2026-27 Season Preview: Brooklyn Nets

Michael Porter Jr., Egor Dëmin, Day’Ron Sharpe and Noah Clowney welcome Julius Randle this season.

Offseason Recap

•

Last Season

: 20-62 (13th in East, missed postseason)

• Key Additions

: Tyler Bilodeau, Mikel Brown Jr., Keon Ellis, Joshua Jefferson, Julius Randle, Moritz Wagner

Every Nets move this offseason

Season Outlook

After three straight seasons where they lost more games than the year prior, the Nets might finally be ready to take a step forward. Julius Randle will complement Michael Porter Jr. well on offense and raise the overall floor.

But the spotlight remains on the Nets’ group of five second-year players that they selected in the first round of

the 2025 Draft

. The only one of the five who received any votes for first or second team All-Rookie was Egor Dëmin, who got two second-team votes. We can’t expect all of them to make giant leaps in Year 2, but the Nets need to see real progress from more than one of the five.

Of course, while there’s nowhere to go but up, a step forward doesn’t mean the Nets will compete for a playoff or SoFi NBA Play-In Tournament spot. The Eastern Conference has improved overall, and this team will likely need major development from its young players to reach the postseason.

Breakout Candidate: Day’Ron Sharpe

The Nets have lost more than twice as many games as they’ve won over the last three seasons. But they’ve actually outscored their opponents (by 0.4 points per 100 possessions) with Sharpe on the floor over that stretch, while getting outscored by 9.0 per 100 in his minutes off the floor. He’s also one of only five players who’ve played at least 750 minutes and averaged at least 15 points and 12 rebounds per 36 in each of the last three seasons.

But for his whole career, Sharpe has been stuck behind Nic Claxton, who’s now in Chicago. Maybe his best role is backup center. Most of that on-off differential has come on defense (109.2 vs. 117.1 allowed per 100), in part because he’s been defending against other backups. But he’s still just 24 years old, and this season provides Sharpe with an opportunity to prove that he can make an impact for more than just 18 or 20 minutes per game.

1 Number To Know

9%

— According to tracking data, only 9% of Porter’s 3-point attempts were wide open last season. That was down from 20% with Denver in 2024-25 and was the lowest rate, by a wide margin, among 307 players with at least 100 total 3-point attempts. The next lowest rate belonged to Kevin Durant, who was wide open on 15% of his 3s.

Randle isn’t on Nikola Jokić’s level when it comes to passing, but he ranks fourth (behind Jokić, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Luka Dončić) in total assists on 3-pointers over the last seven years. He should get Porter some more open looks and, along with his own scoring, make the Nets a more efficient offensive team. They scored 1.5 fewer points per 100 possessions than any other team last season, when they were the only team that ranked in the bottom five in field goal percentage in the paint (55.3%, 30th), mid-range field goal percentage (37.1%, 28th) and 3-point percentage (34.0%, 30th).

5 Must-See Matchups

Nov. 2: Nets vs. Knicks

— A sign of improvement would be a win against the Knicks, to whom the Nets have lost 14 straight games. They’ll be at a rest disadvantage for three of this season’s four meetings, including this first one at Madison Square Garden.

• Nov. 23: Nets vs. Wolves –

– Randle makes his return to Minnesota in Week 6. The Nets’ visit to the Target Center last December was one of their best wins of the season, and this one will be the start of a four-game trip.

• Dec. 16: Mavs vs. Nets

— There have been three 50-point performances (all from the home team) at Barclays Center. Two of the three belong to Kyrie Irving, who’s played there just once (scoring 36 points in a Mavs win) since leaving the Nets in 2023.

• Feb. 25: Sixers vs. Nets

— The Sixers’ first game in Brooklyn (Nov. 16) is the second game of a back-to-back for the visitors. The February meeting is the first game after the All-Star break for both teams, so it’s more likely that all of Philly’s stars will be in the lineup.

• Mar. 21: Kings vs. Nets

— When the Nets selected Mikel Brown Jr. with the No. 6 overall pick in this year’s draft, they passed on Darius Acuff Jr., whom the Kings took at No. 7. Nets fans will get a first-hand look at what they’re missing in Week 22.

>

Complete Regular Season Schedule

Preseason Storylines

Randle is the new piece, and it will be interesting to see how much he and Porter connect in the Nets’ offense. If Sharpe is the starting center, he could be going head-to-head with some All-Star big men.

But the focus should be on the second-year guys and how much they’ve improved after a year in the league and a summer of working on their game. Dëmin seemingly has the tools to be a long-time starter, but needs to play bigger. Nolan Traoré has the quickness to bend defenses, but needs to be stronger with the ball. And Drake Powell needs to show that he can shoot.

Complete Preseason Schedule

***

John Schuhmann has covered the NBA for more than 20 years. You can e-mail him

here

, find his

archive here

and

follow him on Bluesky.