Should the Brooklyn Nets Trade Up in the NBA Draft?

The 2025 draft is a ways away, but should Brooklyn consider trading up given its current lottery odds?

Feb 22, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Brooklyn Nets forward Trendon Watford (9) reacts after a score against the Philadelphia 76ers during the fourth quarter at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images / Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

The Brooklyn Nets aren't exactly the team many thought they'd be at the start of the season. After being given an extremely low win total, the Nets have already surpassed that with plenty of games left in the regular season, and are contenders for the Play-In Tournament at 21-36.

Brooklyn is 1.5 games back from the 10th-seeded Chicago Bulls, and while it's impressive to see the team surpass expectations, the Nets' do not hold the lottery odds many fans had hoped. They're currently projected to get the seventh pick in the draft and have just a 7.5% chance at the No. 1 overall pick.

Drafting in the mid-lottery isn't terrible, and these recent wins are a great sign for head coach Jordi Fernandez and Brooklyn's future. However, with the top three to four prospects generally labeled as 'generational,' this may not be the time for the Nets to go on a hot streak.

With that being said, the Nets also have a war chest of draft picks that could be used to select prospects but also in trades. Brooklyn currently holds four first-round picks in the 2025 draft, and with its stash combined with players other teams could want, the organization could easily move up in the draft.

The Nets would build an even stronger young core if, instead of drafting seventh, they drafted in the top four. Cooper Flagg, Dylan Harper, and Ace Bailey were once projected to be on Brooklyn's lap, but they're slipping away with the regular season ending soon. The Nets' odds at attaining one of those franchise-changers is slim, as there is still a difference in the levels of lottery prospects despite 2025 holding a loaded class.

It wouldn't take much of Brooklyn's future to move up in this draft, either. Any of the four picks this year could go along with a player and future draft capital. With nearly all of the hype surrounding the top of the draft, the Nets need that definitive with Cam Thomas' struggling with injuries on top of his looming free agency. Trading up may be the way to accelerate the rebuild and give Brooklyn their guy.

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