Brooklyn Nets rebuild begins in Charlotte

Rookie Egor Dёmin, the eighth overall pick in this year’s draft, will make his NBA debut with the Nets when they visit Charlotte on Wednesday. AP Photo by Jon Blacker

Soon after the buzzer sounded on the Nets’ second straight non-playoff campaign last April, our borough’s NBA franchise went to work on selling season tickets for 2025-26.

“Building the Brooklyn Way” was the come on for fans starving to win, something they thought was imminent when general manager Sean Marks brought in Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant in the summer of 2019.

That superstar tandem, soon to be joined ever-so-briefly by James Harden, produced one playoff series win, a first-round triumph over Boston before bowing out in the Eastern Conference semifinals to eventual NBA champion Milwaukee in seven tough games to close out the 2020-21 season.

There hasn’t been much hope since, as evidenced by two hasty postseason exits thereafter. One with the dynamic duo still in Brooklyn and one following their not-so-friendly departures.

The Nets lost 50 games in 2023-24 and 56 more last season under first-year coach Jordi Fernández.

But if hope springs eternal on Opening Night, which will see the Nets visit the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday at the Spectrum Center, it will come in the form of the organization’s commitment to youth.

Brooklyn became the first team in league history to attain and keep five first-round draft picks last June.

The rookie class of Egor Dёmin, Drake Powell, Nolan Traore, Ben Saraf and Danny Wolf will get its first true taste of NBA action in Charlotte while veterans Cam Thomas, Michael Porter Jr. and Nic Claxton help the “Fab Five” take their first baby steps in this ongoing renovation project.

Center Nic Claxton hopes the youthful Nets can exceed expectations in 2025-26 despite predictions to the contrary. AP Photo by Albert Pena

Judging from owner Joe Tsai’s comments earlier this month regarding the Nets’ approach to what many are predicting will be a third straight losing season, the focus will be to continue bringing in young talent.

“We have one [first-round] pick in 2026,” Tsai told the “All In” podcast. “And we hope to get a good pick. So, you can predict what kind of strategy we will use for this season.”

The Nets enter the year as the youngest team in the NBA with an average age of 23.36.

If Tsai and Marks are hoping for a “good pick”, they might be admitting that Brooklyn is ceding it will be in the 2026 NBA Draft lottery.

In other words, the more ping pong balls for Brooklyn, the better.

That isn’t likely to be Fernández’s approach.

Nor is it in his job description to chase player development over winning.

Though one might supplant the other over the course of the 82-game season.

“We have a young group overall, but it doesn’t really change my approach at all,” Fernández noted following practice Tuesday at the HSS Training Center in Industry City.

“It doesn’t really change a lot for me because I believe in development. No matter who we have on the team we expect them to develop.”

Asked what his message was to a team that is predicted to finish at or near the bottom of the NBA standings, the 43-year-old native of Badalona, Spain used much of the same jargon he issued during his rookie year at the helm.

“Be ready to play a game for 48 minutes, whatever 100 possessions, and not to rest on one of them,” he insisted. “That’s the mindset we have to have to start the season.

“We are going to end up playing with a lot of players that were drafted by this club,” he added. “Some of them will play right away, and some of them will have to wait to play.”

Claxton, entering the second season of a four-year, $100 million pact, is rebounding from one of his least productive campaigns, due mostly to nagging back issues.

The ultra-athletic center has seen plenty of change in Brooklyn since arriving here as a first-round pick in 2019, when Durant and Irving were headlining the Barclays Center marquee.

Now being asked to play a leadership role in this rebuild, Claxton sounded a lot like his coach, echoing Fernández’s most familiar mantra.

“It’s different, but to me it’s kind of similar to last year,” Claxton said. “It’s jusst about exceeding expectations as a group. Like Jordi always says, ‘Get one percent better.’”

“They have to believe in this process,” added Fernández.

The Hornets are looking to rebound from an even worse year than Brooklyn suffered through in 2024-25.

Despite the continuing emergence of superstar guard LaMelo Ball, Charlotte only won 19 games last season, including three of its four meetings with the Nets.

Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m.

The game will air locally on the YES Network.

Jordi Fernández will try to direct the youngest roster in the NBA beginning Wednesday night in Charlotte, where the Nets will open the 2025-26 season. AP Photo by Albert Pena

NOTHING BUT NET: The Nets made a roster move and gave a medical update on Monday. They requested waivers on guard Kobe Bufkin, a player they acquired from Atlanta in September. Also, Brooklyn revealed that veteran forward Haywood Highsmith “recently experienced right knee swelling during the course of his rehab from an August meniscectomy procedure.” Highsmith will have to rehab the injury and will be re-evaluated in eight weeks. … Following their trip to Charlotte, the Nets will return to Brooklyn for their home opener Friday night at 7:30 p.m. vs. Cleveland.