The Brooklyn Nets did not have their desired outcome during Monday’s NBA Draft Lottery as they ended up with the eighth overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft. Brooklyn came into the event with the odds not in their favor in terms of getting the first overall pick, but they could still end up with a player that has plenty of potential as they head into the 2025-26 campaign.
Following Monday’s Lottery results, the Nets were projected to select Maryland center Derik Queen with the eighth overall pick in the Draft in Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Wasserman latest mock draft. Brooklyn entered Monday with the sixth-worst record in the NBA for the 2024-25 season and while they had a 37.2% chance of getting a top-4 pick, they also had a 50.3% chance of getting the seventh of eighth pick. Queen could be an interesting prospect for the Nets.
“Queen’s skill level, scoring versatility and passing IQ have been strong enough indicators of offensive success that certain teams will be willing to look past his defensive limitations,” Wasserman wrote in his section on Queen. Queen, standing at 6-foot-10 and 246 pounds, could be someone that the Nets could add to the roster that would present a different skillset from starting center Nic Claxton and backup center Day’Ron Sharpe if he returns in free-agency.
At the moment, Queen projects to be an offensive hub kind of center as he was 13th in the Big Ten in usage rate (26.6%) while averaging 16.5 points, 9.0 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 1.1 steals, and 1.1 blocks per game while shooting 52.6% from the field and 76.6% from the free-throw line. With free-agency beginning soon after the NBA Draft, Brooklyn will have to make a decision based on the information that they have at that time.
Either way, the Nets are at the point of their rebuild where acquiring talent is more important than getting players who fit the current roster because this version of the team will definitely be different from the roster that will compete for a playoff spot in the near future. Brooklyn wasn’t lucky enough to earn the first overall pick and the right to select Duke forward Cooper Flagg, but they will have to make the best of the selection they wound up with.