Nets should be weary of rebuilding in 2027 due to NBA anti-tank rule

The Brooklyn Nets came away from Sunday's 2026 NBA Draft Lottery with the No. 6 pick and the team is hoping that they can select a player that will make a difference next season and beyond. For Brooklyn to get a player of that caliber, they had to endure a 20-62 record in the 2025-26 season. However, if the Nets continue to rebuild after this season, they may need to be careful.

"What we've essentially done, and we have a proposal that we're going to be bringing to our team owners at the end of May, and that is to create essentially a system of flat odds, so that you have no particular incentive to be bad," NBA commissioner Adam Silver said while on ESPN pundit Stephen A. Smith's radio show earlier this week, per ESPN's Tim Bontemps. Silver's comments come prior to the NBA's board of governors presumable to vote for the new "3-2-1" format to curb tanking.

"There's even something we're calling draft relegation, that if you're one of the bottom three teams in the league, you'll actually have worse odds than teams that sort of are four through up until teams make the playoffs," Silver continued, per Bontemps. "We're still playing a little bit with the system there."

Silver announced on April that the league was looking into a way to reform the draft as the NBA looks to severely limit the prevalence of tanking given how much conversation surrounded the topic during this season. While the measure hasn't been approved yet, the "3-2-1" format where the teams with the best odds to get the No. 1 pick starting with the 2027 draft would be the teams that are positioned between 4-10.

The Nets do not have control of their first-round pick in 2027, but they may have to carefully consider their direction next season because if they do not make the playoffs, they could potentially give the Houston Rockets the No. 1 pick. However, Brooklyn has plenty of decisions to make before next season comes around so this recent development should be an additional factor for general manager and the front office.