Feb. 1, 2026, 12:30 p.m. ET

The Brooklyn Nets are trying to win as many games as possible during the 2025-26 NBA season, but part of the objective of this season will be to position themselves for the 2026 NBA Draft. Brooklyn still has plenty of scouting to do prior to the 2026 Draft cycle and general manager Sean Marks is one of many NBA front office members looking at the top prospects.

Yahoo Sports’ account on X put together a mashup of all of the NBA personnel, including Marks that were at the Men’s Basketball matchup between No. 13 BYU and No. 14 Kansas on Saturday. The main reason that so many NBA general managers were at this particular game was to watch Kansas guard Darryn Peterson and BYU forward AJ Dybantsa go at each other in an nationally-televised game on ESPN.

Peterson and Dybantsa are widely-expected to be two of the top-3 players available for the 2026 Draft with Duke forward Cameron Boozer being the other player jockeying for position within the top-3. Peterson, who had to leave the game after only playing 20 minutes due to cramps, finished the contest with 18 points and three steals while Dybantsa had 17 points in 34 minutes.

Heading into Sunday’s slate of games, the Nets are fifth in the 2026 NBA Lottery standings, meaning that they have the fifth-worst win percentage in the NBA. If Brooklyn wants the best shot at drafting Peterson, Dybantsa, or Boozer, they will have to need to finish the season with one of the three worst records in the league and they aren’t too far off from doing so, especially after a rough January.

As has been noted on Nets Wire previously, if the Nets were to finish this campaign with the fifth-worst record, Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Wasserman has them selecting Houston guard Kingston Flemings with the fifth overall pick. However, the goal of the Draft is to walk away with a player that can lead your franchise into the future and Marks was one of several NBA decision-makers looking at two of the players with that kind of standing.

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