{"id":277507,"date":"2026-06-25T04:10:41","date_gmt":"2026-06-25T04:10:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/277507\/"},"modified":"2026-06-25T04:10:41","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T04:10:41","slug":"nets-select-tyler-bilodeau-with-pick-no-43-in-2026-nba-draft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/277507\/","title":{"rendered":"Nets Select Tyler Bilodeau With Pick No. 43 In 2026 NBA Draft"},"content":{"rendered":"<p id=\"inline-text-0\" class=\"mt-[18px] md:mt-0 mb-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-blue my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6t\">The Brooklyn Nets added another frontcourt piece to their rebuilding roster Wednesday night, selecting <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/college\/ucla\/bruins-projecting-tyler-bilodeau-nba-outlook\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">UCLA forward Tyler Bilodeau<\/a> with the 43rd pick in the 2026 NBA Draft. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-2\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-blue my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"70\">As a second-round selection, Bilodeau will likely be signed to a two-way contract, allowing him to split time between Brooklyn and Long Island while earning a chance to carve out a long-term NBA role. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-3\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-blue my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"73\">The 6-foot-8 forward was one of the most efficient offensive players in college basketball last season. Bilodeau averaged <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sports-reference.com\/cbb\/players\/tyler-bilodeau-1.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">17.6 points and 5.6 rebounds per game<\/a> for UCLA while shooting 51.8% from the field, 46.4% from three-point range and 87.3% from the free-throw line. He led the Big Ten in three-point percentage and earned All-Big Ten Third Team honors for the second straight season. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-4\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-blue my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"76\">Bilodeau&#8217;s offensive profile fits what Brooklyn has prioritized throughout this rebuild. The Nets have consistently targeted versatile players who can playmake and shoot \u2013\u2013 making Bilodeau&#8217;s floor-spacing ability immediately stand out. NBA Draft analysts project him as a stretch-four capable of contributing offensively early in his career thanks to his age, shooting touch and efficient scoring arsenal. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-5\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-blue my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"79\">The selection also addresses a need that has repeatedly been highlighted throughout the draft process: adding complementary talent around Brooklyn&#8217;s growing young core of playmaking guards. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-6\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-blue my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7c\">After the Nets selected lead guard Mikel Brown Jr. at No. 6 and versatile forward Joshua Jefferson at No. 28, the organization entered the second round looking for someone who could fill a niche role. Bilodeau provides a trustworthy hand in a big frame. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-7\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-blue my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7f\">Unlike Jefferson, who thrives through his physicality and defense, Bilodeau&#8217;s appeal comes primarily from his shooting. His ability to stretch opposing defenses should help create driving lanes for Brown and fellow young guards Egor D\u00ebmin and Nolan Traor\u00e9.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-8\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-blue my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7i\">There are reasons Bilodeau didn&#8217;t get selected earlier. Scouts have questioned his defensive versatility and overall upside as a 22-year-old prospect. While his shooting translated against high-level college competition, teams remain unsure whether he can consistently guard against NBA forwards. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-9\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-blue my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7l\">Still, the value may have been too good for Brooklyn to pass up on. In a draft where many second-round selections are developmental swings, Bilodeau offers a proven skill. He was one of the best stretch forwards in the draft, regardless of where he was selected. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-10\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-blue my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7o\">For a rebuilding Nets team searching for contributors everywhere on the court, Bilodeau represents a low-risk bet on one of college basketball&#8217;s most productive shooters. <\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/assets.minutemediacdn.com\/platform\/google_discover_icon.svg\" class=\"shrink-0\"\/>Add us as a preferred source on Google<a aria-label=\"Follow si.com on Google News\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=si.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" class=\"flex h-[30px] w-[30px] shrink-0 items-center justify-center rounded-full bg-primary font-group-large text-sm font-medium text-white transition-colors hover:bg-secondary focus:bg-secondary md:w-auto md:gap-2.5 md:px-4 md:py-[5px]\">Follow<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Brooklyn Nets added another frontcourt piece to their rebuilding roster Wednesday night, selecting UCLA forward Tyler Bilodeau&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":277508,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[98,100,99,9,24,63],"class_list":["post-277507","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn-headlines","tag-brooklyn-news","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277507","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=277507"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277507\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/277508"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=277507"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=277507"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=277507"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}