The speculation surrounding the Brooklyn Nets' draft lottery position has ended. Following the Philadelphia 76ers' loss on Friday, the Nets are locked into sixth place in the lottery standings.
Brooklyn's odds will be as follows:
- 1st: 9.0%
- 2nd: 9.2%
- 3rd: 9.41%
- 4th: 9.62%
- 5th: 0%
- 6th: 8.62%
- 7th: 29.77%
- 8th: 20.55%
- 9th: 3.68%
- 10th: 0.15%
The Nets will have a 37.2 percent chance of jumping into the top four and a 58.94 percent chance of picking 6-8. The worst-case scenario of falling to ninth or 10th will have a 3.83 percent probability.
Nets clinch sixth-best draft lottery odds as season nears close
Flattened odds have made it easier for teams to move up on lottery night. However, a sixth-place finish is lower than many expected for the Nets after they traded Mikal Bridges and paid a steep price to reacquire their 2025 first-round pick from the Houston Rockets this summer. Brooklyn was tied with the Washington Wizards for the NBA's lowest win projection (19.5) entering the season.
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However, they got off to a surprise 9-10 start, with veterans Cam Johnson, Dennis Schroder and Dorian Finney-Smith leading the charge under newly hired head coach Jordi Fernandez. After trading Schroder and Finney-Smith, the Nets crept within two games of top-three lottery odds midway through the season, but a 7-2 stretch in February solidified their place in the middle of the pack.
While their draft position may end up lower than expected, Brooklyn is in a position to select a top-tier talent for the first time in over a decade. The Nets haven't drafted in the lottery since 2010, when they missed out on John Wall and took Derrick Favors third overall.
The franchise has made 15 top-10 selections in its history. Those players have combined for just seven All-Star selections with the team, the most recent being Brook Lopez (2013) and Kenyon Martin (2004). Buck Williams, who the Nets selected third overall in 1981, is the franchise's only top-10 pick to make multiple All-Star appearances.
This year's draft class has a clear-cut top-two picks in Cooper Flagg and Dylan Harper. Beyond that, there is less consensus, with prospects such as Ace Bailey, VJ Edgecombe, Jeremiah Fears, Khaman Maluach, Tre Johnson, Derick Queen, Kon Knueppel, Collin Murray-Boyles and Kasparas Jakucionis in the mix.
“We’re in a very good situation, from [our] flexibility to [our] assets to the great market we have here,” Fenrandez said earlier this week. “The job to draft is [general manager] Sean [Marks] and his team. Obviously, coaches will support and we’ll do whatever they need us to do, from opinions to watching film to doing workouts. We’ll be 100 percent available for them. We’ll try to help and we’ll support their job the same way that when I coach, I feel supported by them.”
The lottery is set for May 12th, while the draft will be on June 25th.
