Should the Nets push to make the playoffs in 2026-27 NBA season?

The Brooklyn Nets are heading into one of the biggest offseasons in franchise history in quite some time after ending the 2025-26 NBA season with a 20-62 record amidst their rebuild. Brooklyn could have the first overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, but they won't have their first-round pick in 2027. Should that mean that the Nets push for a playoff spot in 2026-27?

"A combination of three or four additions to the vet trio of Porter, Claxton and Mann, plus some growth from the kids could see Brooklyn compete for a spot in the Play-In Tournament next season," Spotrac's Keith Smith wrote on the Nets' offseason. Smith mentioned that Brooklyn could target win-now veterans on the free-agent/trade market, but also wondered how far the Nets should go in adding talent this offseason.

"But should that really be the goal, even in the absence of controlling their own first-round pick? If Brooklyn could sign players like Norman Powell, John Collins, Kelly Oubre Jr., and C.J. McCollum to one-year deals, fine," Smith continued. "But those players aren’t going to want to take a one-year deal to compete for a Play-In spot, unless it’s the last option on the table. Signing players like that to long-term deals would eat into the Nets ability to add impact players down the line."

As the Nets progress through this offseason, they will have to make decisions in free-agency, in the trade market and in the upcoming 2026 NBA Draft depending on which pick they get in the Lottery. Brooklyn ended the regular season with the third-worst record in the league, but their pick could fall anywhere from No. 1 to No. 7 so general manager has to be prepared for any of those possibilities.