Coming into the 2024–25 season, expectations were low for the Brooklyn Nets, who had the lowest over/under win total projection of any team in the NBA.
But Brooklyn managed to outperform those modest expectations, racking up more wins than predicted and, in the process, lowering their odds in the draft lottery – a silver lining for a team in transition.
As Brian Lewis of the New York Post noted, the irony of their overachievement came full circle on the final day of the season.
In a twist of fate, the Nets lost to the New York Knicks on Sunday, a game that held no playoff implications for Brooklyn but did impact their draft pick strategy – just not in their favor.
Why? Because the Nets own the Knicks’ first-round pick in this year’s draft due to a previous trade. A Nets win would have worsened New York’s record, thus improving the value of the pick that Brooklyn holds.
Instead, with the Knicks’ victory, the pick landed at No. 26 overall. If the Nets had pulled off the win, that selection might have risen as high as No. 22.
As Lewis put it, “it was only fitting” that the Nets, who spent the season winning more than expected and inadvertently hurting their lottery odds, ended the year with a loss that hurt their draft capital – even though it wasn’t their pick on the line.
Nets Notes: Offseason, Johnson, Claxton, Draft https://t.co/yi33lqtuNW pic.twitter.com/2vVULSaEJo
— Hoops Rumors (@HoopsRumors) April 15, 2025
