After facilitating Kristaps Porzingis' relocation to the Atlanta Hawks, the Brooklyn Nets now have five—yes, five—first-round picks in the 2025 NBA draft. And that can mean only one thing: They are going to trade for one more lottery pick.
As first reported by ESPN’s Shams Charania, the Nets are acquiring the No. 22 pick from Atlanta in exchange for absorbing Terance Mann, and the three years and $47 million on his contract. The Boston Celtics are sending Porzingis to the Hawks while taking on Georges Niang to complete this deal.
As things currently stand, it will be on the clock Wednesday night with the eighth, 19th, 22nd, 26th and 27th selections. Emphasis on currently. The Nets aren’t going to keep all these picks. Not even close.
Sure, they have the roster space to fit five prospects onto their cap sheet, but carving out playing time for all of them would be a nightmare. The same goes for having a quintet of players up for rookie-scale extensions at the same time.
More draft moves are inevitable for the Nets
There are a number of different pathways for the Nets to travel down with this much draft equity. They could look to package some combination of their later firsts to move up from No. 8. Marks could also seek to trade some of the team’s 2025 picks for selections in future drafts. Heck, Brooklyn could even look to use a few of these first-rounders to acquire actual players from other teams.
In the end, the Nets might opt to explore a couple of these options. After all, they have the picks to make more than one additional move. Ultimately, though, they should prioritize landing at least one more lottery selection.
For all of their flexibility, they still don’t have a face of the rebuild on the roster. Cam Johnson or Cam Thomas (restricted free agent) come closest but aren’t anywhere near primary-cornerstone material.
Perhaps Brooklyn is able to find that type of player at No. 8. But having an additional top-14 prospect on the docket would give Marks another bite at that centerpiece apple. While the draft isn’t an exact science, the higher you pick, the more likely you are to find someone special.
Brooklyn has plenty of lottery picks to target
With so much first-round capital in their possession, the Nets’ search for another lotto selection isn’t really a matter of if or how they can get one. It’s an issue of which one they want to target.
The Phoenix Suns are sitting on the No. 10 pick after the Kevin Durant trade, and have very few future assets and prospects. Brooklyn could throw No. 19 and No. 22 at them without blinking. Including No. 26 or No. 27 is on the table as well.
The Portland Trail Blazers could be looking to move down from No. 11 after the Jrue Holiday trade. Their roster is now more expensive moving forward. Turning one rookie-scale contract into two goes a long way.
Similar logic applies to the Toronto Raptors, who have the No. 9 selection. Both the No. 14 (San Antonio Spurs) and No. 13 (Atlanta) selections feel eminently gettable. Landing another top-seven pick seems unlikely without also including No. 8. Then again, the Nets could technically offer four firsts (19, 22, 26 and 27) to New Orleans for No. 7, or to Washington for No. 6.
Whatever the exact scenario, count on Brooklyn winding up with at least one more lottery pick in this year’s draft.