The Brooklyn Nets head into the 2025 NBA Draft with five picks to use, including four picks in the first round of what could be a promising class. Brooklyn may not use all of their picks in this Draft, but for the picks that they end up using, it will be important for the team to determine whether a player is the best available or fits a need for the roster.
“The Nets don’t have a point guard on their roster, cycling through the likes of D’Angelo Russell (free agent), Dennis Schroder (traded), Ben Simmons (waived), Killian Hayes and others as part of their 26-56 season,” ESPN’s Jonathan Givony wrote when describing that Oklahoma guard Jeremiah Fears would fill the biggest need for the Nets. Granted, with Brooklyn coming off a 26-56 record, the roster has many needs, with talent being the biggest one.
“Should Fears fall, picking him here at No. 8 seems like a no-brainer, as he has one of the highest ceilings of any prospect in this draft, flashing serious star power in his lone season at Oklahoma,” Givony continued. “Just kicking off their rebuilding process this season, the Nets surely have their eyes on the sparkling top of the 2026 NBA draft, so living through the growing pains of an 18-year-old rookie point guard might not be that daunting with some of the star players who could be available on the other end of another losing season.”
As Givony noted, the Nets do not have any point guards under contract for next season with players like Russell, Cam Thomas, Trendon Watford, and Reece Beekman being free-agents this offseason. While Thomas is most likely returning to Brooklyn to some kind of team-friendly deal given the state of the free-agent when it comes to money that teams can spend, guys like Russell, Watford, and Beekman could be playing for other teams next season.
Fears is coming off a freshman season at Oklahoma in which he averaged 17.1 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 4.1 assists per game while shooting 43.4% from the field and 28.4% from three-point land in 34 games played. With the Nets needing to focus on adding as much talent as possible in the early stages of the rebuild, Fears could be a player that would both represent the best player available and the biggest need-filler for Brooklyn if he falls to the eighth overall pick.