The Nets don’t need help understanding what they are right now. The standings say enough.
Brooklyn is on a league-worst nine-game losing streak after Wednesday’s 109-106 loss to the Golden State Warriors at Chase Center. With nine games left, that skid has turned the final stretch into a straight-up draft-position race, and the tanking community believes the Nets have every reason to keep losing.
Wednesday’s result tightened the stakes. The Nets are 17-56 and moved into sole possession of second place in the NBA draft lottery standings, just one game behind the Indiana Pacers for the league’s worst record. The Washington Wizards, who beat the Utah Jazz on Wednesday, sit a half-game behind Brooklyn in third. Sacramento and Utah round out the top five.
That’s the incentive. The worst record is within reach, and Brooklyn’s schedule gives it plenty of chances to either lock in position or give it away.
Five of the Nets’ last eight games will come against teams currently living in the same neighborhood of the standings, Sacramento, Washington and Indiana, plus two matchups with the Milwaukee Bucks. Those games matter because they’re direct swings in the race for the bottom.
In a normal season, the phrase “must-win” would hover over a stretch like that. For Brooklyn, it’s the opposite. The Nets have spent the year searching for progress, but the finish line is now defined by draft lottery placement. With the Pacers only a game ahead, the Nets can realistically chase the league’s worst record if they simply stay on their current trajectory.
That’s also why Wednesday’s loss in Golden State hit as a double-edged result. Brooklyn competed, forced turnovers and still came up short, which is exactly how an “ethical” tanking stretch is supposed to look if you’re trying to satisfy both sides of the franchise. The team can point to effort and development. The standings can point to another loss.
The tanking community’s argument is straightforward. The Nets’ season is over in any competitive sense, so the only remaining value is in future outcomes. Every late-season win risks dropping Brooklyn in the standings. Every loss increases the odds of finishing with the worst record, and with it, the best possible draft lottery position in one of the deepest classes in recent memory.
There are nine games left. Brooklyn is one game away from the bottom spot. Washington is close enough to make every result feel like a tug-of-war. Sacramento and Utah are still hovering in the same range. And the Nets still have multiple head-to-head games left with teams that can move the needle with a single night.
So, yes, the incentive is real. Brooklyn doesn’t have to manufacture a tank. It just has to keep doing what it has been doing for nine straight games.