The Brooklyn Nets were part of the group of 10 teams that did not participate in the play-in tournament and were one of 14 teams that did not make the playoffs. Since the 2023-24 season was not a good one for Brooklyn, they would typically be “rewarded” with a lottery pick, but that did not happen.
The 2024 NBA Draft Lottery was held on Sunday and while it was already known that the Nets did not have a draft pick for the upcoming draft in June, how the Lottery unfolded was unfortunate. Before the Atlanta Hawks were awarded with the first overall pick in the Draft, it was determined that the Houston Rockets would get the third overall pick via Brooklyn.
What makes this development disappointing is that the Nets, per multiple reports, had plenty of chances to get their picks back from the Rockets by either trading guard Mikal Bridges or trading the Phoenix Suns picks that they hold to Houston, but Brooklyn declined those offers.
Ultimately, given that the Rockets and the Nets missed the playoffs this season, both teams could stand to get better in multiple ways. However, Houston will be the beneficiary of the losing that Brooklyn had to go through this season and could use that pick to get more young talent or bring in the star they want so that they can begin competing as soon as next season.
The Brooklyn Nets' first-round pick for the 2024 NBA Draft is #3 overall, but because of the trade that sent James Harden from the Houston Rockets to the Nets, the Rockets now have the pick. Houston had the 9th-best odds of getting the pick coming into the lottery. Tough break. https://t.co/XVWF9r70nD
— Sharif Phillips-Keaton (@SharifKeaton) May 12, 2024
The 2024 NBA Draft Lottery presented by State Farm will be held Sunday afternoon in Chicago and air live at 3:00 PM ET on ABC.
Below are the 2024 lottery probabilities for each of the teams ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/DBGxx0YHaU
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) May 10, 2024
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