Nets Could Have One Regret in 2025

The Brooklyn Nets' past may come back to bite them in 2025.

Dec 8, 2024; Brooklyn, New York, USA; Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) brings the ball up court while being defended by Brooklyn Nets forward Dorian Finney-Smith (28) during the second half at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: John Jones-Imagn Images / John Jones-Imagn Images

The Brooklyn Nets are in for a transformative year in 2025 after making a number of changes in 2024.

This included the team trading several key players on the roster, including Mikal Bridges, Dennis Schroder and Dorian Finney-Smith.

The Nets dragged out these trades, and Bleacher Report writer Zach Buckley thinks the team could soon regret that choice.

"Despite having a host of plug-and-play veterans to shop around, though, Brooklyn waited months to make more trades. And it's hard to say it was greatly rewarded for its patience since the December sacrifices of Dennis Schröder and Dorian Finney-Smith didn't deliver a single first-round pick in return," Buckley writes.

"Brooklyn, which opened the year with a 9-10 mark, also proved more competitive than expected, which might sound like a good thing—it's at least an encouraging sign for first-year skipper Jordi Fernández—but it just put this group farther behind in the tankathon.

"If the Nets don't strike lottery gold next summer and instead see the likes of Cooper Flagg, Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey transform other teams, they'll regret not accelerating their teardown."

The Nets are certainly in a state of flux and more clarity should come in the new year, but they cannot dwell on the past. Instead, they must take that energy and move forward towards building a winner.

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.