What are the Brooklyn Nets doing!? The Brooklyn Nets made history in the 2025 NBA Draft by using ALL of their five first-round picks. They were given an unprecedented haul and plenty of opportunity to shake up their roster for the better but instead of getting involved in bold trades to move up in the order to nab a franchise-changing talent, the Nets simply just sat back and used up all their selections themselves. Do not get me wrong, It is cool and all that doing something like this set a new NBA record, beating out the Timberwolves’ four picks back in 2009, but this was not the smart move by general manager Sean Marks.
The most confusing part of this plan:
What really makes this head-scratching is the redundancy in the picks. Four of the five selections were guards, many of whom have overlapping skill sets. Egor Demin, Nolan Traore, Drake Powell, and Ben Saraf all bring intriguing potential, but it is extremely hard to envision how they will all fit, develop, and stand out on the same roster. The one pick that did make some sense was Michigan’s Danny Wolf, a skilled big man with floor-spacing ability and huge defensive upside.
What makes it worse is that this team had a massive opportunity to get Ace Bailey especially with all the rumors surrounding him, but did not strike at that golden opportunity that rarely ever comes around. Bailey is a dynamic scorer from Boston University, and arguably the draft’s most exciting prospect. With elite shooting, playmaking, and the kind of two-way potential every rebuilding team dreams of, he seemed like a perfect fit for a Nets team desperately needing a true star to build around.
This all points to a deeper issue:
Brooklyn played it safe. In a draft filled with movement and trade activity, the Nets took the passive route in a quantity-over-quality approach that may not age well if these picks do not blossom into core pieces. It is a strategy that feels more like asset hoarding than building a vision.
With this all being said, only time will tell whether this approach pays off, but right now, it is very hard to swallow and not to view it as a missed opportunity. For fans who were already questioning Marks’ leadership, this draft did little to change the narrative.