How likely is it that the Nets will be better than expected?

The Brooklyn Nets came into the 2026 NBA offseason with the goal of improving the team as much as possible following a 2025-26 season in which they finished with a lowly 20-62 record. Brooklyn's main move of the summer was trading for former Minnesota Timberwolves forward Julius Randle , but how likely is it for them to beat the odds this upcoming season?

"If there is one team in the NBA that looks like someone just threw a bunch of players that don't fit together on a roster for no reason whatsoever, it's the Brooklyn Nets ," Brett Siegel wrote on the Nets for ClutchPoints. Siegel put together a tier list of all 30 NBA teams into seven tiers with the Nets making it into the category of the team seemingly destined for the relegation zone.

"Julius Randle and Michael Porter Jr. trying to play off one another is not a recipe for success, and the Nets are still putting a lot of faith in their recent first-round picks to pan out," Siegel continued. " Egor Demin and Mikel Brown Jr. offer small bright spots for Brooklyn, but the vast majority of this roster won't make it past February's trade deadline."

While the partnership between forwards Michael Porter Jr. and Julius Randle still needs some time to develop, Siegel makes a good point in that the Nets have plenty invested in the five first-round picks from the 2025 NBA Draft. Guard Egor Demin is likely to start in the backcourt for head coach Jordi Fernandez, but the other four will likely be coming off the bench with guard Nolan Traore and forward Danny Wolf primed to be in the rotation.

The Nets are projected by many to win somewhere between 20 games and 30 games given that the team still needs to add more talent to the roster before it's ready to compete for the playoffs. Porter and Randle are slated to be the leaders of the team and while anything can happen between now and the February trade deadline, the Nets have the goal of being better than what most are expecting from them.