyn Nets are widely projected to have their worse season in the last seven years. Across all major sportsbooks, the over/under line has been set at 19.5 wins, an even lower figure than that of 16-17, where the line was set at 20.5.

The franchise has seen a 14-game drop in projection over just one year, as the line was set at 33.5 ahead of 2023-24. Brooklyn failed to hit this mark this past season, collecting only 32 wins. The drop-off is largely due to the dealing of Mikal Bridges to the New York Knicks, but does the absence of the 27-year-old really merit a 14-game plummet in projection?

Yes, the Nets did lose their most prized asset. But, the organization as a whole has undergone much positive change since Bridges' trade. They now boast one of the league's most respected coaches, this offseason's NBA 2K25 Summer League MVP and an Olympian hero. Jordi Fernandez, Jalen Wilson and Dennis Schroder will not be enough to carry the Nets to a plus-.500 record, but the expectation that this year's roster will perform worse than 16-17's is a head-scratching estimation.

Unlike that of Sean Marks' first year as Brooklyn's general manager, there's actual talent on this young Nets team.

Equipped with a new focus on obtaining and developing in-house talent, the ceiling for Brooklyn's current roster is far superior to that of seven years ago. That roster's biggest star was Brook Lopez prior to his career resurgence with the Milwaukee Bucks.

The difference in lines is undoubtedly due to the progression of the game as a whole. Players are simply more talented in the mid 2020s compared to the mid-to-late 2010s. The league has become less top-heavy.

Vegas setting Brooklyn's line at 19.5 says more about how basketball has evolved in the last decade than it does how far the Nets have fallen since their failed big three in 2021.

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