Nets Season Will Be Defined by Future

The Brooklyn Nets are focusing on the future instead of the present.

Apr 1, 2024; Houston, TX, USA; McDonald's All American East forward Cooper Flagg speaks during a press conference at JW Marriott Houston by The Galleria. Mandatory Credit: Maria Lysaker-USA TODAY Sports / Maria Lysaker-USA TODAY Sports

The Brooklyn Nets are getting ready for the 2024-25 campaign, but they are really preparing for a few years down the line.

Bleacher Report writer Zach Buckley says that this season will be about trading assets to get them more talent for the future.

"After the Nets managed to turn rock-solid (but not star-level) swingman Mikal Bridges into a pile of picks this summer, they quickly used some of those draft assets to regain control of their next two first-round picks," Buckley writes. "So, if they want to turn the upcoming season into a prolonged round of Capture the Flagg (i.e., tank for Duke's phenom freshman Cooper Flagg), that option is on the table. That would seem to be the incentive for re-acquiring those picks, which makes it hard to imagine they are anywhere close to being done dealing. Especially when they have a batch of plug-and-play veterans sure to catch the interest of almost any win-now shopper. Veteran wings Dorian Finney-Smith, Cameron Johnson and Bojan Bogdanović feel like the most logical candidates, but there are others if Brooklyn opts for the fire-sale route."

Adding Flagg should be a goal for the Nets, but they should focus on what they currently have. They have some talent on the roster that can be developed, and that should take precedence over anything.

The Nets can be the worst team in the league like the Detroit Pistons were this past season and end up with the No. 5 pick, which would likely be way out of Flagg's range for the 2025 NBA Draft. Therefore, the focus on Flagg should come later than the development of their younger players.

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