Report: Nets hoping to be competitive as soon as next season

The Brooklyn Nets are one of a few teams that looked at the 2025-26 NBA season as a rebuilding year as they are looking to see what they have in their younger players. While Brooklyn spent this season trying to develop as many of the players on the roster as possible, there seems to be some who believe that next year will look differently for the Nets . "Multiple league sources told The Post that the idea remains the same: The Nets intend to flip the switch and try to compete as soon as next season," Brian Lewis of the New York Post recently wrote.

Almost everyone in and around the league has opined on when the Nets would attempt to turn things around, but it's safe to say that most people believed that competing would be at least a few years away from now. "Yes, it’s all of the above. There’s going to be like five touch points where you go OK, where’s the team," Lewis wrote of what a source said to him.

"[The Nets] have a draft class underneath them. How they develop will determine when [they] press go," another source said of Brooklyn's current rebuild, according to what that source told Lewis of the situation. As it stands, the Nets would be moving into next season with their five rookies from the 2025 NBA Draft along with players like forward Michael Porter Jr.

and center Nic Claxton leading the way. If Brooklyn decides to pivot to trying to be as competitive as possible in the 2026-27 season, they are likely to be one of just a few teams that would have significant cap space to spend on bringing in more talent, either in free-agency or through trades. However, it's important to point out that the Nets' decision on competing as much as possible next season could hinge on which player they are able to select in the 2026 NBA Draft.