The 2024-25 Brooklyn Nets’ Season Preview
August 30th, 2024
by Alan Lu
The Brooklyn Nets tried their hand to move forward in their first full season without a super team that featured Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving last year, and they aimed to reach the playoffs with Mikal Bridges as their team’s best player last season. However, they got off to a rough start that led Jacque Vaughn’s firing, and the Nets ended up finishing 32-50 in 2024 and missed the playoffs.
Cam Thomas is an exciting, score-first combo guard that will be the player to watch on the 2025 Brooklyn Nets’ team for the upcoming season. (Photo: Wendell Cruz/USA Today Sports, via Sports Illustrated)
After they traded away Mikal Bridges to the New York Knicks, it seems clear that the Brooklyn Nets are going to a rebuild, though it may not necessarily be a full-scale rebuild, since they were without a draft pick in the 2024 draft. They do have some talented holdovers from last year’s roster in Cam Thomas, Nic Claxton, and Cameron Johnson, to name a few, and if Ben Simmons can stay healthy and be the assertive playmaking and defensive force that he used to be, just maybe he could surprise people and have a bounce back year. But without elite talent or the star power, the Brooklyn Nets seem likely to miss the playoffs once again for the upcoming season.
Star Players:
None
The Nets do not seem to have a star player, at least maybe not in a traditional sense, but they do have some solid role players that may be close to getting there. Cam Thomas is an agile, skilled bucket getter that can fill up the nets, but he will need to improve his playmaking skills and defense. Nic Claxton is an athletic, high-motor big man that was a standout defender in 2023, and he is a solid rim protector and starting big man in this league. Cameron Johnson is a very athletic, sharpshooting wing that excels as a 3 and D player in the NBA, and is a versatile player that can start or come off the bench.
Ben Simmons hasn’t stayed healthy and has played sparsely over the years, and even worse, he’s a shell of himself, as he is a far more passive player on offense than usual, is extremely reluctant to take shots on top of utterly refusing to take jump shots, and it’s painfully obvious that his best days are behind him. He was a former All-Star, but at this stage, he’s more or a less a talented expiring contract that will give the Nets cap space to sign a free agent in 2025 if he has another bad or less than stellar season this year. If he rebounds and plays well this season, the Nets will have a tough decision to make, if they want to keep him, or more likely, to see if they could maybe flip him to another team for one or multiple first round picks if an interested NBA team offers them that package at the midseason trade deadline.
Additions:
G-F Bojan Bogdanovic, G Shake Milton, F Ziaire Williams, and G Killian Hayes
Bojan Bogdanovic is a sharpshooting swingman that will provide stability for the Nets, and he is a veteran that has been a solid role player in this league. Shake Milton is a skilled combo guard that can knock down shots and play either backcourt position, and he will help the Nets off the bench. Ziaire Williams is a tall, athletic and skinny forward with upside, but after having a surprisingly solid rookie season, he’s had two disappointing seasons since. Killian Hayes was a longtime starting point guard for the lowly Pistons and can pass the basketball, but he’s really struggled shoot or be efficient over the years, and he’ll need to focus on making the Nets’ team first.
Subtractions:
G-F Mikal Bridges, G Lonnie Walker IV, G Dennis Smith Jr., and F Keita Bates-Diop
Definitely, of all of the subtractions, losing Mikal Bridges will hurt them the most, as it will most likely take them out of any sort of playoff contention or hopes they may have had for the upcoming season. Bridges is a versatile star player that is a do-it-all forward, and he’s really come on into his own over the past two seasons. Also, they’re losing a slew of backend fringe role players aside from losing Bridges.
Rookies:
G Mark Armstrong and G K.J. Jones II
Both of their rookie guards are on Exhibit-10 contracts, and based on their summer league performances, neither of them are likely to make the team in the regular season. While it is still possible that both could end up seeing their Exhibit-10 contracts converted to Two-Way contracts, both will probably wind up playing for their G-League team for the 2024-25 season.
Expected Rotation:
Brooklyn Nets’ sixth-year center, Nic Claxton has shown off impressive rim protection skills over the course of his NBA career. (Photo: Noah K. Murray/The Associated Press, via amNewYork)
Cam Thomas will provide offense with his ability to score the basketball. Nic Claxton is an athletic rim protector that has proven that he can be an efficient player in the paint. Cam Johnson is an athletic 3 and D role player that can finish plays above the rim. Dennis Schroder can provide instant offense and is an athletic point guard, and Dorian Finney-Smith is a proven wing defender that can guard people. On the other hand, the Nets may still lack elite talent compared to the other top teams in their conference, and they may have some issues scoring on offense as a team.
Projected Starting Lineup:
Key Bench Players:
Ben Simmons has spent a lot of time on the bench with the Brooklyn Nets, as he’s been very injury-prone, but he also hasn’t been nearly as good as he was when he was with Philadelphia years ago. And so far, Simmons has been more memorable in Brooklyn for his fashion choices than his actual basketball play during his time with the Nets. (Photo: John Minchillo/Associated Press, via WDHN)
The Nets don’t figure to have a very strong bench for the upcoming season, but Day’Ron Sharpe has been a solid rim protector for them in a backup center role and Trendon Watford has been a pleasant surprise for them. Bojan Bogdanovic can knock down shots and provide stability for them off the bench. Still, they will need a healthy bounce back season from Ben Simmons. Meanwhile, their 2023 first-round pick Noah Clowney could be due for a pleasantly decent season this year, and Jalen Wilson was a standout performer in the 2024 NBA Las Vegas Summer League, as he won MVP honors there this summer.
G-F Bojan Bogdanovic
The Rest of the Roster:
F-C Noah Clowney
G-F Dariq Whitehead
Others in Camp:
G-F K.J. Jones II (Exhibit 10)
G Mark Armstrong (Exhibit 10)
Team Options at the End of the 2025 Season:
Here I will project the likelihood of the Brooklyn Nets to pick up and accept or decline the team options for various players at the end of the 2025 season.
Noah Clowney – Team Option Will Likely Be Accepted (60-70% Certainty)
Jalen Wilson – Team Option Will Likely Be Accepted (60-70% Certainty)
Dariq Whitehead – 50/50, Leaning Towards It Will Be Declined (50% Certainty)
Keon Johnson – Team Option Will Likely Be Declined (60%-70% Certainty)
Head Coach:
Jordi Fernandez was the coach of Team Canada in the 2024 Olympics. (But if you were wondering, Canada did not medal in men’s 5 on 5 basketball in the 2024 Paris Olympics.)
(Photo: Gregory Shamus/Getty Images, via Andscape)
Jordi Fernandez
2023-24 (BRK): 0-0, 0-0 in the playoffs
Coaching Career: 0-0, 0-0 in the NBA Playoffs
After Jacque Vaughn’s Brooklyn Nets team underperformed considerably (or met expectations depending on what you were expecting from the 2023-24 Nets team), they fired Vaughn midway through the season and hired Kevin Ollie to finish out the season as the interim head coach.
This summer, the Nets hired former Sacramento Kings’ assistant Jordi Fernandez to lead their team, and he also coached Team Canada in the 2024 Olympics. Fernandez will hope that the Kings’ high-powered offenses will carry over to help him lead the Nets this season. He’s still unproven and untested as an NBA head coach, but he’s been regarded as one of the best assistants in the league, and is a bright mind that could lead them far in the future.
NBA Head Coach Rank: 21
Outlook:
The 2024-25 Brooklyn Nets are probably looking for a shot at the play-in tournament, but it will be a battle for them to try to get there, and they will probably miss the playoffs once again this season.
(Photo: Gary A. Vasquez/USA Today Sports, via NBC Sports)
The Brooklyn Nets will compete for a berth in the play-in tournament and they will probably be competitive for most of the season, but they don’t seem to have enough talent, experience, or team chemistry to be able to find a way to make the playoffs. Even if they do make the 2025 NBA Playoffs, they would most certainly lose in the first round, as they do not have the talent to compete against Boston or New York in the postseason, and the Nets need higher-end talent to help them in the future.
Projected 2024-25 Finish:
Expected Win-Loss Record: 29-53
Projected Regular Season Finish: 13th in the Eastern Conference
Expected Playoff Finish: Projected to miss the playoffs
Preseason NBA Power Ranking: 27
I went to Basketball-Reference and SalarySwish to look up some information for this write-up. It will be an exciting basketball season this year, and I’m looking forward to seeing how the season will unfold. Anyways, that is my write-up on my preview of the 2024-25 Brooklyn Nets. Thanks for reading.