The Brooklyn Nets are in the beginning stages of their latest rebuild following the breakup of the Big 3 that led the franchise to look for other ways to get back to winning. Brooklyn still has a ways to go before it’s ready to compete for NBA championships again, but owner Joe Tsai is committed to bringing the organization back to its glory days of playoff aspirations.
“I’ve got to take care of the Brooklyn Nets first, which means you need to win first in the sport that you’re already involved in,” Tsai said in March, per Brian Lewis of the New York Post, when asked of his interesting in owning an NFL team someday. Tsai, who purchased a 3% stake in the NFL’s Miami Dolphins in December of 2024, became the owner of the Nets in September of 2019 and he’s been trying to bring a championship to Brooklyn since then.
“For a sports owner, the return season after season is winning. Every season, you’re trying to win the championship, so you want to win games,” Tsai continued. “You’re not looking at the income statement of the team from season to season, so I guess the final payoff for me is less financial — even though the financial aspects are important, I have to make sure that the bottom line investment can make sense — but at the end of the day, it’s through the love of sports. I have a passion for sports. That’s why I invested in these teams.”
What Tsai’s comments mean for the future of the Nets remains to be seen given that wanting to build a contender and being able to do that are two entirely different matters. For example, Phoenix Suns owner Mat Ishbia wants the Suns to be title contenders, but it’s clear that some of the steps that the team took towards trying to win a title seem to have put the franchise in a tough spot moving forward.
As of this writing, Brooklyn has the most cap space in the league heading into the 2025 offseason and they also have four first-round picks in the 2025 NBA Draft, meaning that they could have an infusion of young talent and proven players if the team chooses to move in that direction. The hope is that Tsai is able to work with general manager Sean Marks to build the Nets into a contender without the fans having to wait too long to see that.