2026 NBA Draft Needs: Brooklyn Nets

The Nets made NBA history by selecting five first-rounders in the 2025 NBA Draft. Many of these prospects were non-lottery selections. All of them struggled to generate offense, and few of them did well on defense. Entering the 2026 Draft, they are still searching for a franchise player who can lead them back to the playoffs.

State of the Team

Rebuilding: Fitting jigsaw pieces together

Positional Strengths & Weaknesses

Guards

The Nets guard corps is Egor Dёmin, Nolan Traoré, Terrance Mann, and Ben Saraf.

The Nets have such a surplus of guards that Ben Saraf could consider adding muscle and transitioning to a wing. Egor Dёmin is the expected lead guard for the Nets. Coming out of college, Dёmin was projected as a playmaking floor general, but in his first season in Brooklyn, he fell into a threeball specialist role. His new projection is as a 3-and-D guard, but he’s only 20 and can return to the playmaker he was at BYU. Nolan Traoré took over the passing duties and led the team in assists. This was a low bar; he led the team with just 3.8 assists per night. He will need to improve his scoring if he is to be the point guard of the future.

Terrance Mann is the closest thing to a veteran guard in the group. At 29 years old, Mann is technically a wing but functions more as a pure shooting guard, as he’s a solid help defender at best. He is an inconsistent scoring threat who one night will score 17, then follow it with three games in single digits. He’s a rotation piece who shouldn’t have started 51 games like he did this past year. Ben Saraf had flashes of playmaking and scoring chops, but he’s very raw and lacks athletic upside.

Wings/Forwards

The Nets wing and forward corps is Michael Porter Jr., Ziaire Williams, Noah Clowney, Drake Powell, and Josh Minott.

The only playoff-caliber player on the Nets is Michael “the possession ends with me” Porter Jr. He is a score-first, second, third, fourth, etc., forward who has an excellent shot and, while not impressive, can hold his own on defense. To his credit, he posted a 59.5% true shooting percentage while carrying the 11th-highest usage rate in the NBA at 30.5%. He also averaged a career-high 3 assists a game. Ziaire Williams is an athletic wing entering his sixth season in the NBA at 25 years old. He finally started to turn the corner on his efficiency, and as a 3-and-D wing with 1.4 steals per night, he should be a rotation contributor.

At 21 years old, Noah Clowney has started to find his role. His third season in the NBA brought more minutes, more shots, and a defined role as a switchable stretch-four. Unlike Porter Jr. and Egor Dёmin, Clowney is not a movement shooter; he lives for catch-and-shoot opportunities. Powell had the roughest season out of all the rookies. He has the athleticism and can slash well, but struggled to find a rhythm with a poor threeball and improving yet shaky defense. Like a younger Clowney, Powell is still figuring out when to cut, when to switch, and when to swing the ball. Josh Minott arrived in Brooklyn via a salary dump trade from the cap-strapped Celtics at the deadline. At 23 years old, Minott is the most polished young player on the team. His ceiling looks to be a role player, but time will tell.

Bigs

The Nets big corps is Nic Claxton, Danny Wolf, and Day’Ron Sharpe

Nic Claxton led the league in field goal percentage in the 2022-23 season with an incredible 70.5%. He has fallen back to earth over the past several years but has evolved as well. At 27 years old and entering his eighth season, he has added a playmaking element to his game, as well as drawing more fouls and shooting better from the line. His stat line may be pedestrian, but the small things he does are why the Nets were 26th in the league for defense and not 30th.

Danny Wolf is a ball-handling big man. Like all rookies, his efficiency lagged, but he showed flashes of another gear. Wolf may be stuck behind Claxton and Clowney for now, but if he makes a jump over the summer, he could replace either in the starting lineup. Whether he becomes a starter or a rotational curveball to puzzle opposing teams’ second units is up in the air. Day’Ron Sharpe is entering his sixth year in the NBA and is a dependable backup center.

Draft Needs

The Nets haven’t had any of their prospects break out and establish themselves as stars. This means they should ignore depth, ignore overlapping skill sets, and get the best player available at sixth overall. They have a plethora of ball-handlers, so if they could have any bias, it would be to add more off-ball talent. The priority should be getting a high-potential player or someone who can be a glue guy for this young roster.

Prospects Who Fit

The Nets have the 6th, 33rd, and 43rd overall picks

Keaton Wagler (PG/Guard, Illinois)

The Nets have plenty of potential and plenty of players who need the ball. Keaton Wagler can toe the line and adapt to what’s needed. At 6-foot-6, 188 pounds, with a 6-foot-6 wingspan, and only 19 years old, Wagler has an incredible feel for the game. At Illinois, he shot up draft boards as game after game he improved not only as a sharpshooter but also as a passer. His 46-point game against Purdue made the nation realize Wagler was a first-round talent.

He needs a lot of work before he can reach his ceiling. His frame and athleticism will make it hard for him to hold up on defense. He has the length and is springy, but against top guards in the NBA, they will beat him with speed or strength. He isn’t a slouch. He averaged 0.9 steals and 0.4 blocks because he has a high motor, active hands, and keeps himself in the right position to disrupt. The margin of error will shrink in the NBA, but his defensive IQ and focus on adding strength should make him an average defender in a couple of years.

His ball handling is good, but on the mechanics side, it’s still improving. Additionally, it gets sloppy with pressure. However, his usage of his handle is what really stands out. Wagler will vary his speed and add in hitches to throw off defenders and stretch a defense. These open passing lanes and angles that Wagler seeks out with few mistakes. He posted a 2.33 assist-to-turnover ratio with 4.2 assists and 1.8 turnovers per game. In addition, he ran the pick-and-roll like a veteran at Illinois. His threeball is a constant threat, shooting 39.7% on 5.9 attempts.

While Wagler still has a way to go, his feel, IQ, and motor give him a good projection in the NBA. The Nets desperately need decision makers on their offense. Most of their young prospects are still getting a feel for the NBA but have scoring chops. Adding a player like Wagler will keep the ball moving to the open player, add trusted ball-handling, and help the development of every player on the team. Depending on what’s needed, he can play point guard to add playmaking, or shooting guard if spacing is needed. If Wagler’s development keeps on the same pace, his handle tightens, he builds strength for defense, he will be an All-Star combo guard.

Jayden Quaintance (Center/Big, Kentucky)

Jayden Quaintance is one of the biggest unknowns in the draft. At 6-foot-9, 253 pounds, with a 7-foot-5 wingspan, the 19-year-old is a box of TNT. Someone his size shouldn’t be as explosive and bouncy as he is. Not only that, but he is light on his feet and moves with surprising speed. He reclassified and entered college as a 17-year-old because of his physical tools. As a freshman at Arizona State, Quaintance had a matchup against Baylor where he showed out. He got switched onto hyper-athletic guard VJ Edgecombe, the third overall pick in 2025, and was pulled out beyond the three-point line. Then Edgecombe drove hard and fast. Quaintance stuck with Edgecombe all the way to the rim and blocked his layup. A big man who can stick with a guard is a rare talent.

What makes him a mystery is his right knee. In February of 2025, late in his freshman season, Quaintance suffered an ACL tear, meniscus tear, and fracture in his right knee. He underwent surgery in March and transferred to Kentucky. He tried to come back for the Wildcats early and played in four games in December and January, nine months post-surgery. He played low minutes, could only play a handful of practices outside the games, and suffered from knee swelling. In order to fully heal, he ended his season. What his medical evaluations reveal to NBA teams is not public, but how well his knee has recovered will determine where he is drafted.

In the games Quaintance played at Kentucky, he displayed the incredible strength and explosiveness he had before. However, it was clear he was holding back and not playing at 100% all the time. He remains an anomaly of the draft. As a freshman, he averaged 29.5 minutes, 9.4 points, 7.9 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.1 steals, and 2.6 blocks. In the four games at Kentucky, he averaged 16.8 minutes, 5 points, 5 rebounds, 0.5 assists, 0.5 steals, and 0.5 blocks.

The Nets could be getting the Arizona State version of Quaintance, who can switch onto forwards and wings with ease, bang down low with taller, bigger centers, anchor a defense, and slam down lobs in traffic. Even in the best case, they would also be getting his lack of diverse scoring, average playmaking, and lack of prototypical height. The Nets are positioned to make the most out of him. They have depth and can let him take his time fully recovering and slowly earning more and more minutes. Quaintance can be the long-term replacement for Nic Claxton, with an All-NBA ceiling. He has the IQ and feel on defense to be an all-time rim protector. All of his potential hinges on his right knee, but if the Nets’ medical staff like what they see, they could leave draft night with a franchise-altering player.