With eight rookies on the Nets’ roster last season — including a record five first-round picks — they played those first-year pros a league-high 6,716 minutes. The Hornets were the next-closest at 6,241. (Editor’s note: It was not, despite comments by Marks and Fernandez the most minutes in the NBA ever.)
Over the past decade, only four other teams had as many minutes played by rookies: the 2017-18 Kings, 2021-22 Thunder, 2023-24 Trail Blazers and 2024-25 Wizards. And like last season’s Nets, that entire quartet was horrid, struggling to a combined .274 winning percentage or 22.5 win pace. But their lessons paid off.
The next year, those same four teams improved to a .402 percentage, or 33 wins, even with that average dragged down by the Wizards having tanked again this past season to get the top overall pick.
Those teams’ quantum leaps to contention came in Year 2 after the investment in rookie playing time. The first three examples vaulted to an average .528 win percentage, or 43-win pace. The Wizards are expected to improve in their Year 2 with Dybantsa, Trae Young and Anthony Davis.