Why Nets Need to Bottom Out in Standings

The Brooklyn Nets would benefit from the highest draft pick possible.

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-Imagn Images / Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images

The Brooklyn Nets are committed to rebuilding after trading Mikal Bridges to the New York Knicks.

If you are going to rebuild in the NBA, you might as well be the best at it, especially since only the bottom four records get the highest probability for the No. 1 pick.

Bleacher Report writer Dan Favale believes it will be a "nightmare" scenario if the Nets don't finish with one of those four worst records.

"While this approach is more wholesale and less about specific lottery positioning, they have a two-year window to capitalize on the benefits of rebuilding from the ground up before landing at the behest of first-round obligations to Houston in 2027. Finishing with anything less than a top-four chance (14 percent) at winning the lottery is borderline disastrous," Favale writes. "Brooklyn needs to build enough of a cushion between it and the bottom of the middle to ensure it's not impacted by midseason pivots from others."

Finishing with the No. 1 pick in this draft is important because it could land a high-level prospect in Cooper Flagg.

Flagg, who will play at Duke this season, has the potential to be a star in the NBA. And if he were to join the Nets, he would give them a foundation and springboard to get Brooklyn back into relevancy.

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