The Brooklyn Nets have been looking for ways to improve the team during this rebuild and this summer will be the first chance for the franchise to add more talent. Brooklyn has four first-round picks to use in the upcoming 2025 NBA Draft and with the team being heavily invested in the Draft, the emphasis will be on the organization picking the right players.
“The number one priority for me on the court is to have a plan in place to build a team with a soul,” Nets head coach Jordi Fernandez said to the rest of the coaching staff, scouting department, and general manager Sean Marks in the first episode of “SCOUT” by Brooklyn’s content team. Fernandez has made it clear since he became the head coach prior to the 2024-25 NBA season that he is looking for good players that can be productive for the culture he wants to build.
“I care about creating winning habits and you guys know how it feels when you’re in a winning environment,” Fernandez continued. “Right now, our job is to figure out who’s going to be the next Net. You guys asked me if we go and scout, what type of player we’re scouting. We want good dudes here. The players that are always on winning teams, there’s a reason why. If you want something you’ve never had, you have to do something you’ve never done.”
What Fernandez said is the latest example of what the Nets are looking for from top to bottom, from owner Joe Tsai to Marks to Fernandez. In fact, when it came close to the trade deadline for the 2024-25 season, Marks acknowledged that Brooklyn received offers for forward Cam Johnson, but he chose to keep Johnson on the team partially due to his character.
“With Cam, there was a lot of interest in him, like there was a lot of interest in a lot of our guys,” Marks explained during an episode of The Bridge, another one of the project from the Nets’ content team. “But, we like Cam and I think Cam fits multiple different builds that we’re doing. He’s a voice of reason, he’s well respected within that locker room, he’s a pro’s pro. If people can learn from somebody, learn from Cam Johnson. That’s a great guy to pick up habits from.”
How the Nets apply their preferences to players in the upcoming 2025 NBA Draft will be interesting to see as all of those questions will have to be answered prior to June 25 when the first round begins. Brooklyn is hoping to be able to draft Duke forward Cooper Flagg and outside of that, the Nets have made it clear the kind of guys they are looking for to be part of the organization.