It’s just another episode of a star-crossed franchise.
You will hear about the Utah Jazz, Toronto Raptors, Charlotte Hornets, Philadelphia 76ers, Washington Wizards, Chicago Bulls, and New Orleans Pelicans as the losers in Monday night’s 2025 NBA Draft Lottery. Those teams set their sights on winning the Cooper Flagg sweepstakes after a hideous season by design in the name of tanking.
They did not win it. Neither did the Brooklyn Nets.
The Dallas Mavericks won the No. 1 draft pick in the sweepstakes despite 1.8% odds of winning it. Talk about a new lease on life after foolishly trading Luka Doncic to the Lakers for injury-prone Anthony Davis, which did not end well, as the Mavs missed the playoffs.
Here’s what damning: The Spurs won the No. 2 pick. Imagine this trio of Victor Wembanyama, Stephon Castle, and now Dylan Harper (the likely No. 2 overall pick), and that has to hurt those teams more than losing out on the lottery. For Harper, this gives him a reset where he can be part of a winning culture after failing to elevate Rutgers this season.
Yes, those teams can claim they were the biggest losers. After all, they continue to be perennial lottery participants since they can never win the lottery. It does not help that their front office knows how to scout, draft, or develop players. In so many ways, their fate is self-inflicted.
From this perch, the Nets earned the mantle of being the biggest loser in the lottery. This team was built to tank with the idea that it could get one of the top three picks. For them to get the No. 8 pick is deflating. There’s no other way to say it.
Yes, it’s a loaded draft, but what makes anyone think Nets general manager Sean Marks can get it right here? After all, he has not made one great pick that elevated the franchise in his forgettable tenure here. Not only that, but the players never developed under his leadership. To expect Marks to get it right now would be insanity, with the hope that he gets different results.
Harper (2) and Bailey (4), photo courtesy Rutgers Athletics
The result hurts because there’s not even a consolation prize. I believe the Nets would have been okay drafting Harper or Ace Bailey. I am unsure if they can get Kon Knueppel, Tyrese Proctor, and Khaman Maluach. Forget that they will not get a high pick, but their chances of acquiring Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo are slim to none now since they have nothing to offer for the No. 8 pick. The Spurs’ chances of getting Antetokounmpo improved since they have the No. 2 pick to intrigue the Bucks.
Nets fans were angry. They felt NBA commissioner Adam Silver did them wrong by not giving them a high pick. But that’s nonsense. Silver and the league owe the Nets nothing. It’s on Mark’s and his staff to get the team back on course. It’s what they are being paid to do, right? They shouldn’t work for the Nets if they need the league to save them.
The Nets have no one to blame but themselves for what went wrong here. They should know better than to think they have a shot at winning the lottery. Teams that tank rarely win it. A surprise team always comes out of nowhere to win the lottery. Who thought the Spurs would win the Wembanyama sweepstakes a few years ago?
This isn’t the first time this has happened to the Nets. Remember, they tanked to a 12-70 season for the right to win the John Wall sweepstakes in the 2010 Draft Lottery. Instead, they won the No. 3 pick and drafted Derrick Favors, who was traded for the malcontent Deron Williams, who turned out to be one of the franchise’s all-time busts.
The Nets can talk about having four picks in the draft. That’s all good, but it shouldn’t make any of the five Nets fans in town optimistic, given the franchise’s history regarding player development and its awful culture.
On a night the Knicks are a game away from going to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 2000, this and the draft lottery turned out to be an idea of hell for a beleaguered Nets franchise that can’t get out of its way.
That’s why the Nets made the strongest case that they lost in the lottery compared to the other participating teams in it to win it. It’s just another episode of a star-crossed franchise.
