The Brooklyn Nets have five first-round picks in the 2025 NBA Draft, leading some to believe they could compile them in a trade or potentially move further up in the round. But one source feels they could stand pat and use them all.
The Brooklyn Nets And Their Five First Round Picks Take Centerstage on NBA Draft Night
The 2025 NBA Draft is set to kick off on Wednesday night (June 25) at the Barclays Center, home of the Brooklyn Nets. The team is looking to have a big night, reinforced by currently holding five picks in the first round. There has been speculation that they could swap picks to move up, but according to insider Rafael Barlowe, the team may just keep and use all of them.
Nets now have No. 8, 19, 22, 26, 27, in the first-round of the 2025 NBA draft 😱 pic.twitter.com/wWxgUZKYhT
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) June 24, 2025
“While conventional wisdom suggests they’ll package a few to move up or grab future capital, one agent I spoke with [that has] multiple clients in the 15–30 range told me the opposite,” he wrote in the NBA Big Board Substack.
Barlowe added, “Based on what he’s hearing, Brooklyn is preparing to use all five selections. That could change with one phone call, of course, but it gives you a window into how unpredictable tonight could get.”
The Nets have picks No. 8, 19, 22, 26 and 27. They received the 22nd overall pick along with forward Terance Mann from the Atlanta Hawks in a three-team trade with the Boston Celtics, which also sent forward/center Kristaps Porzingis to the Hawks. The Nets are responsible for picking up Mann’s $47 million deal and gave up nothing else.
If Brooklyn holds onto all five picks, it would be the first time since 2009 that a team made four or more picks in the first round. That distinction is held by the Minnesota Timberwolves, who had two picks in the top 10.
They used them to draft two point guards back-to-back in Spain’s Ricky Rubio and Syracuse sophomore Jonny Flynn. They also selected another point guard, North Carolina’s Ty Lawson, and his teammate Wayne Ellington with the 18th and 29th picks.
The Nets’ 2024–25 season was dismal, missing the playoffs for the second year in a row with a record of 26–56 under first-year head coach Jordi Fernández. But they’ve got a chance to rebuild quickly with their draft capital, although the highly rumored possibility of acquiring forward Giannis Antetokounmpo from the Milwaukee Bucks seems to be dead in the water, according to ESPN reporter Brian Windhorst.
“The league has come to terms with the realization that the Bucks are going to keep him and Giannis is not going to ask for a trade. I can’t speak to what might happen in August,” Windhorst said while appearing on “Get Up” on June 19. It was rumored that Antetokounmpo had listed Brooklyn as one of his preferred destinations if he were to be traded.
