Where the Nets valued quantity, other NBA power brokers apparently saw a lack of quality.
ESPN’s Brian Windhorst revealed that agents and fellow executives ripped the Nets for their eventual five-pick haul from the first round of the 2025 NBA Draft, which included four picks in the No. 17-27 range.
Some had wondered if the Nets would use the picks to acquire a star or move up, possibly for Rutgers star Ace Bailey amid rumors he would be happy to land in Brooklyn, but the team stayed put.
“I got some people telling me some things about Brooklyn. People are making fun of these draft rooms,” Windorst said on an alternate ESPN broadcast Wednesday night after Brooklyn’s first three picks. “I got people saying to me, executives and agents, they’re like, ‘I was watching them play three two-way guys during this year, so that they could clap for taking guys in the 20s.’ He’s like, ‘These two-way guys might just be as good as the guys they’re taking.’ I don’t know anything about it. I’m just saying what people are saying.”
The Nets entered the draft as a team to watch due to their mass accumulation of picks, with plenty questioning whether they would keep all of the selections due to four falling outside of the lottery.
On paper, it’s nice to have five first-rounders. The counter argument is that having four of those land outside the lottery is not the most ideal situation. Those are usually not franchise-changing picks.
That logic is why teams, like the Knicks when they acquired Mikal Bridges, are willing to give up several first-rounders. There’s no guarantee a late-20s pick will be all that helpful to a championship push.
An argument could be made that the Nets should have packaged several picks to move up for a player they coveted like Bailey, but the Jazz picked him at No. 5 despite reports he did not want to land there.
With Bailey off the board, the Nets made the controversial call to draft BYU’s Egor Demin at No. 8 in what some have called a reach. The Post’s Zach Braziller gave the pick a C- grade.
Some also questioned the team selecting French prospect Nolan Traoré at No. 19.
The Nets then kicked off their three picks in the 20s by selecting North Carolina’s Drake Powell at No. 22 despite an underwhelming freshman season in which he averaged 7.4 points and 3.4 rebounds per game.
Windhorst made his comments shortly after this pick, with the Thunder on the clock at No. 24, and one of his fellow panelists attempted to sum up the quality over quantity argument.
Follow The Post’s coverage of the 2025 NBA Draft
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- What the first round of the NBA draft revealed
- 2025-26 NBA Rookie of the Year odds released
- This controversial pick shocked the NBA community
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“You take five shots, one of them gotta go in, right?” the person said.
The Nets rounded out their group by selecting Israeli wing Ben Saraf at No. 26 and Michigan big man Danny Wolf at No. 27, with the Wolf choice earning The Post’s highest grade.
Brooklyn general manager Sean Marks praised the group’s passing and acumen.
“That goes hand in hand with IQ and how they play the game,” Marks said. “Where we’re going with this is we’re trying to find a brand of basketball that not only translates to a competitive brand out there and it’s going to fit with the Brooklyn community, but it’s also where the NBA is going: guys who can play multiple positions, guard positions and make it hard on the defense.”
