Brooklyn Nets Not Quite a Bottom Feeder of the NBA Yet

The Brooklyn Nets are struggling midseason, but they aren't quite toward the bottom of the standings yet.

Dec 26, 2024; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Brooklyn Nets forward Cameron Johnson (2) drives for the basket against Milwaukee Bucks guard AJ Green (20) during the fourth quarter at Fiserv Forum. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images / Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images

At 12-18, the Brooklyn Nets are certainly one of the many struggling teams in the NBA. The team ranks in the bottom half of the league in both offensive and defensive ratings and is looking to sell its players amid trade season.

However, the Nets aren't quite where people expected them to be at the start of the season. Brooklyn got off to a surprising start at 4-4 and was in the mix for the postseason for a long time, as the Eastern Conference started with the majority of teams below .500. As records start to even out, the Nets have fallen to the 11th seed in the East, but aren't quite at the bottom.

In the latest NBA power rankings from The Athletic's Law Murray, the Nets rank 24th in the NBA. Murray split the league into five tiers, with Brooklyn ranking in the fourth tier, titled 'Not the Tier to Fear.'

"Getting [Dennis] Schröder shipped out was only the beginning of the fire sale in Brooklyn, a needed purge given the goals of the organization that do not include missing out on this draft lottery," Murray wrote. "The Nets need losses, and there are still too many players on the team who contribute to winning. Usually, that’s a good thing. But this is the bed the Nets have made."

Brooklyn's overachievement to start the season has come back to bite a franchise that should be selling assets and losing more games. The fear is that waiting to trade veterans Cameron Johnson, Dorian Finney-Smith, and others tallies on a few more wins, hurting the Nets' chances of a top draft pick. For now, Brooklyn remains above the bottom feeders of the league.

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