The Brooklyn Nets will be picking sixth in the 2026 NBA Draft, following the results of the NBA Draft Lottery on Sunday afternoon. Mr. Whammy\u2019s valiant efforts to butter up Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum before the drawing were not fruitful\u2026<\/p>\n
After posting the NBA\u2019s third-worst record this season, this was a poor outcome for Brooklyn. (I opted for \u201cnauseating\u201d above.) Technically, this was a bottom-third outcome for the Nets, who had a 7% chance of falling to #7 and a 26% chance of falling to #6.<\/p>\n
The Nets also have two second-round picks this season, which they posted on social media just after the results\u2026<\/p>\n
Nearly two years ago, Sean Marks made a pair of franchise-altering trades to kick off the summer. Brooklyn shipped Mikal Bridges across the East River for a whopping five first-round picks (and a swap!), then announced almost simultaneously that they had traded four Phoenix Suns picks to Houston, in exchange for their own \u201825 and \u201826 first-rounders.<\/p>\n
One day later, the Houston Rockets selected Reed Sheppard at #3 overall. They still owned the 2024 Nets pick, after all, which had spiked in the lottery after Brooklyn had a good \u2018ol fashioned miserable season, no tanking involved. It was time for GM Sean Marks to get in on that sort of luck, setting the team up to tank hard over the next two seasons. The move was lauded; the following spring, Marks was voted the 8th-best executive in the NBA by his peers.<\/p>\n
Now, the Nets\u2019 two year tank is over. In 2025, after starting the season 9-10, they received the #8 pick, just two spots ahead of the Suns pick they traded away. This June, they\u2019ll be picking at #6, missing out on a consensus top-four of AJ Dybantsa, Cameron Boozer, Darryn Peterson, and Caleb Wilson, while the New York Knicks could be coming off an NBA Finals trip.<\/p>\n
In the final year before major NBA Draft Lottery reform, you could argue the Nets did not tank hard enough; the league-worst Washington Wizards won the #1 overall pick. The Indiana Pacers had the second-worst record and fell, but only to #5 (thus relinquishing their pick to the Los Angeles Clippers).<\/p>\n
But the Chicago Bulls and their ninth-worst record shot up to four. The Memphis Grizzlies traded places with the Nets, jumping from #6 to #3\u2026.<\/p>\n