Nets to play in California Classic Summer League prior to Las Vegas

The Brooklyn Nets have plenty of matters to address this summer as they seek to improve on a 2025-26 season in which they finished with the third-worst record in the league (20-62). Brooklyn is still in the early stages of its rebuild so it will want to see how some of the younger players are developing and it looks like those players will get more reps than usual.

The Nets announced on social media on Wednesday that they will be playing in the California Classic Summer League this offseason for the first time since the California Classic's inception in 2018. For most of the event's history, the four teams that have participated are the Golden State Warriors (who host the league), Sacramento Kings, Los Angeles Lakers, and Miami Heat.

This year, the Nets will be joining the largest field that the California Classic has ever had along with the Warriors, Kings, Lakers, and Heat with the Milwaukee Bucks and San Antonio Spurs also included. This year will also mark the second time that the league's games will be split between two locations: Chase Center (home of the Warriors) and Golden 1 Center (home of the Kings).

Given where the Nets are in their current rebuild, it make sense why they are participating in this event in addition to the Las Vegas Summer League that they play in every year. With the five players from the 2025 class along with hopefully one of the best players in the 2026 NBA Draft class, the Nets might be able to field an entire rotation of players expected to see minutes for them during the 2026-27 campaign.